Student Insights on Fostering Sustainable Careers in China

Abstract

This chapter uses data from China to respond to the five propositions set out by Donald et al. in career development international by discussing the factors that graduates view as primarily important when they strive for a sustainable competitive advantage in the labor market. The authors designed a mixed methods approach to examine the relationships between the core elements of the five propositions—career ownership (P1), career satisfaction (P2), human capital (P3), transferable skills (P4), and flexible working (P5)—and employability and career sustainability. Our findings show that P1, P3, and P4 are well-supported in the Chinese context, while P2 and P5 had mixed responses. The main contribution of our work is that it answers the call by Donald et al. and Holmes to show how the meso-level factors (e.g., labor market structure) shape graduates' views of these propositions. The authors also discuss the practical implications of our findings for graduates, universities, and society.