Research On The Impact Of Graduate Student Extracurricular Activity Participation On Employability

Employability is increasingly becoming a hot topic in higher education research at home and abroad.Focusing on the employability of postgraduate students,this study answers the following questions: First,what is the current situation of the employability of master’s students in China,and what are the differences in the employability of master’s students from different backgrounds? Secondly,how does postgraduate students’ extra-curricular activity involvement affect their subject understanding? Third,how does postgraduate students’ extra-curricular activity involvement affect their skills? Fourth,how does postgraduate students’ extra-curricular activity involvement affect their personal qualities? Fifth,how does postgraduate students’ extra-curricular activity involvement affect their metacognition?Sixth,how does postgraduate students’ extra-curricular activity involvement impact on overall employability?To address the above questions,this study developed an employability assessment tool for master’s students,based on the USEM model to describe the status of master’s students’ employability and its four dimensions-understanding,skills,personal qualities,and metacognition-by means of a questionnaire,and analyzed the differences in master’s students’ employability and its sub-dimensions in terms of individual student characteristics as well as institutional characteristics.The study further explored the specific effects of master’s students’ extracurricular activity participation on employability and its four dimensions.The following conclusions were drawn: First,the overall employability of master’s students is at a moderate to high level and shows different individual differences.The employability of master’s students and its four sub-dimensions show group differences mainly at the level of gender and student cadre experience.The self-evaluation of employability of male students is significantly higher than that of female students;the work experience of student cadres promotes the employability of master’s students.The study also found that factors such as environmental support,motivation and behaviour to participate and type of activity received by master’s students in extra-curricular activities had different roles and functions on their employability.Firstly,both institutional and tutor support can significantly enhance the employability of master’s students,and tutor support has a greater impact than institutional support.Secondly,students’ internal motivation and participation behaviour also significantly contribute to the employability of master’s degree students,and the effect of internal motivation is greater than that of participation behaviour.Thirdly,academic,scientific and entrepreneurial activities and internship activities significantly contribute to the employability of postgraduate students,while the influence of other types of extra-curricular activities is not significant.Academic,scientific and entrepreneurial activities and internship activities significantly contribute to the subject comprehension and skill dimensions of graduate students’ employability.Academic,scientific and entrepreneurial activities and club activities have a significant effect on the personal quality dimension of graduate students’ employability.The metacognitive dimension of graduate students’ employability is also significantly promoted by academic,scientific and entrepreneurial activities.Based on the above findings,in order to promote the employability of master’s degree students,this study makes the following recommendations: firstly,institutions should further optimise the organisation of extracurricular activities and provide more opportunities for participation;secondly,institutions should focus on the role of tutors in postgraduate education;thirdly,institutions should focus on stimulating students’ internal motivation to participate in extracurricular activities.For postgraduates,they should understand themselves correctly,plan their careers well,improve their enthusiasm and initiative in participating in extra-curricular activities,and strengthen their communication with their supervisors.