Study on the Graduate Employability of Chinese Regional Public Universities (Primarily Teaching-oriented)

Abstract

The employment of university graduates is an important issue that society pays close attention to. With the expansion of China’s higher education system, the employment situation of graduates from regional public higher education institutions (primarily teaching-oriented) has become increasingly severe. In the meantime, research on the employability of regional public university graduates remains underdeveloped. This paper carried out a two-phased mixed-methods empirical research to explore the graduate employability of regional public HEIs. Specifically, a quantitative survey was employed among 729 graduates of Xi’an University; 12 interviews were conducted with staff from Xi’an University, Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, Yulin University, and Ankang University, which located in different regions of Shaanxi Province. Overall, the analysis results showed that personal qualities and generic skills are the most important components of graduate employability, and the university’s strategy has the greatest significance on graduate employability. A graduate employability model was further developed based on the findings of the data.