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Table of Content

    01 April 2024, Volume 42 Issue 4 Previous Issue   
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    Problem Background, Structure Design and Path Planning of the Construction of Skilled Society in China
    Guoqing Xu, Shuaishuai Sun
    2024, 42 (4):  1-11.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.001
    Abstract ( 188 )   HTML ( 30 )   PDF (664KB) ( 181 )   Save

    The topic of “Construction of Skilled Society” is an important event as a historical turning point in the development of vocational education in China. It makes the development of vocational education shift from the internal factors of system construction to the external social conditions of system construction. The core task is to create conditions for the development of vocational education by building a skilled society, solve the deep social problems in the development of vocational education and meet the demand of industrial development for skilled talents. The process of skill formation includes four key links, namely, rational educational choice, rich skill training system, effective skill allocation and reasonable identification of skilled labor achievements, which constitute the basic structure of a skilled society. A reasonable concept of educational choice is the logical starting point for the construction of a skilled society. The factors that have a key impact on people’s concept of educational choice exist in three links: skill training system, skill allocation and the identification of skilled labor achievements. The construction of skilled society should focus on the key points of problem solving according to the interaction of various factors. According to the degree of difficulty in solving the problems of each factor, the construction process is planned; according to the function of each factor, the main body of the task of building a skilled society is planned, and targeted solutions are designed according to the nature of the role of each factor.

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    Chinese Characteristic Issues in the Construction of Skilled Society and Its Theoretical Expansion
    Xing Wang, Xuelian Wang
    2024, 42 (4):  12-22.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.002
    Abstract ( 176 )   HTML ( 14 )   PDF (650KB) ( 208 )   Save

    This paper focuses on the native and original concept “skilled society” and its construction. In particular, constructing skilled society needs to pay attention to Chinese characteristic issues. It is related to whether we can explain Chinese reality effectively. In this process, the role of “society”, labor market segmentation and urban-rural differentiation are all important Chinese characteristic issues. Noticing these, this paper uses local cases to present how China’s vocational education system supports the construction of skilled society from the interdisciplinary perspective of “grand vocational educationalism”. Through in-depth empirical analysis, the concept of “skilled society” gets theoretical enrichment. Meanwhile, the adaptability and interpretability of this concept have been improved. As can be seen, exploring the supporting role of vocational education system can provide a local path of skilled society construction in China.

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    Vocational Education and Employment of Skilled Talents in the Context of Construction of Skilled Society
    Po Yang, Linli Jiang, Sipei Xu
    2024, 42 (4):  23-38.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.003
    Abstract ( 217 )   HTML ( 19 )   PDF (1040KB) ( 316 )   Save

    The construction of a skilled society represents China’s central strategy in addressing the challenge of skill shortage. The key labor market development goals of such a society include a significant enhancement of skill capacity of general population, a marked decline in skill shortages across industries, sectors, and occupations, and an increasingly suitable spatial allocation of skills. Effective skill provision is pivotal for achieving these goals, and its realization hinges on the synergistic development of the national vocational education system and the labor market. Empirical analyses indicate that the expansion of China’s higher vocational education has augmented the overall stock of skill capital. The initial employment mobility of vocational college graduates has optimized the allocation of skilled talents across industries, sectors, and occupations. However, the allocation is influenced by the development of the digital/platform economy, gig economy, and emerging work modalities. A relatively high in-province employment rate and asymmetrical inter-city mobility of graduates might pose challenges for optimal spatial distribution of skills. The expansion of vocational education in China is a prerequisite for effective skill provision, yet its efficacy is contingent upon the evolution of labor market structures. To better leverage vocational education development in support of constructing a skilled society, it is imperative to rigorously study the recent shifts in labor market structures and their implications for vocational education and skilled talent allocation. Based on this, a well-informed strategy for the development of a skilled society should be formulated.

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    Skills Development for the World: Youth, Education and Employment
    Yan Chen, Jiaqian Wang, Xiaomin Zheng
    2024, 42 (4):  39-50.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.004
    Abstract ( 268 )   HTML ( 23 )   PDF (700KB) ( 368 )   Save

    Globally, scientific and technological progress has triggered industrial change, which has intensified the demand for highly skilled talents in the labor market. At the same time, with the popularization of higher education, the privilege of diplomas in the labor market has gradually faded, and countries have begun to explore the talent training model of “education+skills”. Skilled society, as a new social form, has attracted widespread attention. However, as a new force in the labor market, many young people face challenges in skills mastery, skills adaptation and skills use, and youth unemployment at home and abroad is a serious problem, which reflects the dislocation and imbalance between the supply of skills in the education system and the demand for skills in the job market. Under the trend of globalization, technological change and educational transformation, the optimization of the skills system has become an international affair, which needs to be strategically laid out from a global perspective, following a dual logic orientation, focusing on lifelong skills formation, but also considering the cooperation of countries in skills certification, skills governance and skills monitoring, and formulating an action framework for global skills development under both vertical and horizontal logics.

