Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management ISSN: 2766-824X | Vol. 13, No. 1, 2024 226 Study on the Dilemmas and Pathways of College Students Returning to Their Hometowns for Entrepreneurship under the Background of Common Prosperity Jingyuan Jiang, Hanyue Zhang School of Hebei University Baoding 071000, China Abstract: In the context of common prosperity, with the increasing number of graduates each year, college students face the practical problem of difficult job choices and employment. The implementation of rural revitalization policies has attracted more and more rural college students to return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, bridging the gap of talent loss and insufficient resources in rural areas. This article focuses on the difficulties and paths faced by college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship to help rural farmers achieve common prosperity. It summarizes the relationship between college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship and common prosperity, and analyzes the difficulties faced by college students returning to their hometowns for employment, including the constraints of traditional ideological concepts, insufficient abilities of college students, and insufficient implementation of entrepreneurial support policies, And reasonable path choices and countermeasures were proposed: strengthening the publicity of college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, comprehensively enhancing their entrepreneurial ability, improving the rural entrepreneurial environment, promoting the optimization and upgrading of rural industrial structure, and fully implementing the national entrepreneurship support policies. Keywords: Common Prosperity; Rural Revitalization; Returning Home for Entrepreneurship. 1. Introduction Common prosperity is an essential aspect of high-quality development. Only by allowing the people to share the fruits of development can we more widely stimulate the driving force and vitality of the whole society to promote development, effectively improve the sense of gain, happiness, and security of the people, maintain social harmony and stability more persistently, and create a good environment for development. In recent years, in the context of common prosperity, with the development of rural areas in China and the implementation of the revitalization strategy of national villages, college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship is becoming a strong force. 2. The Importance of College Students Returning to Their Hometowns for Entrepreneurship. Firstly, the return of college students to their hometowns for entrepreneurship provides impetus and support for rural revitalization. The implementation of the rural revitalization strategy is the comprehensive deployment of the Party Central Committee on the work of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, and is the fundamental way to solve the difficulties in rural development in the process of urbanization. The smooth implementation of the rural revitalization strategy requires encouraging college students in the new era to invest in the wave of returning home for entrepreneurship, and the construction of rural revitalization urgently needs a group of college student talents[1]. The current rural revitalization strategy is facing a shortage of talents. College students often have higher practical skills and advantages in knowledge, resources, and abilities through four years of professional learning[2]. Due to the advantages of good geographical location, convenient transportation, high economic development level, good salary and benefits, and abundant employment opportunities, large cities have attracted more and more high-quality talents to settle down and work[3]. After graduation, college students are also more willing to stay in the city to work and live, rather than work and start businesses in rural areas. College students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship can not only bring young vitality to rural revitalization, but also bring innovation in development methods, new ideas, new entrepreneurship, new employment opportunities, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional rural industries, abandon the original single industrial structure, achieve diversified industrial structure, and form a new development model of green development[4]. By creating modern enterprises with professional knowledge and advanced production concepts, promoting scientific and technological innovation and progress, and promoting high- quality development of rural economy[5]. In 2022, there were 10.76 million college graduates nationwide, with the annual number exceeding 10 million for the first time. With the increasing number of college students, the employment problem of college students has become a common social issue. Faced with such a severe employment environment, it has also driven college students to change their employment methods and choose to return to rural areas for entrepreneurship. However, rural areas, due to the lack of young talents, provide greater development space for college students to start their own businesses, allowing them to apply their knowledge and skills to invest in the lineup of rural construction. Secondly, the return of college students to their hometowns 227 for entrepreneurship is conducive to addressing the imbalance of common prosperity[6]. Realizing common prosperity has been a common ideal and pursuit of humanity since ancient times. Whether it is the ancient Chinese ideals of "moderately prosperous" and "great harmony", or the modern Western ideas of "utopia", they all reflect the longing and longing for common prosperity. Only by allowing the people to share the fruits of development can we more widely stimulate the driving force and vitality of the whole society to promote development, effectively improve the sense of gain, happiness, and security of the people, maintain social harmony and stability more persistently, and create a good environment for development[7]. Common prosperity is the prosperity of all the people, and it is the material and spiritual well-being of the people[8]. College students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship is beneficial for narrowing the urban-rural gap, income gap, balancing regional development, meeting the diverse, multi-level, and multifaceted spiritual and cultural needs of rural people, and can also help rural people establish cultural awareness and enhance cultural confidence[10]. In the process of college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, new impetus has been injected into rural revitalization, and new development concepts have been used to promote new entrepreneurial models. Through entrepreneurship, new employment opportunities have been brought to the countryside, promoting steady development and providing young driving forces and talent support for high-quality development of common prosperity[12]. At the same time, the proposal of common prosperity has also brought new development opportunities and challenges for college students to return to their hometowns and start businesses. 