The Influence of University Students’ Social Practice on Employability: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

Abstract

              The phenomenon that university students graduate, namely unemployment, and it is difficult for the labor demand side to recruit suitable talents coexist, which gives birth to the research on the employability of university students. Previous studies have shown that due to the expansion of higher education and the intensification of industrial competition, the labor demand side pays more attention to the career orientation, values, expectations and career decision-making ability possessed by graduates, as well as the adaptability to positions, these are difficult to obtain and form informal classes. It is an important guarantee for the continuous development of the society to improve the employment ability of university students and enhance their ability to obtain jobs, maintain careers, develop careers and continuously gain breakthroughs and realize personal values in their career, and values, especially professional values, are important factors that affect employability. The professional values of university students refer to the persistent tendency, a profound influence on university students’ career choice, and the stable inner scale reflected in the process of university students' career choice according to their own needs. This study explores the cultivation and promotion of university students' social practice and employment ability as well as the role of professional values in it.
            In the quantitative research, the university students' social practice has a significant impact on the three dimensions of employability. At the same time, there is a significant positive correlation between university students' professional values and employability. In addition, the intermediary analysis shows that professional values play a partial intermediary role in the relationship between university students' social practice and employability, indicating that there is a close relationship between the three. In qualitative analysis, interviews were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of 25 university students' participation in social practice and to collect relevant information on employability and professional values. Research shows that social practice activities have played an obvious role in cultivating university students' ability to bear hardships and stand hard work, sense of responsibility, interpersonal communication ability, organizational coordination ability, social adaptability, and teamwork ability.