Journal of East China Normal University(Educationa ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 104-115.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2025.04.008

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Identity of Enterprise Masters in Modern Apprenticeship Programs: Type Analysis and Path Construction

Yunfang Ran1, Zhiying Zhou2, Chenhui Yuan3   

  1. 1. School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China
    2. Institute of Vocational and Adult Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
    3. Institute of Higher Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • Online:2025-04-01 Published:2025-03-25

Abstract:

As core stakeholders in modern apprenticeship programs, enterprise masters play a pivotal role in ensuring the quality of skilled talent development, with their sense of identity being crucial to this process. Effectively building their identity helps them clarify their roles within modern apprenticeship programs, while also promoting standardized behavior and deeper interactions. This, in turn, drives the high-quality development of industry-education integration and school-enterprise cooperation. This study adopts a dual perspective of role identity and social identity, using case analyses of six enterprises that are deeply involved in modern apprenticeship pilot programs. The findings reveal that enterprises construct enterprise masters' role and social identities systematically through mechanisms at three levels: macro (institutional norms and organizational structures), meso (team culture and interpersonal communication), and micro (autonomy and internal rewards). Furthermore, ownership structure and enterprise size significantly influence the pathways to identity construction. Based on these findings, three optimization strategies are proposed. First, internalizing role identity by standardizing qualifications and strengthening cultural development. Second, deepening social identity through enhanced team systems. Third, promoting the integration of role and social identity via regional collaborations to achieve sustainable development of modern apprenticeship programs and support long-term mechanisms for industry-education integration and skilled talent cultivation.

Key words: modern apprenticeship programs, enterprise masters, role identity, social identity