Against the backdrop of building a powerful country and the strategic arrangements of the 15th Five-Year Plan, skill-oriented universities need to clarify their school-running orientation and fulfill their core responsibilities in supplying highly skilled talents and bolstering the development of a modern industrial system. In terms of categorical orientation, these universities take craftsmanship cultivation as their core mission. In terms of regional orientation, they strive to become localized skill hubs deeply rooted in provincial industrial ecosystems. In terms of hierarchical orientation, they serve as a vital link in building an overpass for the career advancement of skilled personnel. In terms of functional orientation, they act as a major force underpinning the modern industrial system. As a key focus on developing specific types of educational programs in the categorized reform of higher education for national development, skill-oriented universities are confronted with four prominent practical dilemmas: the tendency of academic drift erodes their distinctive vocational characteristics; the spatial concentration of educational resources gives rise to a "geographic isolation" effect in the integration of industry and education; the involution of educational logic hinders the quality cultivation of highly skilled talents; and the unitary value distribution system weakens their social recognition. To serve the goal of building a powerful country, skilloriented universities must adhere to the attributes of vocational education to break free from the path dependence of academic drift; They shall align with the regional coordinated development strategy and optimize the spatial layout for industry-education integration; To fuel the growth of new quality productive forces, they need to restructure a practical talent training system tailored to frontline industrial demands. Meanwhile, joint efforts from the state are required to implement the new eight-level skilled worker system and enhance public recognition of skill-oriented universities.

The establishment of universities in counties is the result of the combined influence of multiple logics such as historical logic, market logic, and policy logic. From the perspective of the form of establishment, county-level universities can be classified into five types: establishing new universities in county areas, introducing university campuses in county areas, introducing independent colleges in county areas, establishing secondary educational institutions through county-school cooperation, and jointly setting up research institutes by county schools. In terms of development trends, county-level universities exhibit characteristics such as clustering in relatively economically developed counties, high-standard campus construction, and the pursuit of distinctive development paths based on county resources. Currently, during the rapid development of county-level universities, they are confronted with urgent practical problems such as low resource utilization efficiency, unreasonable regional layout structures, and insufficient capabilities to serve county development. China needs to improve policies for county-level higher education, optimize the layout of higher education in counties, strengthen governance of county-level higher education, deepen integration and innovation between universities and localities, and promote high-quality development where higher education and county economies coexist harmoniously.

Only by striving to create a clean and upright scientific research ecosystem through the systematic reform of academic evaluation can we promote the high-evel realization of self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology. The systematic reform of academic evaluation should be driven by theoretical innovation. Under the guidance of this theoretical concept, it is necessary to establish a transformation mechanism from theory to policy, which specifically includes: a connection mechanism where the research subject and object have identity, a stimulation mechanism for the research subject′s internal awareness of academic life, and a creation mechanism for dynamic and cyclic value-creating activities. Based on this transformation mechanism, we should build a policy system dedicated to the close connection between the research subject and object, a policy system that stimulates the research subject′s awareness of academic life, and a policy system that forms dynamic and cyclic value-creating activities. Under the guidance of this policy system, we can establish a logical connection for the close interaction between the research subject and object, stimulate the research subject′s internal awareness of academic life, and form a value-generating system for the continuous cycle of scientific research activities.

Based on the theory of policy instruments and the three-level continuum of disciplinary interdisciplinarity, with the intrinsic logic of recruitment objectives, tools, and procedures, a three-dimensional analytical framework of "policy instrument type—stage of recruitment process—depth of interdisciplinarity" was established. A text analysis was conducted on 87 interdisciplinary doctoral recruitment brochures from 66 universities in 2024, revealing that current recruitment policies face a triple-linked institutional dilemma: systematic deviation in institutional objectives, functional mismatch of institutional tools, and structural rigidity in recruitment procedures. This misalignment does not meet the requirements of the recruitment system for interdisciplinary doctoral training; it neither aligns with the midtodeep interdisciplinarityoriented objectives nor empowers interdisciplinary innovation through recruitment tools or identifies potential for interdisciplinary innovation via recruitment procedures. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a three-level progressive evaluation system and correct deviations from the target through deep authentication; Establish an innovation empowerment system and mechanism oriented towards cross-referencing, to solve the problem of mismatch in tools through structural optimization; Create an enrollment process with precise identification and elastic absorption capabilities, and drive the upgrade of selection through process optimization.

 Current research on academic careers in higher education suffers from a temporal discontinuity, where studies on graduate education and early academic careers remain fragmented, limiting a holistic understanding of the full life-cycle development of innovative academic talent. Postdoctoral fellows play the roles of institutional, capital, and identity connection functions in the transitions of field, capacity enhancement, and role transformation. They urgently need to complete the field transformation from "training logic" to "employment rules", the external manifestation of value from "academic potential" to "public reputation", and the legitimacy transition from "academic apprentice" to "independent scholar". By using postdoctoral fellows as a hub, this research connects graduate education and academic career studies. It not only demonstrates the theoretical necessity and the call of the times for responding to the established thinking patterns, but also has practical feasibility such as awakening the self-awareness within the discipline, sharing concepts and vocabularies across disciplines, driving by institutional and social needs, and innovating data and method technologies. Looking forward, academic career research should undergo four theoretical shifts: from discrete events to process tracing, from homogeneity assumptions to heterogeneity analysis, from outcome description to mechanism explanation, and from linear causality to bidirectional interaction. Such theoretical innovation will facilitate the construction of a coherent theoretical framework for nurturing innovative academic talent.