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    How Stable Employment Affects Skill Formation: A Historical Review Based on the Employment System of Chinese Enterprises
    Zheng Li
    2024, 42 (4):  51-62.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.005
    Abstract ( 130 )   HTML ( 15 )   PDF (962KB) ( 158 )   Save

    The formation of skills, especially specific skills, requires individuals to take root in a certain position for a long time of cultivation and exploration, which requires providing workers with a relatively stable work environment and employment security. In the planned economy period, state-owned enterprises in China implemented a planned employment system of unified contracting and allocation. Enterprises adopted methods such as labor competition, in-factory apprenticeship, and technical cooperation to promote individual skill formation. In the socialist market economy period, public-owned enterprises provided institutional guarantees for employment stability for some technical and skilled talents through Bianzhi system. At the same time, they further continued and innovated skills competitions, apprenticeship systems based on expert studios, and professional title evaluation systems to promote the formation of employees’ skills. Non-public owned enterprises, on the other hand, provided employees with reliable promises of stable employment through signing long-term contracts, prohibition of competition, and other measures, and by strengthening employee loyalty education, establishing internal channels for talent growth and mobility, establishing internal talent training systems and labor markets, and other measures to improve the efficiency of employee specific skills formation. Essentially, this is a re-balancing between the commodification and de-commodification of labor within enterprises in the socialist market economy environment. Enterprises respect and protect the characteristics and needs of workers as individuals with stable employment commitments, and leverage the value of labor as a factor of production through four mechanisms: apprenticeship inheritance, career development, championships, and internal recruitment. This mechanism is also influenced by the macro level of the national economic system and the standardized and orderly internal labor market within the industry. In the future, China’s employment policies, education policies, and social security policies should focus on promoting stable employment for social groups. It helps to build healthy, stable and predictable labor capital cooperation relationships by actively creating a stable employment system environment, enhancing the human resource development and skill formation capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises, and enhancing the structural and compliance of talent cultivation for vocational school-enterprise cooperation

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    Why They Want to Engage in Skills Work: A Study of German Youth’s Willingness to Invest in Skills from an Institutional Theory Perspective
    Yanfang He
    2024, 42 (4):  63-75.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.006
    Abstract ( 109 )   HTML ( 19 )   PDF (780KB) ( 176 )   Save

    The willingness of young people to invest in skills has a direct impact on the attractiveness of vocational education and on the human resource base for building a skills-based society. Compared with the reality of high youth unemployment caused by the low willingness of Chinese youth to invest in skills, Germany has made globally recognised achievements through vocational education to cultivate a qualified team of professional and skilled workers to support enterprise production and development. In answering the question “why German youth are willing to engage in skilled work” on the basis of institutional theory, the study found that the regulatory factors affecting German youth’s willingness to invest in skills include the degree of equality in labour relations, the degree of job protection, the degree of employment protection, the degree of unemployment protection and the degree of wage protection. Normative factors include occupational values, the value of skills qualifications and the degree of pay rewards. Cognitive factors include the level of professionalisation of skills work, the quality of the skills learning process and the diversity of development paths. The regulatory aspects of the system ensure German youth’s willingness to invest in skills, while normative factors inspire this willingness through values and practices. Cognitive elements turn into an inherent willingness for skills investment through the individual’s understanding of skilled work.

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    “Patience Capital” Inputs and the Skills Learning Guarantee for Chinese Youth
    Beijia Jiang, Qiuchen Wu
    2024, 42 (4):  76-87.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.007
    Abstract ( 144 )   HTML ( 16 )   PDF (679KB) ( 196 )   Save

    Skill formation, especially the formation of specialized skills, determines the competitive comparative advantage of countries and firms, and the formation of specialized skills is a lengthy process that is constrained not only by availability constraints but also by the ability to safeguard their availability. “Patience capital” plays an important role in guaranteeing the formation of specialized skills, which is reflected in Germany and other high-skilled economies by shaping a stable environment for the formation of specialized skills through the coordination of relations; recognizing the market employment attributes of apprenticeships and providing them with labor safety; and shaping comparative advantages by coupling with the complementary system of skill formation. China’s industrial development calls for more specialized skill formation. The protection of youth skill acquisition has evolved from “state-unit protection” embedded in the national economic system to “state-social security” emphasizing the market orientation. The existing problems are that the incentives for young people to engage in skills learning are more compensatory than developmental, and that there is no stable relationship between the relevant stakeholders for the formation of specialized skills. It is recommended that governments strengthen the investment of “patient capital” to support youth skills acquisition.

