The Evolution of China’s Vocational Education Policy With Regard to the Integration of Industry and Education: A Combined LDA and Word2vec Approach

Vocational education is crucial for cultivating skilled talent, and the integration of industry and education plays a pivotal role in this process. This study employs a combination of latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and word embedding (Word2vec) models to analyze 27 Chinese vocational education policies on industry-education integration issued between 2014 and 2023. The analysis identifies two distinct stages of policy evolution: an initial phase (2014–2018) characterized by national-level strategic guidance and broad frameworks, and a subsequent phase (2019–2023) marked by regional implementation, refined governance structures. Over time, policy focus has shifted in three key ways: from national to regional strategic design, from flexible to structured organizational frameworks, and from basic talent cultivation to a more comprehensive industry-education synergy. By applying semantic analysis to vocational education policy research, this study offers a structured approach for tracking policy evolution and provides a replicable framework for analyzing vocational education policies globally. The findings contribute to the discourse on industry-education integration and offer practical insights for policymakers aiming to enhance vocational education systems.