Research on the Impact of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education on College Students' Employability

Abstract

With the overlap of higher education expansion and changes in the occupational environment, cultivating the employability of college students has always attracted extensive research attention. By defining the concept evolution of innovation and entrepreneurship education and the structure of employability, we built up a theoretical analytical framework about their relationship. Our results indicate that there are three paths for innovation and entrepreneurship education impacting employability (human capital accumulation, cognitive ability transformation, and psychological resource activation), however, the infusion of innovative thinking, mediation of non-cognitive abilities, and signal recognition constitutes the core transmission chain but the effect is moderated by individual characteristics, course intensity, and teaching adaptability; the structural tension between the curriculum system and teaching methods constitutes the efficacy constraint. According to our findings, we proposed a tiered and progressive optimization path and a closed-loop improvement mechanism providing a theoretical reference on understanding the educational value of innovation and entrepreneurship education optimizing the educational supply strategy.