Perceptions of Employability of Chinese Doctoral Students in a United States Public Research University School of Education

Weiyan XIONG*, Xueshuang WANG, Huiyuan YE

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Other Conference ContributionsPresentation

Abstract

Employability is viewed as increasingly important to national economic and educational development, and many national higher education systems have been charged with a strategic mission to raise employability level of their college graduates. As such, colleges and universities begin to seek new modes of educational programs in order to better prepare students for fresh challenges in the ever-changing job market. While there are increasing Chinese students pursuing their doctoral degrees in the United States (US), it is necessary to explore how Chinese doctoral students conceptualize the relationship between their doctoral programs and employability? Using a qualitative method, this study conducted the semistructured in-depth interviews with eleven Chinese doctoral students in the School of Education of a US public research university. Three dimensions of employability are examined in this study, which are career aspirations, perceptions of doctoral employability, and the cultivation of employability. Based on the major findings, this study emphasized the significances of the career planning, role models, advisors’ guidance, and social networking in Chinese doctoral students’ cultivation of employability. Accordingly, recommendations are provided for Chinese doctoral students to take advantage of the resources in their programs, as well as for the US doctoral programs to better serve Chinese students to be prepared for the challenging job market.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jul 2019
EventThe 16th Annual Conference of East Asian Social Policy Research Network: East Asian Welfare Futures: Between Productivism and Social Investment - National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China
Duration: 2 Jul 20193 Jul 2019
https://welfareasia.org/archives/368

Conference

ConferenceThe 16th Annual Conference of East Asian Social Policy Research Network
Abbreviated titleESAP2019
Country/TerritoryTaiwan, Province of China
CityTaipei
Period2/07/193/07/19
Internet address

Keywords

  • Employability
  • Doctoral education
  • Chinese Doctoral students
  • US Higher education

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