Global Research in Higher Education ISSN 2576-196X (Print) ISSN 2576-1951 (Online) Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 22 Original Paper Research on the Innovation of the Employment Assistance Mechanism Relying on School-Enterprise Cooperation in Private Colleges and Universities in the New Era Qiuxiang Wang 1* , Fuli Wang 1 & Haiying Ji 1 1 Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China * Qiuxiang Wang, E-mail: qiuxiang.wang@qdc.edu.cn Received: December 21, 2024 Accepted: January 6, 2025 Online Published: January 10, 2025 doi:10.22158/grhe.v8n1p22 URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v8n1p22 Abstract This paper focuses on the practical employment problems of students in private colleges and universities, actively explores new paths for employment assistance, and studies the specific practices of establishing industry studios with the help of school-enterprise cooperation. The aim of this research is to deeply integrate enterprise resources and the talent cultivation system of universities, build a practical and communication platform for students that is in line with the actual situation of the industry, help improve students’ employment competitiveness, further open up a new situation for employment assistance in private colleges and universities, and enhance the quality of talent cultivation and employment. Keywords school-enterprise cooperation, employment assistance, industry studio 1. Introduction The employment problem of college students is a topic of global concern. Universities in various countries are constantly conducting research and basically have their own characteristic and relatively mature practices. There is relatively little research on employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation, and there is almost no research on the practice of employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation with the help of industry studios. However, there are significant similarities in the employment assistance for college students, such as improving the service quality of employment agencies, enhancing the education and teaching models, and improving students’ employability. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 23 Published by SCHOLINK INC. There is a complete system of employment guidance in Western universities. This guidance starts as soon as students enter the university and runs through their entire college years. By guiding students to get in touch with and understand the job market in advance, it then helps students discover their own interests and specialties, collect employer information and market demands, and participate in social practices. Employment market activities of various scales are held. In this work, the students themselves are the main body, while the alumni who have graduated and the staff involved only play an auxiliary role. This work is mainly carried out through college student employment assistance and employment guidance institutions, which specially provide students with services such as career counseling, prospect prediction, data analysis, employment research, and industry information. It mainly covers two aspects: career guidance and employment services. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the CPC has attached great importance to the employment issue and has always regarded employment as the top priority in economic development and people’s livelihood. National leaders have emphasized in many important meetings that “employment is the biggest project concerning people’s livelihood, the project that wins people’s hearts and the foundation project. It is an important guarantee for social stability and must be firmly grasped and well implemented”. Regarding the issue of school-enterprise cooperation, all universities in China are conducting it, and each department of every university has a considerable number of school-enterprise cooperation partners. However, school-enterprise cooperation in private universities often remains superficial. Especially for school-enterprise cooperation in civil engineering majors, there are two main focuses in the cooperation: First, enterprises participate in the college’s job fair and can provide a certain number of job positions. Second, they can provide places for cognitive internships and production internships. When enterprises come to universities for recruitment, often after the job positions are set, due to students’ lack of practical engineering experience, few students are directly qualified for the jobs. As a result, the number of students getting employed is not ideal. Students fail to get job opportunities, and enterprises are unable to recruit high-quality employees who are well-suited to the positions. As for the form of cooperation that provides internship sites, due to the time and geographical limitations of projects, the results are also not very satisfactory. In recent years, with the overall decline of the civil engineering and real estate industries, school-enterprise cooperation is facing even more serious difficulties. Therefore, it is imperative to incorporate school-enterprise cooperation into employment assistance work. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 24 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 2. Objectives, Measures and Values 2.1 The Main Objectives of Employment Assistance Relying on School-Enterprise Cooperation Many private colleges and universities have always adhered to the educational philosophy of “service-oriented and employment-driven”. They have continuously improved practical teaching conditions, paid close attention to employment quality, and emphasized school-enterprise cooperation. However, the employment situation of graduates remains far from optimistic. The main objective of this research project is to take employment assistance as the central link, implement school-enterprise cooperation work throughout the employment process, use the industry studio as a link, explore the construction of a practical training model through cooperation between schools and enterprises, and put it into practice and continuously improve it during the employment assistance process. This is aimed at promoting the continuous improvement of both the quality and quantity of employment for civil engineering majors. ① Adhering to the concept of high-quality and precise employment assistance, we establish industry studios. From a macro perspective, the school grasps the objective of cultivating talents through practice. Enterprises, in line with their own talent requirements, provide practical cases for talent cultivation. In this way, students can receive practical and effective industry practice training. We aim to explore the path of employment assistance through school-enterprise cooperation, with the focus and goal of such cooperation centered on the effectiveness of employment assistance. This enables the organic integration of cultivating students’ theoretical knowledge and practical abilities, thus truly returning to the essence of cultivating applied talents in private colleges and universities. ② Develop a new school-enterprise cooperation model for employment assistance. Collate job information from cooperation partners, match it with relevant industry studios, and set practical positions and goals. The school and enterprise should agree on talent cultivation and recruitment. Once students pass the final assessment, the enterprise must offer them the corresponding positions. This model aims to boost students’ employment effectiveness and secure high-quality employment. 