Exploring how family environmental factors influence the employability of higher education students majoring in elderly care management in Hubei Province, China

Oct 15, 2026

This study is grounded in ecological systems theory to examine how family environmental factors affect the employability of higher education students specializing in elderly care management in Hubei Province, China. Using qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews, it applies purposive sampling and snowball sampling with employers, teachers, students, and their family members. Financial support shows the strongest influence, followed by values and beliefs, informational support, and finally family expectations, offering actionable insights for employability enhancement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Abstract

Introduction

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 13(2), pp. 125-135, April 2025 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.132.25.013 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Exploring how family environmental factors influence the employability of higher education students majoring in elderly care management in Hubei Province, China Xian Zhao and Jirawan Deeprasert* Rattanakosin International College of Creative Entrepreneurship, Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, 73170, Thailand. Accepted 3 April, 2025 | ABSTRACT
This study is based on ecological systems theory to investigate the impact of family environment on the employability of higher education elderly care management students in Hubei Province, China. Understanding the relationships between these factors is particularly important for enhancing students'employability. This study uses qualitative research methods to conduct an in-depth interview through semistructured questions. First, purposive sampling was used to select respondents familiar with elderly care management in Hubei Province, China, including 10 employers from elderly care institutions, 10 teachers, and 10 students along with their family members in this field, followed by snowball sampling to expand the sample size. The findings reveal that among the family environmental factors examined, financial support showed the strongest influence on employability, followed by values and beliefs, then informational support, and lastly, family expectations. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for enhancing the employability of elderly care management students in higher education institutions in Hubei Province, China.
Keywords: Higher education, employability, elderly care management students, family environment. | | --- | | *Corresponding [author. E-mail: jirawan.dee@rmutr.ac.th](author. E-mail: jirawan.dee@rmutr.ac.th). | INTRODUCTION The global ageing trend is becoming increasingly evident. According to the latest data, the global population aged 65 and over has reached approximately 800 million, accounting for 10.2% of the world's total population. This number is expected to double to 1.58 billion by 2050, making up more than 16% of the global population (United Nations, 2024) . In China, the ageing phenomenon is even more pronounced. The seventh national census data in 2020 showed that the Chinese population aged 60 and above reached 264 million. It is projected that this number will exceed 300 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, which indicates that China will enter the stage of moderate aging from mild aging (Jun, 2022) . By 2050, China is expected to become the country with the largest population of people aged 65 and above in the world. Ageing population has a profound impact on society and the economy. First, it relied more on institutional care (McGarry and Grabowski, 2021) . Second, it increased isolation and mental health concerns (Mushtaq and Khan, 2024) . This transition heightened concerns about mental health and the need to strengthen workforce skills for evolving care demands. In the field of elderly care industry, employability is particularly crucial as the industry has evolved from providing basic daily care to offering more comprehensive and specialized services (Zou et al. , 2024) . Employability refers to an individual's ability to secure and maintain employment within the labor market (Donald et al. , 2024) . Professionals in elderly care must continually enhance their employability by improving communication skills, acquiring advanced professional knowledge, developing psychological care competencies, emergency response capabilities, and cultural sensitivity (Argyriadis et al. , 2022) . As the ageing trend increases pressures on healthcare Afr Educ Res J 126 systems, changes in family structures shrink the quality of the labour force in China, slow Chinese economic growth and reduce investment demand (Wang et al. , 2022) . The

FAQs

What theory guides the study of employability among elderly care management students?

The study is based on ecological systems theory, focusing on how family environmental systems shape students’ employability.

How was data collected for this research?

Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted using semi-structured questions. Purposive sampling selected participants familiar with elderly care management in Hubei, and snowball sampling expanded the sample.

Which family environmental factor had the strongest effect on employability?

Financial support had the strongest influence, followed by values and beliefs, then informational support, and lastly family expectations.

Oct 15, 2026

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