Vocational education is essential for preparing a skilled workforce that will meet?the needs of the 21st century economy. Nevertheless, as an application-oriented undergraduate program, Jiangxi,?China, vocational undergraduates are still facing many challenges to be effective. This research endeavours to examine the critical factors impacting the success of these programs, specifically in the areas of curriculum?relevance, teacher quality, industry partnerships, and student engagement. Despite national?initiatives to update vocational education, many programs in Jiangxi face challenges, namely outdated curricula, few training opportunities for teachers, weak industry connections and lack of student motivation. These problems come together to produce poor graduate employability, and to keep the outputs of education out of line with the sectorial demands?of the labour market. This study employs a quantitative research design, anchored in Human Capital Theory and Constructivist?Learning Theory. Methods: Using structured questionnaires to collect data among 380 undergraduate students in Jiangxi Province?vocational institutions. Using a stratified random sampling method, this ensured that there was representation from a range?of socioeconomic backgrounds within the group. Data analysis was performed using SPSS to identify the relationships between the selected variables and overall program effectiveness. It appears from the results that there are strong positive correlations between each of the independent?variables and effectiveness of vocational education programs. Specifically, the relevance of curriculum and the quality of the teacher have emerged as the most significant factors,?followed closely by the strength of industry linkages and levels of student engagement. This study/research indicates the urgent need to modernise the curriculum and align teacher training to the industry need (active participation from the industry in making the syllabus) for?the vocational education to be more responsive and effective. It is also important to note, that bridging student engagement with?relevant content and career pathways transforms learning outcomes, and employs the chances drastically. Not only does the contrast between Jiangxi and WA provide important implications for policymakers, educators, and institutional leaders seeking to reform vocational education in the Jiangxi?region and potentially comparable regions, but these findings also demand further questions.
Azman, A., SIMATUPANG, W., Karudin, A., & Dakhi, O. (2020). Link and match policy in vocational education to address the problem of unemployment. International Journal Of Multi Science, 1(07), 76-85.
Behle, H. (2020). Students’ and graduates’ employability. A framework to classify and measure employability gain. Policy reviews in higher education, 4(1), 105-130.
Boyd, N. M., Liu, X., & Horissian, K. (2022). Impact of community experiences on student retention perceptions and satisfaction in higher education. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 24(2), 337-365.
Cassaro, K., & Lee, D. (2024). Shift Teaching Forward: Advancing Career Skills to Prepare Tomorrow's Workforce. John Wiley & Sons.
Conradty, C., & Bogner, F. X. (2020). STEAM teaching professional development works: Effects on students’ creativity and motivation. Smart Learning Environments, 7(1), 26.
Fawns, T., Aitken, G., & Jones, D. (2021). Online postgraduate education in a postdigital world: Beyond technology. Springer.
García-Pérez, L., García-Garnica, M., & Olmedo-Moreno, E. M. (2021). Skills for a working future: How to bring about professional success from the educational setting. Education Sciences, 11(1), 27.
Gonczi, A. (2020). The new professional and vocational education. In Dimensions of adult learning (pp. 19-34). Routledge.
Han, Y., Ni, R., Deng, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2023). Supply and demand of higher vocational education in China: Comprehensive evaluation and geographical representation from the perspective of educational equality. Plos one, 18(10), e0293132.
Jackson, D., & Bridgstock, R. (2021). What actually works to enhance graduate employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning and paid work. Higher Education, 81(4), 723-739.
Li, J., & Pilz, M. (2023). International transfer of vocational education and training: A literature review. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 75(2), 185-218.
Li, Y. (2022). Inheritance and development of traditional culture: a new path for design education reform in China.
Lin, Q., & Yeung, W.-J. J. (2023). Beyond the Middle-School Gates: The Urban–Rural Divergence of School–Work Paths of China’s Youth. In Social Inequality In China (pp. 185-207). World Scientific.
Ling, Y., Chung, S. J., & Wang, L. (2023). Research on the reform of management system of higher vocational education in China based on personality standard. Current Psychology, 42(2), 1225-1237.
Liu, P., & Liu, P. (2021). Professional Development of the Principals in Turnaround Schools. Transforming Turnaround Schools in China: Approaches, Challenges and Achievements, 109-121.
Niu, L. (2024). Promotion of Vocational and Experiential Education in China.
Pambudi, N. A., & Harjanto, B. (2020). Vocational education in Indonesia: History, development, opportunities, and challenges. Children and youth services review, 115, 105092.
Ren, X., & Zhou, Y. (2022). Coupling and coordinated development of higher vocational education and economic development in the Yangtze River economic belt from 2008 to 2020. Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 2022(1), 2643635.
Ruhanen, L., Axelsen, M., & Bowles, L. (2021). Engaging students through authentic learning: Connecting with international tourism partners. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 29, 100291.
Sichen, R. (2021). University-industry-government cooperation in the context of poverty alleviation in Shanxi Province, China University of Oxford].
Svendsen, B. (2020). Inquiries into teacher professional development—what matters? Education, 140(3), 111-130.
Tian, F. F., & Chen, L. (2020). Higher education and career prospects in China. Springer.
Wang, G., & Wang, Z. (2023). Vocational education: a poor second choice? A comparison of the labour market outcomes of academic and vocational graduates in China. Oxford review of education, 49(3), 408-427.
Wong, J. L. (2023). How does the new emphasis on managerialism in education redefine teacher professionalism? A case study in Guangdong Province of China. In Mapping the Field (pp. 211-227). Routledge.
MingCai, Z., & Isa, Z. B. M. (2025). Improving Vocational Education in Jiangxi: The Role of Curriculum, Teachers, Industry Links, and Student Engagement. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 15(9), 1090–1098.
Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
