Global Research in Higher Education ISSN 2576-196X (Print) ISSN 2576-1951 (Online) Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 18 Original Paper Research on the Mode of Improving the Employment Ability of College Students by Practicing Education of Business Major in Sichuan International Studies University under the Background of New Liberal Arts Xian Jingchen 1 & Xu Xinpeng 1 1 College of Finance and Economics, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China Received: June 13, 2023 Accepted: July 24, 2023 Online Published: August 22, 2023 doi:10.22158/grhe.v6n3p18 URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v6n3p18 Abstract Under the goals of the new liberal arts construction, the concept and connotation of practical education should be sorted out, the path of practical education in business majors should be summarized, and a practical education model should be established to integrate practical education into professional construction, effectively increasing the depth and breadth of practical education, improving the comprehensive quality of college students, and promoting national economic development, Finally, reasonable suggestions were put forward on how to correctly treat the innovative practice education model in universities to enhance the education system of college students’ employability. Keywords business major, practice, innovation, education, and employability model www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 19 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 1. Introduction On December 20, 2018, the Joint Meeting of the Chairmen and Members of the Economic and Management Education Guidance Committee of the Ministry of Education and the First Plenary Session of the Business Administration Professional Education Guidance Committee were held in Suzhou. The meeting focused on “new era, new humanities, new management”, and deployed the construction of new humanities and the cultivation of outstanding top management talents. In April 2019, 13 departments including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly launched the “Six Excellence and One Top” Plan 2.0, which clearly proposed the comprehensive promotion of the construction of new engineering, new medical, new agriculture, and new humanities, aiming to effectively improve the ability of universities to serve socio-economic development and achieve the connotative development of higher education. 2. Concept and Connotation In November 2020, the new liberal arts construction work conference was held in Shandong University, and the Ministry of Education made a series of important discussions on the new liberal arts construction and other issues. The Declaration on the Construction of New Liberal Arts has constructed the theoretical system of the construction of new liberal arts in Systems science, pointing out the fundamental direction and providing an important basis for promoting the construction of new liberal arts in the new era. In China, the humanities are generally referred to as philosophical and social sciences. The construction of new humanities focuses on the changes in connotation, extension, boundaries, and other aspects in the new era and is implemented accordingly. Therefore, the construction of new humanities in the new era has significant practical and profound historical significance. 2.1 Concept Proposal The concept of “New Humanities” was first proposed by Hillam College in October 2017, mainly integrating new technologies into courses such as philosophy, literature, and language, providing students with comprehensive interdisciplinary learning conditions. It was first proposed at the Suzhou Conference of the Ministry of Education mentioned earlier in China. China has expanded the connotation of “new humanities”, which refers to a series of construction projects and work related to the intersection and integration of philosophy and social sciences with the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, forming interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary new humanities; The main construction project is the “New Humanities Research and Reform Practice Project”-“Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Education on Recommending New Humanities Research and Reform Practice Projects” (Jiao Gao Ting Han, 2021, No. 10). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 20 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Collaborative innovation is a complex organizational form of innovation, with the key being to form a network innovation model with university enterprise research institutions as the core elements and government financial institutions as intermediary organizations, innovation platforms, non-profit organizations, and other auxiliary elements. Through deep cooperation and resource integration between knowledge creation entities and technological innovation entities, a systematic superposition of nonlinear effects is generated. The concept of “synergetics” at its core was first proposed by German physicist Haken in the 1970s. He believed that “synergy” is the fusion and linkage of major factors in a large system that transcend individual individuals. Afterwards, “collaborative innovation” was proposed by Peter Gloor, who emphasized that collaborative innovation requires the formation of network interaction between entities, exchange of ideas, technology, and information, and ultimately achieve the goal (Hu & Shen, 2013). 2.2 Key Connotation 2.2.1 Connotation of the New Liberal Arts Construction Goals The most common view at present is that the new humanities should undergo interdisciplinary integration, expand and form new knowledge fields at the disciplinary boundaries, especially when combined with technology, to achieve the intersection of humanities and science, and thus promote the construction of the new humanities. The connotation of the construction of new humanities should mainly revolve around the understanding of China’s modernization process. The construction of new liberal arts seeks incremental knowledge construction in knowledge production, rather than the reorganization of existing knowledge. Secondly, the construction of new humanities should attach importance to the cultivation of people. The cultivation of people is the fundamental purpose of higher education, and in modern society, this cultivation is mainly knowledge oriented and practical, so the importance of practical education is highlighted. 