Employment Skills in Tertiary Work-Based Learning: A Multiple-Stakeholder Investigation into China’s “3 + 1” Programs

Rapid economic development and globalization have reshaped the labor market, demanding a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. Tertiary education institutions worldwide have increasingly incorporated work-based learning into their curricula to close the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills. In China, the “3 + 1” programs, combining three years of academic study with one year of practical training, have emerged as a prominent work-based learning model. Despite the strategic importance of these programs, critical gap in consensus remains regarding the specific employment skills that should be imparted, leading to unemployment or underemployment of graduates and employer dissatisfaction. This qualitative study explores the employment skills expected from students in China’s “3 + 1” programs and identifies factors contributing to effective program organization. Through insights gathered from in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, including 28 students, educators, and employers, the study highlights the importance of industry-academia collaboration, curriculum relevance and flexibility, professional development for educators, enhanced work placement quality, and effective feedback mechanisms. The findings suggest that these strategies can promote effective work-based learning, equipping graduates with the essential skills emphasized by multiple stakeholders in the study, such as technical proficiency, problem solving, effective communication, teamwork and cooperation, adaptability and agility, digital literacy and technological skills, innovation and creativity, and initiative and proactivity. The study offers implications for both educational institutions and policymakers aiming to improve graduate employability, particularly by enhancing the quality of the “3 + 1” programs through the effective integration of academic studies and industrial training.