The Impact of Structured College-Industry Collaboration Programs on Graduate Employability: A Study of Four Key Collaboration Types in Jinan, Shandong’s Higher Vocational Institutions

Abstract

College–industry collaboration is widely promoted as a strategy for enhancing graduate employability in vocational education. However, empirical evidence remains mixed, partly because collaboration is often treated as a single, undifferentiated construct. This study examines how four distinct forms of college–industry collaboration, namely curriculum development collaboration, internship collaboration, research project collaboration, and knowledge exchange collaboration, are associated with graduate employability in higher vocational institutions in Shandong Province. Stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 1,124 senior students, recent graduates, and collaborative faculty from three major vocational institutions, including senior students, recent graduates, and faculty members involved in collaborative activities. The measures captured the four collaboration dimensions and graduate employability as a multidimensional construct encompassing technical competence, job readiness, adaptability, and career confidence. Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted in SPSS to test the hypothesized relationships. The results showed that all four types of collaboration were positively linked to graduate employability and together accounted for a large part of the differences in employability outcomes. Regression findings revealed that research project collaboration was the strongest predictor of graduate employability, followed by knowledge exchange collaboration and internship collaboration. In contrast, curriculum development collaboration, although significant, exhibited the weakest unique effect.