2.2.2 Implementation Effect Objectives of “Integration of Industry, Education, Science and Education” It is not enough for ordinary higher education institutions, especially application-oriented undergraduate institutions, to only teach through theory. An effective and comprehensive practical teaching system must be supplemented to achieve teaching objectives and tasks. The traditional practical teaching model lacks an organic integration between production, schools, and research institutes, making it difficult to fully reflect the relationship between the three and has poor adaptability. The integrated education model of industry, education, science and education enables students to participate more in enterprises, absorb knowledge from corresponding positions in enterprises, and feed back the theoretical needs in the production practice process into the school’s learning plan, thus achieving the goal of cultivation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 21 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 2.2.3 The Practical Goal of “Practical Education” The new era has put forward new requirements for universities to cultivate talents, that is, universities should strengthen cooperation with similar universities and enterprises. As a highly applied major, business majors can only adapt to the high standard requirements of society for business graduates by placing equal emphasis on theory and practice, improving course offerings, building a strong teaching team, establishing a systematic practical teaching system, and vigorously cultivating students’ business operation skills. Therefore, the practical teaching of business majors cannot be separated from the collaborative cooperation between universities and other similar universities, as well as the collaborative cooperation between universities and enterprises. 3. Elements Driving Practical Education Talent cultivation in universities should adhere to integrating the concept of “practical education” into the entire process of talent cultivation and various teaching links, as well as into students’ scientific research and social practice. To build a higher level talent cultivation system, it is necessary to establish a teaching system that focuses on curriculum and textbooks, including industry, education, science, and education. It is necessary to further strengthen the construction of an education and teaching quality assurance system, strengthen daily management, internal control, and dynamic monitoring of teaching practice quality, pay attention to the comprehensive evaluation of graduates by employers, and promote the comprehensive improvement of talent cultivation quality. 3.1 Innovation Driven, National Needs The construction of “New Liberal Arts” is a major development strategy in the field of education for the current country, an important support for building an innovative country, an important means to break through the siege of the Western scientific and technological circles and economic circles, and also one of the sources of strong impetus for the high-quality development of future education. Innovation and entrepreneurship education is one of the sources of the integration of industry, education, science, and education. Innovation resources and forces need to have a foundation and transmission in order to solidly integrate innovative products and results into higher education teaching. In the context of the new liberal arts, high-level applied universities can only actively adapt to the new guiding principles of educational development, focus on comprehensively improving students’ comprehensive qualities, break through traditional educational forms, explore new models for cultivating practical talents, establish a relevant and complete practical education and teaching chain, promote the scientific and systematic development of practical education and teaching, and stimulate college students’ practical abilities, Provide practical talent support for the construction of an innovative country. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 22 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 3.2 Internally Driven Education, Social Needs As a form of education, practical education and teaching in universities are an important part of the construction of new humanities. Only by actively adapting to market demand, scientifically and reasonably positioning practical education, optimizing the practical education and teaching system, and combining with the needs of economic and social development in the new era, can high-quality practical education and teaching work be carried out to promote the full integration of human, intellectual, and material resources in universities with industries, industries, and enterprises, Only in this way can we provide intellectual driving force for driving high-quality education and social development, so as to realize the Education reform of colleges and universities themselves. As China’s economic development enters the New normal, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and high-quality economic and social development has become the main theme of the development of the current era. And this development trend will inevitably put forward higher requirements for the reform and development of higher education and the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents in universities. It is urgent for universities to implement the transformation and development of education and teaching, strengthen the market-oriented and demand-oriented talent cultivation, and enrich the practical oriented talent cultivation mode. This is the historical mission entrusted to universities by the development of the times, and also one of the directions of the new liberal arts education reform, promoting the supply side reform of talent cultivation in universities, Cultivate practical talents who adapt to new liberal arts education and enhance the comprehensive strength of universities. 