Current Situation of College Students’ Entrepreneurship and Employment in the Countryside in the Context of Rural Revitalization

Xu FANG1*, Xingchen HU

1.School of Finance, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China; 2.School of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China

Abstract Focusing on the talent training in the strategy of revitalizing the countryside, this paper uses questionnaire survey, field survey, descriptive statistics, chi-square test and other methods to study the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside" to contribute to rural development after graduation, as well as the influencing factors. The results show that the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside" is negative after graduation, and engaging in rural education and returning to their hometown to start a business is the mainstream will of college students to "go to the countryside". The one-sidedness of the understanding of rural areas, less employment opportunities, low wages, poor infrastructure conditions and the views of the older generation are the important reasons that hinder college students from "going to the countryside". The good environment in rural areas and the guidance of policies are the biggest promoting factors for "going to the countryside". The willingness of rural college students to "go to the countryside" is significantly higher than that of urban college students. The freshman’s willingness to "go to the countryside" is the most positive, and the graduate students’ willingness to "go to the countryside" is the most negative. The college students majoring in agriculture are most willing to support the development of rural areas, while the students of "medicine", "literature" and "art" are most unwilling to "go to the countryside". Whether or not to participate in the "volunteer activities for the country people" has no impact on the willingness to "go to the countryside".

Key words Rural revitalization, Willingness to "go to the countryside", Questionnaire survey, Chi-square test

1 Introduction

The backwardness of rural areas is a major problem and challenge encountered in the process of long-term economic development in China, and the lack of talents is a main reason for the backwardness of rural areas. With the rapid process of urbanization in China, a series of reasons, such as low rural income, few employment opportunities, and backward infrastructure, have led to a large number of rural labor forces flowing to the city, which further aggravates the degree of shortage of rural talents. With the implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization, today’s college students’ views on rural grass-roots development are changing. More and more people are willing to devote themselves to the construction of the countryside, and this group is slowly beginning to become an important driving force for the revitalization of the countryside[1]. However, due to the influence of old ideas, only a few college students are willing to "go to the countryside", and the demand for talents in rural construction is still in short supply.

The revitalization of the countryside is inseparable from the support and leadership of the "country gentleman" and "rural sages". Therefore, starting from the talent training in rural revitalization strategy, this paper studies the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside" to contribute to rural development after graduation. This paper also deeply explores the differences in the will of different groups of college students, and analyzes the factors that promote and hinder the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside". Finally, this paper puts forward some suggestions for the relevant departments to introduce talents to the countryside and promote rural development.

2 Basic situation of survey

2.1 Survey objectivesFocusing on the talent training in rural revitalization strategy, this paper investigates the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside" to contribute to rural development after graduation. This paper also deeply explores the differences in the willingness of different groups of college students, and analyzes the factors that promote and hinder the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside". Finally, this paper attempts to put forward relevant suggestions for the relevant departments to introduce talents to the countryside and promote rural development.

2.2 RespondentsUsing the way of online questionnaire, we searched and added 50 QQ and WeChat groups of college students via the Internet, taking the college students in the group as the research object.

2.3 Design and recovery of questionnairesAccording to the survey objectives, the questionnaire design is mainly divided into four aspects. The first is the survey of basic information of the respondents. We investigated the basic characteristics of the respondents through the information of their registered permanent residence, grade and major. The second is to investigate the degree of college students’ attention to the issues of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", participation in "volunteer activities for the country people" and understanding of the country’s specific talent training policy. The third is to analyze the factors that hinder and promote college students to "go to the countryside". The fourth is the investigation of college students’ expectations and suggestions for the future development trend of rural areas.

Electronic questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected college students in QQ and WeChat groups. Four questionnaires were randomly selected from all the questionnaires collected in each group, and a total of 200 questionnaires were collected[2]. After preliminary screening, 188 valid questionnaires were obtained (Table 1), with an effective rate of 94.0%.

Table 1 Distribution of basic characteristics of samples

BasiccharacteristicsClassificationNumber ofpersonsProportion%Registered perm- Urban 6434.04anent residenceRural 12465.96GradeFreshman2613.83Sophomore3418.09Junior8947.34Senior2613.83Graduated136.91MajorEconomics5026.60Pedagogy105.32Literature63.19Science and engineering5931.38Agriculture115.85Medicine126.38Arts21.06Others3820.21

3 Survey and analysis of the situation of "going to the countryside" for college students

3.1 The present situation of "going to the countryside" for college students

3.1.1The degree of attention to "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" and participation in "volunteer activities for the country people". College students pay less attention to the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Of the 188 valid questionnaires collected, the groups who paid "special attention", "regular attention", "occasional attention" and "no attention" to "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", accounted for 14.89%, 11.17%, 46.28% and 25.53% of the total number of valid respondents, respectively. The groups paying "occasional attention" and "no attention" are in the majority. They rarely participate in activities to experience rural living conditions such as "volunteer activities for the country people". In the survey of the participation in the "volunteer activities for the country people", the students who had participated in the "volunteer activities for the country people" accounted for only 31.91%, which was far lower than the proportion (68.09%) of students who had never participated in the activities. Thus it can be seen that the "volunteer activities for the country people" are not widely accepted by college students.

