4th National Symposium on Female College Students' Employment, Entrepreneurship Held in Xi'an

The fourth National Symposium on Female College Students' Employment and Entrepreneurship opened at Xi'an Peihua University (XPU) from October 21-22. 

The symposium was hosted by China Women's Universities Consortium (CWUC) and co-organized by XPU, a member of the consortium. Its theme was implementing the basic state policy of gender equality in the new era and striving to improve the employment and entrepreneurship of female college students.

Attendees included leaders from the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Women's Federation and Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, as well as representatives from eight member universities of the consortium. 

Over 500 students and teachers from the member universities attended the opening ceremony and listened to the keynote lecture on the new era, new women, new thought and new opportunities. They were also present at the Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Businesswomen. 

Jiang Bo, director of the council of XPU, gave a welcoming speech on behalf of the university. In his speech, Jiang thanked the ACWF and the Ministry of Education as well as the leaders of relevant departments for supporting women's education and vocational development. 

Jiang stressed the university's efforts to promote women's education over the past years. Meanwhile, he hoped that men could be motivated to help women with employment and entrepreneurship so that the females could play a more positive and important role. He also expected this symposium to be able to promote gender equality in a real sense. 

Liu Liqun, president of CWUC and China Women's University (CWU), congratulated XPU on its 90th anniversary on behalf of the consortium. In the speech, she mentioned that the consortium, founded by Shandong Women's University and Hunan Women's University in November 2014, already had eight members. 

Liu also praised the consortium for its significant role in exploring the rules, development direction, education goals and management ideas of women's higher education and promoting intercollegiate communication and integration of resources. 

Liu emphasized that female college students' employment and entrepreneurship is closely related to the rational use of human resources, the overall development of women, the coordinated development of the social economy, and more importantly, hinges upon the harmony and stability of families. Therefore, in her view, forwarding the employment and entrepreneurship of female college students is a key part and a mission of  operating a women's university as well as an important responsibility of the country and society. 

She was glad that the symposium had made a sustained effort to advance the service system for the employment and entrepreneurship of female college students and the constant improvement of the social environment of public opinions.

So far, in terms of addressing issues related to female college students' employment and entrepreneurship, the symposium has become an important platform for conducting theoretical research and cooperation between women's universities and other regular universities, between universities and government departments, and between enterprises. 

Dang Jie, vice president of Shaanxi Provincial Women's Federation, believed that employment was instrumental in promoting gender equality. Therefore, she emphasized the necessity to continue implementing the basic state policy of gender equality and introduce more policies to tap female college students' potential in entrepreneurship, better transform their research on employment and entrepreneurship and help them enter society in a positive manner. 

Tang Shu, director of the Student Affairs Office of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, said that female college students should improve their consciousness as well as capabilities for innovation and meanwhile employers with job openings for high school graduates companies should put relevant policies in place to eradicate discrimination in recruitment. 

Ma Yuenan, director of the Urban Work Office of the Women's Development Department of ACWF, stressed that ACWF and women's federations at different levels have paid much attention to such issues, invested great efforts in this respect and safeguarded women's rights and interests by organizing relevant trainings and contests, establishing platforms to drive women's employment and entrepreneurship and enhance the employment quality of women including female college students. 

Ma also called on society to work together in implementing policies so as to render better services for female college students. 

Wen Shuangyuan, director of the Student Information Consultation, Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Center of the National Higher Education Institute, remarked that new changes and requirements in college students' employment and entrepreneurship should be well grasped so as to facilitate female college students' employment and entrepreneurship; the determination on this front should be fully realized and more measures should be taken in combined efforts to ensure new progress is made in this field.

The measures proposed by Wen included instructing female college graduates in setting reasonable and pragmatic criteria for employment and encouraging them to devote to improving people's livelihood according to national strategies including the Belt and Road Initiative, the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. 

In the keynote lecture on the new era, new women, new thought and new opportunity, eight department leaders from the consortium communicated with one another concerning the reform and exploration made by women's universities in innovation and entrepreneurship, actual events about education on this front, women's opportunities and challenges in entrepreneurship and their countermeasures. 

Ma Yu, deputy director of the Entrepreneurship and Guidance Center and the Enrolment and Employment Work Office of CWU, delivered a report titled Making Preparations for the Future by Knowing Ourselves and Companies. In addition, Ma introduced the education model for female college students in entrepreneurship, which is promoting entrepreneurship through teaching, enhancing teaching according to the successful experiences of entrepreneurship and strengthening the interaction between teaching and entrepreneurship based on teaching.   

On the morning of October 22, the Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Women Entrepreneurs was organized successfully. 

Liu Shuaixin, secretary general of the Entrepreneurs' Club of Shaanxi Association for Entrepreneurship Promotion, presided over this forum, in which five female entrepreneurs from different industries including investment consultation, enterprise consultation, information technology and education training shared their experiences in innovation and entrepreneurship. 

A thesis awards ceremony was held at the symposium. The thesis jointly completed by Yu Guangjun, an associate professor, and Zhou Zhihui, Party secretary of the Department of Women's Studies at CWU, took first prize. This thesis has been included in the Journal of Innovation and Enterprise Education and is soon to be published. CWU vice president Wang Lian presented the prize as an honored guest. 

Zhao Hao, deputy secretary-general of the consortium and a member of the standing committee of the Party at CWU, concluded at the closing ceremony that the symposium was clear in topic, closely related to the needs of female college students in employment and entrepreneurship, and diversified and creative in discussion. 

Through the symposium, attendees reached further consensus on the significance of promoting female college students' employment and entrepreneurship, strengthened the sense of responsibility and mission of advancing the development of women's education and development and recognized XPU's remarkable achievements made in creative and entrepreneurship education as a private university.

In conclusion, Zhao expressed her hope that the consortium and its member universities could take on the responsibility endowed to them by the times to make greater achievements in women's higher education.     

Since CWU held the first National Symposium on Female College Students' Employment and Entrepreneurship in 2012, three symposiums have been organized with the joint efforts of eight members of the consortium, which have drawn the attention of more government departments, women's federations, business circles and media. The successful organization of the symposium this year means that it has become a sustainable brand of the consortium. Also, it highlights that the consortium not only plays an important role in the career development of female college students, but also contributes to the economic development of China and even the world through demonstrating the "female power" in carrying out their mission and responsibility.

(Source: China Women's University/Translated and edited by Women of China)