3.3 Quality Driven, the Needs of The Times The practical innovation and education under the concept of integration of industry, education, science, and education is the expectation of educational reform in universities and the requirement of the development of the times. It is also an important driving force for improving the quality of talent cultivation in universities in the new era. Practical education, as an educational model for universities to improve the comprehensive literacy of talents, can greatly improve students’ hands-on ability, while also optimizing the targeted and timely nature of talent cultivation, responding to the strong demand for innovative, applied, and composite talents in economic and social development, and deepening the supply side reform of talent cultivation. The value pursuit and goal of “integration of industry, education, science, and education” education can help change the current difficulties in talent cultivation, transform traditional talent cultivation models, achieve an organic combination of theoretical knowledge education and practical hands-on ability cultivation, improve the quality of talent cultivation, and promote the realization of connotative development and social value in universities. As an important breakthrough for the construction of new liberal arts to improve the quality of talent training, practical education can integrate professional education, entrepreneurship education, Liberal education and other Penetration depth, and gradually www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 23 Published by SCHOLINK INC. deepen the cultivation of college students’ innovative spirit quality and entrepreneurial awareness, so as to meet the urgent needs of high-quality economic and social development for innovative and entrepreneurial talents (Yuan, Jiang & Liu, 2020, pp. 67-70). 4. Practical Education Construction Path 4.1 Path to the Integration of Industry and Education The integration of industry and education is a deep cooperation between industry and education, and is one of the chosen means for universities to improve the quality of talent cultivation under the goal of achieving new liberal arts construction. To promote the integration of industry and education in cultivating talents, it is necessary to adhere to the unity of industry demand orientation and education goal orientation, promote deep cooperation between universities and industry enterprises in cultivating talents, and focus on improving students’ comprehensive quality and adaptability. We should integrate the concept of industry education integration and collaborative education throughout the entire process of talent cultivation, achieve integration channels of on campus experiments and on campus bases, achieve resource sharing and platform co construction, and promote cross disciplinary integration and interactive development across colleges and disciplines; On campus, foreign exchange gathers various social resources, expands educational space, and achieves cross-border integration and collaborative innovation with multiple entities such as government, industry, and users. It deepens the reform of teaching content and curriculum system in response to industrial needs, and updates teaching content with the latest development achievements of disciplines, industries, and technologies. From the three dimensions of theory, practice, and application, we will create a platform for joint training of talents between schools and enterprises, jointly develop courses, write textbooks, jointly build professional internship and training bases, and modern industry colleges. We will organically embed training content and results into professional teaching plans, establish a professional system that closely connects with the industry chain and value chain, improve the concentration of characteristic and advantageous majors, and create a group of industries that are urgently needed and have outstanding advantages A distinctive application-oriented profession. We need to build a practical teaching platform that connects internal and external internship and training bases, and establish a batch of shared and specialized practical platforms for industry university research cooperation and collaborative education, promoting cooperation and development between schools and enterprises. We need to strengthen the construction of a “dual teacher” teaching team, hire technical and management experts from industry enterprises to teach part-time in universities, and serve as practical internship mentors for young teachers. At the same time, we encourage enterprises to actively provide temporary internship training positions for young teachers, and enhance their practical ability to implement the integration of industry and education to cultivate talents. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 24 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 4.2 The Path of Integrating Science and Education The close combination of high-level technological innovation and high-level talent cultivation has become a law of university education and teaching; The exploratory learning community composed of teachers and students has become the intersection of knowledge innovation and inheritance. The essence of the integration of science and education is to innovate, impart, disseminate, and inherit knowledge in the process of scientific research teaching learning, enabling teachers and students to engage in interactive academic exploration in the academic community, learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and forge ahead. In the process of integrating science and education to cultivate talents, teaching and scientific research always promote and complement each other. To promote the integration of science and education in cultivating talents, it is necessary to focus on student development, strengthen the integration of scientific research and teaching, promote deep cooperation between universities and research institutes to cultivate talents, promote close integration of scientific research and teaching within universities to cultivate talents, transform high-quality scientific research resources into educational resources and advantages, transform scientific research facilities into teaching innovation platforms, and transform scientific research achievements into teaching content, Transforming