Predicting Undergraduates’ Perceived Employment Competitiveness: The Interplay of Learning Environment, School–Enterprise Cooperation and Student Motivation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33152/jmphss-10.6.6Keywords:
Employment competitiveness, Learning environment, School–enterprise cooperation, Student motivation, Universities with an application-oriented missionAbstract
The ability of graduates to find jobs is a key measure of the quality of education. The present study investigates structural relationships of Learning Environment (LE), Student Motivation (SM), School-Enterprise Cooperation (SEC), and Perceived Employment Competitiveness (EC) in an application-oriented university in China. Data were collected from 956 third and fourth year undergraduates through a quantitative cross-sectional survey design and selected using stratified random sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression analysis and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM). The study found that the LE, SEC, and SM were all positively related to undergraduates’ assessed Employment Competitiveness (EC). In the structural model, school-enterprise cooperation had the greatest positive direct association with perceived EC, followed by student motivation. However, the LE had no statistically significant direct influence. The indirect pathways analysis showed that the LE was strongly related to perceived EC through both SEC and SM. These findings suggest that the LE may largely serve as a supportive background for perceived EC by encouraging SEC and SM, rather than directly impacting it. The study contributes to the employability literature by integrating institutional and psychological perspectives in application-oriented higher education.
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