 The reconstruction of the educational ecosystem by artificial intelligence intensifies the structural transgression of instrumental rationality over value rationality, leading to both the blurring of teachers′ professional boundaries and the coexistence of educational ethical risks. In this context, universities need to emphasize the cultivation of future teachers through the spirit of educators, highlighting their foundational role in individual development, their value in reshaping the teacher education system, and their role in leading the future educational ecosystem. It establishes a triple logical framework of ontology, methodology, and axiology, aiming to mediate the tension between technological advancement and educational mission. Furthermore, it proposes a three-dimensional practical path—comprising a teacher support system, a curriculum-based education system, and a campus cultural ecosystem—to provide a systematic solution and practical framework for cultivating pre-service teachers under the background of AI, thereby promoting the ethical use of technology in education.

Enterprise practice for vocational teachers is an important approach to advancing industry-education integration and cultivating "dual-qualified" teachers. However, in practice, it still faces the dilemma of "high policy attention but weak implementation". Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory, this study develops an analytical framework of "institutional incentives—psychological mechanisms—participation behavior" and employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the effect paths and configurational mechanisms through which institutional incentives influence teachers′ participation in enterprise practice. The findings show that resource support and development opportunities significantly promote teachers′ participation in enterprise practice, whereas the direct effect of performance appraisal is not significant and operates mainly through stimulating teachers′ moral responsibility. Moral responsibility and continuance participation intention form an "affective-cognitive" chain mediation mechanism in the process through which institutional incentives influence participation behavior. Teachers′ participation in enterprise practice also exhibits a pattern of multi-path synergistic generation, in which development opportunities, moral responsibility, and continuance participation intention constitute core conditions in most configurations. Multigroup analysis further indicates that secondary vocational school teachers′ participation in enterprise practice is more strongly driven by responsibility ethics, whereas higher vocational college teachers′ participation is more characterized by development-oriented rationality. Therefore, China needs to establish a psychological transformation mechanism for institutional incentives, promoting the shift of teacher enterprise practice from "task execution" to "meaning identification"; Strengthening professional identity, improving the psychological support mechanism for "responsibility identification-willingness generation" of vocational school teachers; Promoting differentiated institutional supply to enhance the situational adaptability of the enterprise practice incentive mechanism.

From the perspective of the modern vocational education system, the attractiveness of vocational undergraduate enrollment is reflected in seamless transition for students within vocational education, integration and communication with students from general education, and openness to various social sources of students. Examining vocational undergraduate enrollment practices, it is found that: enrollment policies aimed at vocational education are gradually improving, but the connection with highquality internal students is not sufficient; Enrollment integration with general education emphasizes both incorporation and innovation, but the quality of vocational undergraduate students shows significant differentiation; Special enrollment programs targeting society are continuously increasing, but the related institutional support is lagging and insufficient. To further enhance the attractiveness of vocational undergraduate enrollment, it is necessary to activate the endogenous drive of vocational undergraduate schools to enroll students from internal vocational education sources, highlight the provinciallevel coordination ability of local governments in enrolling students from regular schools, and strengthen the national institutional support for enrolling students from various social sources, thereby improving student quality, cultivating more highlevel, versatile, and innovative applied talents, empowering the development of new productive forces, and contributing to the realization of Chinesestyle modernization.

Based on the data of scientists and technicians in Beijing in 2022, this paper employs Double Machine Learning (DML) and causal mediation analysis to identify the causal effect of overseas experience on research output after stripping away multi-dimensional confounding factors. The results indicate that overseas experience significantly promotes researchers′ overall output. Mechanism analysis reveals that academic talent titles play a partial mediating role, with the indirect effect accounting for 32.4% of the total effect. However, overseas experience doesn′t enhance research output through international connections or perceived ability. Furthermore, the impact of overseas experience exhibits significant heterogeneity: in terms of mobility patterns, the crossnational flow experiences are the core factor driving the growth of scientific research output; Regarding generational characteristics, the premium of overseas experience shows a significant convergence trend; In terms of disciplinary characteristics, overseas experience significantly boosts output in sciences and engineering; in contrast, agricultural and medical sciences, which heavily rely on localized resources, show marginal gains, with medicine even facing negative effects. Based on these findings, this study suggests improving the mechanisms for the introduction, cultivation, and international exchange of researchers. It recommends establishing a dual evaluation standard of "overseas experience + actual capability" to optimize a diversified research evaluation system, formulating precise talent support policies categorized by disciplines and age groups, and further enhancing the scale and quality of domestic independent talent cultivation.

 To implement the general requirement of ensuring university autonomy, it is essential to fundamentally clarify the rights attributes of university autonomy and establish a comprehensive legal framework for its protection. The nature of higher education institutions′ autonomy can be justified from both internal and external perspectives. Based on this characterization, such autonomy can be divided into three levels of rights: conducting educational and teaching activities, organizing scientific research, and managing internal affairs. The implementation of higher education institutions′ autonomy faces constraints such as insufficiently clear definitions of its nature, boundaries of its scope that require further clarification, inadequate standardization in the exercise of these rights, and judicial review mechanisms that need to be improved. The construction of the fundamental educational legal system for university autonomy should follow the guidance of constitutional values and be governed by constitutional educational norms. In terms of specific regulatory content, it is necessary to improve the legal system centered on the Higher Education Law and to reasonably design the framework for university autonomy within the codification of educational laws. At the same time, university charters, as internal governance norms, should fully play their role in safeguarding these rights.