the “density of scientific research” into the “concentration of teaching innovation”, making student participation in scientific research an effective teaching form, and through institutional arrangements, enabling students to become teachers’ research partners, jointly carry out research activities, and engage in effective autonomous and innovative learning. Teachers and students learn from each other and improve together in the process of exploring, integrating, applying, and disseminating knowledge, truly achieving research-based teaching and exploratory learning. We need to create a learning atmosphere that encourages exploration and independent innovation, build a platform for students to conduct scientific research, support students to participate in various scientific research activities through early research projects, laboratories, and research teams, support teachers and researchers on campus to introduce the latest scientific research achievements into talent cultivation, offer more research-oriented courses, provide research-oriented learning conditions, and focus on cultivating students’ innovative thinking and ability, Supporting high-quality talent cultivation through high-level scientific research (Wu, 2020, pp. 1-5). www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 25 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 5. Suggestions on the Cultivation Mode of College Students’ Employability In response to the problems of relatively independent and separated research, education, and industry in the process of talent cultivation in high-level applied universities, such as the separation of research and teaching, and the lack of deep integration between industry and education, which leads to weak students’ application research and practical abilities, relevant suggestions are proposed to build a long-term mechanism for scientific and technological innovation and education based on the integration of science and education, as well as a long-term win-win mechanism for schools and enterprises. 5.1 The Long-Term Mechanism of Science and Education Integration, Innovation, and Education in Secondary Colleges First, the secondary colleges set up a leading center for scientific and technological innovation under the leadership of the college leaders. In combination with the needs of discipline and professional development, they built a progressive scientific and technological innovation platform at different levels, such as scientific research assistants, class Mentorship, students’ scientific research projects, scientific research training courses, discipline competitions, social practice, etc., and promoted the common development of “four levels of progressive” teaching, scientific research, experiment, practice, etc. through integration in and out of class, hierarchical cultivation, key cultivation, etc. Realized the “comprehensive integration” of teaching and research. The second is to link various technological innovation activities through a “project based” approach. Clarify the theme of various competition projects, conduct training and guidance; The experimental course is based on real projects as case studies. With clear and authentic projects, students’ interest in learning is stimulated; Through project training, students’ applied research abilities have been improved. The college has gradually formed a teaching method of promoting learning through competition. The college adopts a centralized training and group guidance organization method for subject competitions. Students design their own solutions, with guidance provided by the college supervisor, with “student-centered and mentor-centered”, and competitions to promote students’ initiative in learning and enhance their ability to solve complex engineering problems. The third is research feedback teaching, where teachers bring their own research projects and competition cases into the classroom. The course content is more diverse and popular among students. After these courses are included in the training plan, they effectively cover all students in relevant majors through scientific research project training and subject competition training, providing basic guarantees for the cultivation of students’ applied research and innovation abilities. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 26 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 5.2 Building a Long-Term Mechanism for Win-Win Cooperation between Universities and Enterprises One is to innovate institutional mechanisms and build a governance structure suitable for the integration of industry and education. Encourage secondary colleges and industry enterprises to jointly establish science and technology service centers, liaison stations, and other small institutions based on disciplines and major categories, increase the utilization rate of human resources and equipment resources in universities, expand interaction with society, enhance the vitality and social service capabilities of secondary colleges, and enhance their social influence and social service capabilities. The second is to serve the regional economy and build a research and service platform for win-win situation between schools and the local area. Facing regional modern industrial clusters, combined with the school’s disciplinary and professional directions, focusing on the core common issues of industrial and economic development in the industry, and building an application research and technical service platform to support local industries. Encourage secondary colleges and enterprises to jointly build industrial colleges, enterprise studios, industrial technology laboratories, and cooperate to establish local research institutes, providing comprehensive scientific and technological services for enterprises. Utilize secondary college equipment and talent resources to carry out social training, and build the school into a training platform that serves the industry and major enterprises. The third is to build an industry education base and a comprehensive application platform base for industry education integration based on secondary colleges. Build the platform into a practical teaching and innovation and entrepreneurship base for students majoring in related fields, an information distribution center for internship employment and enterprise technology needs for students majoring in related fields, an application research center for related disciplines, a technology service platform for related industries, an application oriented teacher training center for related fields, and a social training institution for technical personnel in related industries, forming a long-term win-win mechanism for school enterprise cooperation and improving students’ practical application abilities. 