3.1.2Willingness to "go to the countryside". Using the Likert scale, the willingness to "go to the countryside" is divided into five levels, with "very willing" assigned a value of 5, "willing" assigned a value of 4, "unclear" assigned a value of 3, "unwilling" assigned a value of 2, and "very unwilling" assigned a value of 1[3]. The average value of willingness to return home is 2.112, which is lower than the median value of 3. The total sample mode was 2, and the number of people who chose "unwilling" was the largest, accounting for 40.06% of the total. 26.06% of the people were "unclear", and 68.09% were "very unwilling" and "unwilling", far higher than the proportion (5.85%) of the people who were "very willing" and "willing". Therefore, from the point of view of the average level and the total sample, the willingness of the surveyed college students to "go to the countryside" tends to be negative.

3.1.3The intention of "going to the countryside". Through the previous investigation, it can be found that the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside" is generally low. In order to improve the effectiveness of the questionnaire results, the survey team designed question related to "job orientation" as hypothetical question: "If you choose to stay in the countryside after graduation, in what way will you develop?" The results show that the education cause in rural areas is the most popular position for the college students surveyed. About 51.6% of the respondents were willing to engage in rural education, followed by the willingness to start a business in rural areas, accounting for 40.43% of the respondents. It was then followed by the willingness to engage in administrative undertakings and individual businesses, accounting for 38.51% and 10.16%, respectively.

The returning to their hometown for farming was the position that college students of all majors want to avoid, which also shows that the lack of agricultural production talents with advanced technology is one of the great challenges facing the countryside today and even in the future[4].

3.1.4Understanding of the talent training mechanism for "going to the countryside". In recent years, in order to implement the strategy of rural revitalization and train rural construction talents, the government has established a series of preferential policies and systems, such as "college student village official", "three supports and one assistance", "rural practical talent training base", "free medical students", and "free normal students"[5]. However, the results of this series of policies are not significant. Through enquiries on the relevant information, we have listed the five most common national policies and systems, as well as "other" options, a total of six items. The degree of understanding of respondents is judged by the number of items selected. The results showed that the number of respondents selecting all the 6 items was the least, accounting for only 3.15% of all the respondents. And the proportion of respondents selecting 5 items, 4 items and 3 items was 10.36%, 20.54% and 25.62%, respectively. The number of people who chose only two items was the largest, reaching 30.06% of all respondents. The number of people who chose one item accounted for 10.27%. On average, each person understood 3.001 1 items, which was lower than the middle level of 3.5. This shows that although under the national publicity of the rural talent training system, college students’ understanding of the policy of "going to the countryside" is still insufficient, and the government has problems in the publicity of the training mechanism of rural revitalization.

3.2 Analysis of the factors influencing "going to the countryside" among college studentsThe biggest obstacle for college students to "go to the countryside" after graduation is the problem of employment. The number of people who thought that "there are fewer employment opportunities in rural areas" was the largest, accounting for 77.15%, and the number of people who thought that "income is low in rural areas" accounted for 74.28%. Secondly, the number of people who thought that the obstacle was opposition from parents, accounting for about 69.43%. Finally, the people thought that the major problem was "inconvenient transportation", "no promising future in rural areas", "few entertainment facilities", or "difficulty in finding lover", accounting for 52.15%, 48.17%, 31.25% and 28.16% of the respondents, respectively. The results of the survey of promoting factors show that the most attractive factor for college students to "go to the countryside" after graduation is the good environment and policy guidance in rural areas, involving 47.78% of all respondents. The second reason is that parents live in rural areas and they want to "go to the countryside", involving about 45.21%, and 35.64% of the respondents may "go to the countryside" because of their personal planning management.

4 A comparative study on the willingness of different groups of college students to "go to the countryside"

In order to analyze the differences in willingness of different groups of college students to "go to the countryside" more plainly and clearly, this paper regards "very willing" and "willing" as having a positive attitude towards "going to the countryside". College students who are "very unwilling" and "unwilling" are regarded as having a negative attitude towards "going to the countryside". Chi-square test and statistical analysis methods are used to verify the correlation between the willingness to "go to the countryside" and the characteristics of different groups, as well as the differences in willingness to "go to the countryside" between different college students.

4.1 Chi-square test

4.1.1Analysis of registered permanent residence differences. According to the statistical results of the questionnaire, we can get the contingency table of the willingness of college students with different registered permanent residence to "go to the countryside". According to Table 1, the degree of freedom is 2, the significance levelα=0.1 is selected, and the chi-square critical value is calculated to be 4.605 2. Table 2 shows the observed value of willingness, and the expected values are obtained according to the maximum likelihood estimation (Table 3).

The formula of chi-square value is as follows:

whereAis the observed value andEis the expected value.