2.2 Specific Measures for Employment Assistance Relying on School-Enterprise Cooperation ① Establish industry studios based on the needs of disciplines and social industries Combined with the needs of enterprises and social industries, and in accordance with students’ employment intentions, students can enter the corresponding industry studios through the dual assessment and interviews of the college and enterprises. For example, there are Structural Design Studios, Engineering Cost Studios, Real Estate Appraisal and House Inspection Studios, BIM Studios, Engineering Surveying Studios, etc. In these studios, both the school and enterprises conduct practical training. The practical materials are real engineering cases of enterprises, enabling students to get in touch with the work content of the industry and the enterprise in advance, so as to better cultivate students to be able to smoothly take up their job positions. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 25 Published by SCHOLINK INC. ② In the new model of school-enterprise cooperation, enterprises select talents from the industry studios In this school-enterprise cooperation, the focus is on students’ employment. The new model of school-enterprise cooperation is also explored in depth around this work. This model should be two-way. The school aims to enable students to achieve high-quality employment, while the enterprise aims to recruit high-quality employees. Enterprises can regard the industry studios as the incubation base for future talents and carry out specialized and meticulous cultivation in these studios. In this cooperation model, the school ensures the cultivation process of students in the industry studios, and the enterprise provides professional practical training instructors. Moreover, both the school and the enterprise should sign agreements on cultivation and recruitment. ③ For students who enter the industry studios, their graduation credits will be mutually recognized according to their performance For students interested in this type of employment, leveraging their professional strengths, they can join the industry studio and engage in corresponding tasks with external partners. Upon task completion, based on the quality of work and the feedback from the collaborating units, students can earn internship credit conversions or have credits mutually recognized for relevant courses. This approach aims to boost students’ enthusiasm and facilitate their employment. 2.3 The Application Value of Employment Assistance Relying on School-Enterprise Cooperation Employment is the foundation of people’s livelihood. The employment issue, especially the employment of college students, is crucial for implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development and building a harmonious socialist society. The quality of employment is a long-term issue related to discipline construction and professional development. The quality of employment is one of the important criteria for evaluating the discipline and professional construction of colleges and universities. The fundamental function of colleges and universities lies in talent cultivation. Nevertheless, it is only when the talents cultivated can find precisely suitable employment that the effectiveness of higher education can be manifested. With the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics having entered a new era, the development of various industries in this new era calls for professional talents to take the lead. Hence, the primary objective of employment should be to ensure precise and efficient job placement. Additionally, it is essential to reshape students’ employment perspectives and facilitate their all-round employment. Indeed, the introduction of a series of national policies and documents underscores the pivotal role of college graduates’ employment. ① Improve students’ practical skills, shorten job integration time, and bring a win-win for schools and enterprises Build an industry studio that matches the job requirements of enterprises, so that students can carry out relevant work on enterprise projects in the studio during their junior and senior years. Through training, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 26 Published by SCHOLINK INC. students’ job competence can be improved and the training time after students enter the enterprise can be shortened, which can bring greater benefits to the enterprise. The industry studio, aiming at improving job competence, runs through the job competence requirements throughout the whole process of studio training, which has practical guiding significance for the employment assistance work of university-enterprise cooperation in colleges and universities. ② Guide students in their actual employment work The research on employment assistance in private institutions of higher learning in the new era, which is carried out through school-enterprise cooperation, is instrumental in the practical exploration of employment support for students in such institutions. It facilitates the implementation of employment assistance initiatives for graduates, the establishment and operation of industry studios. This research is conducive to the fulfillment of the training objectives for applied talents in private universities and colleges, and contributes to the enhancement of graduates’ practical capabilities and their proficiency in applying theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios. ③ Promote the improvement of both the quality and quantity of employment, thereby contributing back to the construction of disciplines and majors Using school-enterprise cooperation to build industry studios as a link, we can strengthen students’ professional education and foster their passion for their majors. This helps students succeed academically. When students work in their favorite professional areas, it positively impacts major and discipline construction. Moreover, it cultivates students’ engineering awareness, sense of responsibility, social responsibility, and mission. It also improves their professional qualities, training qualified engineering and technical talents for national construction in the new era. 3. Conclusion Employment constitutes a paramount concern for institutions of higher learning. The calibre of employment exerts a profound influence on their disciplinary and curricular development. The employment facilitation initiatives, executed through school-enterprise collaboration with industry studios serving as a linchpin, have effectively operationalized the collaborative model and propelled the robust advancement of students’ employment prospects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe Global Research in Higher Education Vol. 8, No. 1, 2025 27 Published by SCHOLINK INC. References Chen, M. (2023). Research on the Problems and Countermeasures of Employment Assistance for Poor Students in Vocational Colleges. Economist, 2023(09), 149-150. Gao, W. J. (2021). Discussion on the Order—Based Training and School-Enterprise Cooperation Employment Model Oriented by Employment under the New Situation. Management & Technology of SME (First Half Monthly), 2021(06), 140-141. Gu, G. H., & Xu, X. J. (2023). Research on the Reform and Practice of College Students’ Employment and Entrepreneurship Courses under the School-Enterprise Cooperation Talent Training Model. Health Vocational Education, 41(24), 46-48. He, S. H., & Zhang, B. N. (2023). An Analysis of the Precise Employment Assistance Work for College Students with Financial Difficulties. Modern Business and Trade Industry, 44(23), 87-89. Lou, Y. (2020). The “Internet +” Talent Training Model of School—Enterprise Cooperation in Colleges and Universities under the Epidemic Situation. Countryside, Agriculture, Farmers (Version B), 2020(05), 39-40. Zhang, L. H. (2023). An Analysis of Classified Employment Assistance for Unemployed College Graduates Who Have Left School—Based on a Survey of 20 Universities in Jiangsu Province. China University Students Career Guide, 2023(06), 69-76.