3. The Realistic Dilemma of College Students Returning to Their Hometowns for Entrepreneurship under the Background of Common Prosperity. (1) The constraints of traditional ideological concepts In the minds of many people, cities mean greater development space, more job opportunities, and better salary benefits, especially for college graduates who would rather work hard in big cities than return to the countryside, believing that returning from the city to the countryside is "incompetent" or "disrespectful". However, facing an increasing number of graduates and increasingly tight job opportunities, cities cannot accommodate all graduates, and many job requirements and benefits do not meet the expectations of all graduates. After graduation, college students face the dilemma of finding jobs. On the one hand, they look forward to jobs with good salaries and benefits, but cannot accept demands for more and harder work; On the other hand, their traditional thinking holds that rural areas mean dirty, messy, and poor. Not only is the level of development far lower than that of cities, but hardware facilities are also incomparable to cities. Working and starting a business in rural areas not only receives ridicule and misunderstanding from the villagers, but also leaves their professional knowledge and skills nowhere to play, resulting in lower salaries and benefits. But in fact, with the implementation of rural strategies, the economic and social environment in rural areas of China has been greatly improved. Rural transportation is also more convenient, public service levels, internet accessibility, and farmers' ability to accept new technologies and things are also in line with urban development. Various entrepreneurial platforms are also being established in various regions, providing preferential measures to encourage college students to return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship. (2) The inadequacy of college students' own abilities Contemporary college students are limited to school learning and cannot even fully grasp their own professional knowledge, and social practice is even rarer. College students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship are unable to find timely and rational solutions in the face of difficulties, whether in terms of entrepreneurial mentality or entrepreneurial ability. Studying in school cannot fully improve students' professional skills, and the school's requirements for students are only to not fail the course and graduate smoothly. Students only focus on academic performance to achieve smooth graduation, but they do not have an effective understanding of the employment and entrepreneurship they face after graduation. Most students end their four-year college life without even one internship experience, and they lack the ability to cope with the risks in the entrepreneurial process. On the one hand, college students have a weak economic foundation, have just graduated without a stable source of income, and do not have the accumulation of funds to start businesses in their hometowns, making it impossible to carry out specific entrepreneurial projects; On the other hand, entrepreneurial information cannot be fully grasped and there is no ability to cope with risks. The ideological consciousness is relatively immature, often prone to emotional actions, and college students lack guarantee ability in the early stages of entrepreneurship, as well as difficulties in risk protection mechanisms, risk prevention, and risk governance. (3) The entrepreneurial and business environment in rural areas is poor, and the industrial structure is single In recent years, with the further implementation of rural revitalization policies, the rural economy has achieved great development. However, narrowing the urban-rural gap is a gradual process and cannot be achieved overnight. Firstly, in some underdeveloped areas, there is still a significant gap in infrastructure and road traffic between rural areas and cities. A large number of agricultural and sideline products cannot be transported to cities for on-site sales through modern logistics networks in a short period of time, making the entrepreneurial environment even more difficult. Newly graduated college students themselves do not have sufficient ability to cope with risks. Faced with harsh entrepreneurial conditions, they often find it difficult to come up with solutions, For example, in some underdeveloped areas where there is no internet media, even basic mobile communication cannot be achieved, college students who are proficient in computers have no place to use them; Secondly, the return of college students to their hometowns for entrepreneurship often brings new ways of development and new ideological concepts. However, some farmers have conservative thinking and techniques that only stay in traditional farming and sales methods, and cannot accept new ideas and job opportunities. Even if there are more job opportunities in the new enterprises that college students return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, they do not have the ability to find employment. This also makes more college students willing to choose to work in big cities, However, rural areas are 228 unable to attract college students due to their own disadvantages, and coupled with poor teaching conditions, it is also difficult to cultivate excellent talents. Fundamentally speaking, the economic development of rural areas mainly relies on traditional industrial and agricultural production, with a single industrial structure and low efficiency, which also limits the establishment and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises. (4) Insufficient implementation of entrepreneurial support policies Returning home to start a business for college students is not as simple and easy as it sounds. Newly graduated college students often face greater entrepreneurial difficulties due to a lack of entrepreneurial funds and experience. However, the government's assistance policies lack specificity and flexibility on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are difficult to effectively implement during the implementation process. The Party and the government have formulated a series of assistance and preferential policies based on the actual conditions of college students' entrepreneurship. For example, the government provides start-up internships with a subsidy of over 1000 yuan per month, as well as tax and venue rental subsidies. College students also enjoy subsidies such as interest subsidy loans. However, these policies lack practical flexibility and are not in line with the practical needs of college students. The practical dilemma of college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship has not been resolved. 4. A Study on the Path of College Students Returning to Their Hometowns for Entrepreneurship under the Background of Common Prosperity. (1) We need to strengthen the publicity efforts for college students returning home to start businesses Due to the constraints of traditional employment concepts, more college students are willing to stay in the city to work after graduation, rather than returning to rural areas to start their own businesses. This also indirectly reflects the lack of attractiveness of rural areas to college students, which requires rural areas to increase their own advantages in promotion, such as beautiful environment, low employment pressure, policy support, tax incentives, etc. After graduation, college students do not deliberately check whether certain places meet their job search and entrepreneurship standards. Instead, they are more willing to seek employment and entrepreneurship in the local area when they see attractive factors such as salary, work environment, etc. through online or on campus recruitment. If rural areas want to develop, they need to have their own advantages in attracting college students who are willing to come here, strengthen local promotion on the Internet, use