The chi-square value is calculated to be 4.727 5, which is greater than the chi-square critical value of 4.605 2. Therefore, there is a certain correlation between college students’ willingness to "go to the countryside" and registered permanent residence, that is, there are differences between college students with urban registered residence and those with rural registered residence. And from the survey results, rural college students are more positive to "go to the countryside".

Table 2 The observed value of willingness of college students with different registered permanent residence to "go to the countryside"

Registeredpermanent residencePositiveattitudeNegativeattitudeUnclearTotalRural107935124Urban1491464Total1112849188

Table 3 The expected value of willingness of college students with different registered permanent residence to "go to the countryside"

Registeredpermanent residencePositiveattitudeNegativeattitudeUnclearTotalRural7.255 384.425 532.319 2124Urban3.744 743.574 416.680 964Total1112849188

4.1.2Analysis on the difference of participation in "volunteer activities for the country people". Table 4 is contingency table of the differences in the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside". Chi-square test is used to verify the difference of willingness to "go to the countryside" between the college students who participated in the "volunteer activities for the country people" and the college students who did not participate in the "volunteer activities for the country people". The chi-square critical value is 4.605 2 and the chi-square value is 2.754 1, which is less than 4.605 2. Therefore, whether or not to participate in the "volunteer activities for the country people" has no impact on the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside". To a certain extent, this also shows that the influence effect of "volunteer activities for the country people" is low under the current situation, and it has not changed the view of college students to the countryside in essence.

Table 4 The difference of participation in "volunteer activities for the country people" and differences in the willingness of college students to "go to the countryside"

Participated in the "vol-unteer activities for the country people"? PositiveattitudeNegativeattitudeUnclearTotalYes6391560No58934128Total1112849188

4.2 Statistical analysis and testIn the contingency table of grade difference and major difference, there is the frequency of less than 1, so the condition of chi-square test is not satisfied. Therefore, the willingness to "go to the countryside" among college students of different grades and different majors is statistically analyzed to verify the difference of "going to the countryside".

Fig.1 shows that the number of freshmen who have a positive attitude towards "going to the countryside" after graduation accounts for the largest proportion, at about 15.38%. From sophomore year, with the increase of grade, the proportion of college students who have a positive attitude towards "going to the countryside" is gradually declining. This shows that the life and experience of the university will reduce the willingness to "go to the countryside" to a certain extent. There has been a new increase in the proportion of seniors who hold a positive attitude because of the competition for work or the study pressure. From the survey results of graduated college students, we can see that the proportion of people who have a positive attitude towards "going to the countryside" is almost 0. According to our in-depth online interviews, it is found that this is caused by "poor conditions of rural facilities" and "parental opposition".

Fig.1 Differences in willingness of college students of different grades to "go to the countryside"

Fig.2 shows that college students majoring in agriculture are most willing to support the development of rural areas, and the number of people with a positive attitude accounts for 36.36% of the number of "agriculture" majors surveyed, followed by "pedagogy", "economics" and "science and engineering" majors, and the students with positive attitudes account for 10%, 8% and 3.39%, respectively. The students of "medicine", "literature" and "art " have the most negative attitude towards "going to the countryside". This result corresponds to the existing vacancies in rural areas.

Fig.2 Differences in willingness of college students of different majors to "go to the countryside"

5 Conclusions and recommendations

Based on the above analysis, we can draw the following conclusions: (i) Nowadays, college students pay little attention to the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and rarely participate in "volunteer activities for the country people" to experience the living conditions in the countryside, and the willingness to "go to the countryside" after graduation is more negative. Engaging in rural education and returning to their hometown to start a business is the mainstream will of college students to "go to the countryside". (ii) The publicity and popularization of policies related to talent training for rural revitalization are weak, and college students do not have enough understanding of them. (iii) The one-sidedness of the understanding of rural areas, few employment opportunities, low wages, poor infrastructure conditions and the views of the older generation are the important reasons that hinder college students from "going to the countryside". The good environment in rural areas and the guidance of policies are the biggest promoting factors for "going to the countryside". As far as the difference of registered permanent residence is concerned, the willingness of rural college students to "go to the countryside" is significantly higher than that of urban college students. As far as the grade difference is concerned, the freshman’s willingness to "go to the countryside" after graduation is the most positive, while the willingness of college students who have graduated to "go to the countryside" is the most negative. For the college students of different majors, the students majoring in agriculture are most willing to support the development of rural areas, and the students of "medicine", "literature" and "art" have the most negative willingness to "go to the countryside". Whether or not to participate in the "volunteer activities for the country people" has no impact on the willingness to "go to the countryside".

Therefore, the government should strengthen the publicity of issues concerning "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", make more college students understand "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", go into rural areas and experience rural life, devote themselves to solving the problems of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" and support the revitalization of rural areas. At the same time, the government should improve the construction of rural infrastructure, improve rural living standards, improve the external attractiveness of rural areas, and consider the actual needs of rural development to formulate personalized training programs to train advanced technical personnel. Nowadays, college students should also change their ideas and contribute their part to the revitalization of the countryside.