James Li (left) and Dr. He (right)
Guojing “James” Li — a visiting scholar to Indiana State University this year in the field of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management — is working with Dr. Wei He, Associate Professor of Management, to conduct a comparative study on the career readiness competencies of Chinese and American college graduates. He is a doctoral student studying in the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China in Beijing.
Li decided to team up with Indiana State University because of its high standards, commitment to student success, and its world-class faculty within the Scott College of Business.
“Career Adaptability is one of my favorite research subjects, and my work aims to gauge various forms of personal competencies in the context of an individual’s career preparation,” he said. “I have collaborated with Dr. He previously on research initiatives and we are excited to explore career readiness competencies between students in China and the United States.”
“We aim to publish a paper on occupational competence review, which is a significant issue in the field of workplace research. Competencies are important for all levels of employees but especially for recent college graduates starting their careers. We will use this study as a form of reference that includes theoretical ideas and practical advice based on our research findings,”
Dr. He believes that “this work is crucial for our students, especially our seniors and new graduates. Students come to us not only for knowledge but also for career skills, or what we refer to as professional preparation. We focus on teaching these kinds of principles to our students among many others. So we strive to find out what’s actually important to them and how they can develop their job skill sets through teaching and advising our students.”
The research will be implemented in two phases. First by submitting a paper to the Academy of Management 2023 conference where they will present the Chinese perspective on career readiness competencies through a systematic review of literature and contrasting them with the commonly accepted National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) eight competencies. In the second phase, the researchers will survey recent college graduates in China and the United States for comparison.
Apart from the research, Li will also share his academic experience with colleagues and business students during his one-year stay at ISU and looks forward to meeting new people from different backgrounds and making life-long connections.
Article by Rozina Punjwani