学校声望、专业回报还是专业适配性OA

Higher education choice is one of the most important decisions in the lives of Chinese students.Existing research has primarily focused on school prestige and major returns,which may not fully explain the distinctive choices involved in higher vocational education,where education is closely connected to regional industries.Using data from the 2022 Survey on the Current Situation of Vocational Education in China,this study employs machine learning algorithms to examine higher vocational students'choices across three dimensions:school prestige,major returns,and major fit.The findings show that regional industrial development is an important factor shaping students'choices of institutions and majors,while major fit emerges as a distinctive choice logic that differentiates higher vocational education from general higher education.Further analysis identifies four factors shaping students'choices:role goals associated with individual characteristics;the constraints and opportunities arising from family capital;employment opportunities and interests associated with regional industrial development;and relational rationality in decision-making based on informational resources and relational expectations embedded in social networks.Significant regional differences in choice mechanisms also emerge due to variations in industrial development and educational resources.Based on the mechanisms underlying higher vocational students'higher education choices,this study recommends improving the internal funding and admissions guidance systems of higher vocational education,further deepening the integration of industry and education,and establishing a nationwide industry-institution collaboration system for vocational colleges,thereby better helping students make higher vocational education choices suited to their individual circumstances.