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    Vocational Qualification Certificate System Serving the Construction of Skilled Society: Historical Lineage, Internal Logic and Practical Paths
    Xiuhua Zhao
    2024, 42 (4):  88-96.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.008
    Abstract ( 125 )   HTML ( 7 )   PDF (586KB) ( 118 )   Save

    The construction of a skilled society is a strategic initiative to improve the overall skill quality level of society in the context of industrial structural transformation. The matching relationship between the supply and demand of skills in society determines the overall effect of the construction of a skilled society. The vocational qualification certificate system plays an important role in the process of coordinating the relationship between supply and demand of skills. Looking at the history of the development of the vocational qualification certificate system, it is found that the vocational qualification certificate system has experienced three major stages, namely, the high matching of skills supply and demand, the biased mismatch and the move towards matching, which correspond to the three major forms of the workers’ technical grade assessment system, the “dual certificate” system and the 1+X certificate system. The vocational qualification certificate system serves the construction of a skill-based society through the logical paths of enhancing the employment quality of VET graduates, evaluating the skill level of skill possessors, safeguarding the career of VET graduates, and bringing benefits to skill stakeholders. We should start by appropriately designing the idea of building a vocational qualification system and integrating the vocational qualification system with the construction of a skilled society, so as to further promote the practice of the vocational qualification system in serving the construction of a skilled society.

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    Study on the Path of Higher Vocational Colleges Serving the Construction of Skilled Society:Based on the Analysis of the Employment Flow of Graduates in 2022
    Yi Wang, Chen Liang, Hongbo Shi, Xiaojuan Li, Xujun Fang, Changchun Lu
    2024, 42 (4):  97-109.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.009
    Abstract ( 163 )   HTML ( 15 )   PDF (853KB) ( 132 )   Save

    The efficient and reasonable flow of talents is an important index of construction of skilled society. Drawing on the Annual Report on the Quality of Higher Vocational Education, data collection and management platform for personnel training in higher vocational colleges and the website of the National Bureau of Statistics, this study conducted an in-depth analysis of the regional characteristics, enterprise characteristics and industrial characteristics of the employment flow of graduates of national vocational colleges in 2022. The results show that the overall employment retention rate of vocational college graduates in 2022 is not high, and the employment flow of graduates is consistent with the overall development of the national economy, but the proportion of the primary and secondary industries is low, while the proportion of the tertiary industry is high, and there is still a large gap in the level of talent training requirements for regions and large enterprises. Therefore, in the process of training skilled talents, higher vocational colleges should highlight the characteristics of adaptation, enhance cross-border thinking, pay attention to system structure, deepen the integration of production and education, and strive to improve the adaptability, flexibility, coordination and subjectivity of talent training.

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    Research on Diversification in Higher Education: A Perspective from Construction of Skilled Society
    Jie Zheng, Jinlin Lan, Mengting Li
    2024, 42 (4):  110-122.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2024.04.010
    Abstract ( 149 )   HTML ( 28 )   PDF (955KB) ( 169 )   Save

    The pursuit of diversified development remains pivotal in fostering the connotation construction of higher education. In the context of construction of skilled society, achieving this diversification necessitates adjustments across three key facets: addressing multi-tiered skill demands, adopting versatile educational approaches, and ensuring sustainability within such a societal framework. Since the expansion of higher education in the late 1990s, China has achieved diversification of higher education in form, but the constraints within the evaluation and management mechanism of higher education, the rigidity of educational goals and systems, and the overemphasis on higher-tier education have led to a serious trend of institutional homogenization, resulting in unitary education provision, which makes it difficult to support the construction of a skilled society. To further support the construction of a skilled society, Chinese higher education institutions are suggested to direct their attention towards the cognitive requisites of diverse skilled individuals. This entails tailored classification and development strategies, a deep understanding of skill acquisition patterns, and a concerted effort to enrich horizontal diversity. Concurrently, the state and the government need to actively facilitate reforms in the evaluation and management of higher education institutions to create an institutional environment for the diversified development of higher education.

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