various channels such as media to showcase their superior conditions and development prospects, and increase the willingness of college students to return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship. At the same time, schools and society should also take on the responsibility of promoting the importance of rural revitalization and common prosperity, and encourage college students to consciously and actively participate in the great task of narrowing the wealth gap and urban-rural gap through returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, promoting rural revitalization and achieving common prosperity. (2) Comprehensively enhance the entrepreneurial ability of college students The entrepreneurial group of college students not only needs to change their traditional employment views and enhance their entrepreneurial awareness, but also needs to accumulate relevant innovation and entrepreneurship experience through multiple channels during their school years, actively participate in various innovation and entrepreneurship competitions and related projects; Communicate more with teachers, understand entrepreneurial information, absorb experience from successful entrepreneurs, and avoid entrepreneurial risks; While carrying out courses related to employment and entrepreneurship, schools should also carry out more social practice activities, provide specialized entrepreneurship consulting platforms, strengthen the construction of entrepreneurship teaching staff, actively encourage teachers to cultivate students' entrepreneurial behavior, and invite some successful entrepreneurs to give lectures to share experiences and lessons, so that students can improve their entrepreneurial awareness and ability. That is to say, simply improving the entrepreneurial ability of students is not enough. Universities can make appropriate adjustments in talent cultivation based on the actual needs of rural areas, increase knowledge reserves for more college students willing to support rural construction, and prepare for their return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship. (3) Improve the rural entrepreneurial environment and promote the optimization and upgrading of rural industrial structure Creating a favorable entrepreneurial environment in rural areas, improving rural infrastructure construction and related supporting facilities, can greatly enhance the confidence of college students in rural entrepreneurship, thereby attracting more college students to join the team of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. Promoting the optimization and upgrading of rural industrial structure is an important means to promote rural revitalization and achieve common prosperity. Rural areas can carry out employment training activities to encourage villagers to actively learn new employment and entrepreneurship concepts, change traditional employment concepts, improve employment capabilities, and adapt to new job needs; At the same time, rural areas should compete for government funds and enterprise investment through multiple channels, using the funds obtained for infrastructure construction in rural areas, solving obstacles such as water and electricity difficulties, blocked roads, and inconvenient transportation for rural residents and enterprises, improving teaching conditions in rural areas, strengthening the cultivation of high-quality talents, enhancing medical conditions, and strengthening rural elderly care services. (4) Fully implement the national entrepreneurship support policies Give full play to the guiding role of national policies, explore new areas of policy innovation, and provide policy support for college student entrepreneurship. The country should conduct more on-site research, listen to the opinions and suggestions of college students, and provide targeted policy assistance to the practical problems faced by college students. Assistance should not be limited to the surface, but should also consider whether the policy is in line with the interests of the majority of people, whether the effect and cost are in proportion during the implementation process, and 229 whether it is worth continuing to implement; Local governments should actively implement entrepreneurship assistance policies, establish a supervision mechanism for policy implementation, ensure that college students return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship with guarantees and preferential treatment, and ensure that their entrepreneurial process proceeds steadily; At the same time, local governments at all levels should establish a division of labor and cooperation mechanism, track the return of college students to their hometowns for entrepreneurship in real time, and provide timely and effective assistance services for college students in entrepreneurship. 5. Conclusion In summary, the return of college students to their hometowns for entrepreneurship can inject new impetus into rural revitalization. As an endogenous force driving the realization of common prosperity in China, college students should provide targeted assistance to various practical difficulties encountered by college students in returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, strengthen education and publicity, change traditional employment concepts, improve their professional knowledge and skills, and ensure policy support for college students returning to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, Create a favorable entrepreneurial environment for college students. The return of college students to their hometowns for entrepreneurship has gradually become an important support for winning the battle against poverty and promoting rural revitalization. College students possess rich knowledge, broad perspectives, and passion, while also requiring a broad platform to realize their own value. Faced with a very complex and severe situation, we must adhere to the policy of prioritizing employment, strengthen situation monitoring and judgment, increase support for stable employment in enterprises, implement large-scale vocational skills training, vigorously promote entrepreneurship and innovation to drive employment, and maintain the bottom line of preventing large-scale unemployment. We need to strengthen the connection of graduate information, broaden employment channels, provide good employment and entrepreneurship services, strengthen employment security, and implement precise policies to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of college graduates. Having a large number of innovative young talents is the vitality of national innovation and the hope for scientific and technological development. We should attach great importance to the cultivation of young talents, continuously introduce policies to support youth employment and entrepreneurship, and strive to create a good atmosphere for talent cultivation, contributing to socialist construction. Young talents are full of vitality, ideological liberation, and innovative spirit, and are the main force in promoting economic and social development and technological innovation. Moreover, college students returning to their hometowns to start businesses can not only effectively solve their own employment problems, but also showcase their talents, test their knowledge, and hone themselves in grassroots practice. At the same time, it can also help develop rural industries and lead villagers to become prosperous. Young people are the main force of social development and the backbone of rural construction. 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