5.3 Building an Off Campus Practice Platform to Expand Employment Opportunities for College Students In terms of innovation and entrepreneurship for college students, application-oriented universities should actively seek industry support, closely contact industry associations, build off campus practical platforms, provide more flexible and convenient platforms for college students’ employment, expand student internship employment opportunities, and ensure that application-oriented undergraduate graduates can not only master the necessary professional knowledge and skills, but also adapt to the development of society, industry, and enterprises, becoming a solid foundation Talents with strong practical ability, ability to adapt to social development, and excellent comprehensive qualities. To achieve such a goal, school enterprise cooperation is an inevitable choice. Only through school enterprise cooperation can students integrate their knowledge with the real society. In this regard, schools should have foresight, constantly understand the needs of enterprises, grasp the current www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 27 Published by SCHOLINK INC. situation and future development direction of the industry, actively build off campus practice bases, expand channels for student employment, and guide the direction. Taking the School of International Finance and Trade as an example, based on its own professional characteristics, the college has signed strategic cooperation agreements and industry university research cooperation agreements with multiple securities companies and fund institutions in Chongqing, and has always maintained a close and integrated cooperative relationship with them. In June 2022, the college signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China CITIC Construction Investment Futures Co., Ltd. Chongqing Branch, forming a new model of industry university research strategic cooperation and collaborative development guided by “collaborative education, collaborative education, and collaborative innovation”, relying on the advantages of financial and insurance education research and financial and insurance industry resources of both parties, and creating a school enterprise joint collaborative innovation service platform with advanced domestic and international levels, Cultivate high-quality application-oriented professionals with innovative and sustainable development capabilities in the new era. The college has signed 17 internship bases to provide a solid internship platform and a good space for employment development for college students studying on campus and those who are about to embark on social career choices. 5.4 Tracking and Revisiting Employers and College Students, Updating Employment Guidance Methods Applied universities should always pay attention to the first-hand feedback of society’s demand for talent in the process of docking with the industry. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly communicate information with the industry, truly understand industry hotspots and industry needs, and strive to keep up with the times and seamlessly connect with the industry. Therefore, the Insurance College regularly contacts the human resources head of the insurance company or department head with recruitment authority to communicate information and master first-hand employment information. In addition, a special internship recruitment fair for finance majors is held every year to communicate job information with employers for internships in lower grades and employment issues in higher grades, making early plans and taking precautions. For talent cultivation, actively absorb suggestions from industries and enterprises, and strive to cultivate competitive and application-oriented qualified talents suitable for the development of industries and enterprises. In recent holidays, the college has organized teachers to conduct follow-up visits and research on the units that hire graduates from our college, and widely listened to the opinions of employers on how to improve the quality of employment for college students and cultivate application-oriented qualified talents that meet the conditions of the employer. In the survey, special attention was paid to the evaluation of the work attitude, work ability, and work performance of the college graduates by the employer. Information on the job control ability, job competence, and career prospects of graduates who have already worked in financial companies was collected, as well as valuable first-hand suggestions and information on the college’s next employment www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 6, No. 3, 2023 28 Published by SCHOLINK INC. measures and development plans, This has pointed out the direction for the college to plan development ideas and directions in the future, and to create application-oriented qualified talents that meet the conditions of employers. Funding: The 2023 Chongqing Higher Education Teaching Reform Research Project: Research on Higher Education Teaching Reform from the Perspective of Digital Transformation (233306), The Humanities and Social Sciences Project of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission: Innovative Research on the Precise Governance Model of Party Building Leading Communities from the Perspective of Co construction, Co governance, and Sharing (21SKGH134). References Duan, Y., & Cui, Y. Q. (2020). Theoretical connotation and practical direction of new liberal arts construction. Journal of Yunnan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2020(2), 149-156. Ministry of Education The “Six Excellence and One Top” Plan 2.0 was launched and implemented [EB/OL]. (March 4th, 2019). 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