Self-control is an important cornerstone for the academic achievement and long term successful development of college students. This study developed a localized system of observation indicators for self-control based on a systematic review of the multidimensional theoretical concepts of self-control and the behavioral manifestations of self-control deficiency among Chinese college students. Using China’s longitudinal data of college students, it explored the driving effects and mechanisms through which self-control influences academic achievement. The findings indicated that self-control deficiency among Chinese college students manifests in characteristics such as failure in controlling efforts, failure in delaying gratification, unhealthy sleep habits, and symptoms of digital distraction across academic, daily life, and online domains. Through the mediating role of academic engagement, self-control significantly drives both concurrent and long-term academic achievement of students. This study offers scientific support for higher education institutions to enhance self-control among students and safeguard the caliber of talent cultivation.
To investigate the moderating role of grit between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions and explore the psychological mechanism underlying these moderating effects, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of 1,002 college students. The results showed that the consistency of interest dimension of grit plays a moderating role between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions. The positive predictive effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions only exists in the college students with higher consistency of interest dimension of grit. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy serves as a mediator in the moderating effect of the consistency of interest dimension of grit. The moderating effect of the perseverance of effort dimension of grit is insignificant, while it can positively predict entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The above findings indicated that entrepreneurship education can generate different effects depending on the grit level of students. Therefore, entrepreneurship education programs are suggested to be tailor made and cultivate grit to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education.
Based on survey data from 2,531 undergraduates and interview materials from 15 undergraduates, this study explored the mechanism of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on college students’ creativity. The results showed that GenAI is a double-edged sword, which promotes self-regulated learning among college students while exacerbating academic misconduct such as plagiarism. GenAI does not directly shape college students’creativity. Instead, its impact on students’ creativity depends on their self-regulated learning and their awareness of ethical boundaries in the use of GenAI. The key factors leading to GenAI plagiarism and stifling college students’ creativity include the tension between the convenience of technology, the utilitarian learning approach fostered by meritocracy, and the contradiction between weak awareness of academic ethics and inadequate supervision. Self-regulated learning can reduce GenAI plagiarism by college students while lessening the negative impact of such GenAI plagiarism on their creativity. It is essential to enhance the self-regulated learning of college students, enable them to deal rationally with intelligent technology, and reduce the inappropriate use of GenAI for leveraging this technology to enhance their creativity.
Based on personality trait theory and experiential learning theory, lots of studies have revealed a reverse causal relationship between volunteering and the non-cognitiveabilities of college students. Using data from a longitudinal survey of college students in Hunan Province, China, this study employed the difference-in-differences method to examine the causal relationship between volunteering and non-cognitive abilities, aiming to determine whether volunteering screens or cultivates the non-cognitive abilities of college students. The findings confirmed the screening effect of volunteering on extraversion and conscientiousness and the cultivating effect on agreeableness. However, there was neither a screening effect nor a cultivating effect on emotional stability and openness. It is indicated that volunteering during college primarily screens the non-cognitive abilities of students through personality trait mechanisms, with a limited cultivating effect on non-cognitive abilities. This highlights the necessity to prompt a re-evaluation of how volunteering fulfills its educational function.
With the increasingly prominent phenomenon of employment difficulty, it is of great practical significance to cultivate college students’ career adaptability and support their smooth transition from the campus to the workplace. This study focused on college students and explored the operational mechanisms of self-leadership on career adaptability based on career construction theory, verifying the mediating effect of professional commitment and the moderating effect of social support. The research findings demonstrate that self-leadership exerts a positive impact on career adaptability. Additionally, professional commitment plays a partial mediating role between self leadership and career adaptability, while social support functions as a moderating factor in the correlation between self-leadership and career adaptability. Notably, self-leadership exhibits a stronger positive predictive effect on the career adaptability of individuals with low social support. To enhance the career adaptability of students, it is necessary for higher education institutions (HEIs) to respect their subjectivity, emphasize self management, and cultivate self-leadership. Furthermore, it is suggested that HEIs focus on the professional intention and learning interest of students, improving professional commitment through methods such as increasing the proportion of independent enrollment in the National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) and expanding opportunities for changing majors during their undergraduate studies. Lastly, it is conducive to implementing categorized management and providing social support in a personalized fashion during career guidance to promote college students’ career development, considering both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
This study empirically explored how the five key input factors in higher education affectthe value added in college students’ core competencies in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), utilizing data from a 2019 graduate employment sample survey focusing on value added contributions. The findings were summarized as follows: (1) A convergence phenomenon was observed in developing core competencies within Chinese higher education, where students from regular undergraduate universities, despite having moderate academic advantages, exhibited weaker value-added growth across multiple core competencies. (2) Higher education institutions (HEIs) continued to serve as the primary platform for cultivating students’ core competencies, with curriculum delivery being the most significant practical factor in shaping these competencies. Interdisciplinary courses strongly contributed to higher-order core competencies such as innovation and creativity. (3) The contribution of input factors to different core competencies varied significantly across HEIs. Although institutions under the Double First-Class Initiative appeared to have lower net contributions compared to higher vocational colleges, this gap was offset by their students’ more advantageous individual endowments and family backgrounds. This study suggests reforms in classified management and evaluation systems, curriculum design, and faculty and teaching to ensure students acquire the higher-order thinking skills and competencies necessary to adapt to emerging technologies and effectively respond to continuous changes.