Student Insights on Fostering Sustainable Careers in China: Implications for Universities and Employers

Introduction

Globalization, geopolitics, technological progress, knowledge work, economic uncertainty, and organizational change shape contemporary careers (Hirschi, 2018; Matzhanova et al., 2021). Unstable and precarious work (Hofstetter & Rosenblatt, 2017) is replacing predictable, linear career paths, and it is individuals, not organizations, who bear the risks and responsibilities associated with such work (Baruch & Rousseau, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased dangers and uncertainties for future careers (Donald, 2020; Hite & McDonald, 2020).

Recently, higher education and career studies (Ma & Bennett, 2021; van Harten et al., 2022) increasingly emphasize the importance of employability. The concept of employability is vital to understanding today’s labor market (e.g., the transition from university to work). Higher education’s economic purpose dominates relevant public policies worldwide, and graduate labor market outcomes (e.g., wages, skills, and job offers) are used as indicators of educational quality (Durazzi, 2021). Similarly, employers increasingly expect individuals to take responsibility for their careers and develop career resilience (Donald et al., 2022). For students, employability also matters regarding scholarly engagement and life and academic satisfaction (Ma & Bennett, 2021). Employability seems to be regarded as a panacea by all the stakeholders involved in addressing employment issues and maintaining career sustainability.

Against this background, Donald et al. (2020) have proposed ten propositions (five for graduates and five for employers) to reconcile the differing needs of graduates and employers, which can be competing or complementary in nature. These authors have explored in detail the important factors that graduates and employers consider when they strive to develop a competitive advantage in the labor market. Although the article has attracted wide attention since its publication (Donald & Ford, 2023; Healy et al., 2022), its propositions have not yet been empirically examined.

This chapter responds to the call by Donald et al. (2020) by empirically examining the five propositions for graduates in China. Our research contribution is as follows. First, we use purposive sampling to better understand the labor market experience of employees in China by diversifying our respondents regarding gender, years of working experience, and an organizational grouping of employees (work units, danwei in Chinese). Employers can critically reflect on the propositions based on their personal experience. This reflection advances the contribution by Donald et al. (2020), which looked at new graduates (both undergraduates and postgraduates) in a Western context.

Moreover, in addition to the factors (academic institution, degree program, age, gender, disability) that may impact employees’ lived experiences, as suggested by Donald et al. (2020), our paper shows that labor market structures also influence students’ opinions on the propositions. This is particularly evident in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter is organized as follows. Section two presents the theoretical framework. Section three introduces the research context, describing the labor market conditions in China and the impact of COVID-19 on them. Section four describes the data collection process and presents the findings. Section five discusses the findings in relation to the existing literature and concludes the chapter.