Constraints, mechanisms, and strategies for industry-education integration in vocational education: An empirical study

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339158 December 18, 2025 12 / 18 and software facilities)” and “S7 (The differences in talent cultivation philosophies)”; The constraints at Level IV and Level V were called the bottom factors, which were “S4 (The level of attention given by universities),” “S10 (The effectiveness of school-enterprise communication),” “S1 (The completeness of policies)” and “S11 (The closeness of prior university- enterprise collaboration)”. 3.5. Constraining mechanisms The mechanisms constraining the development of IEI in vocational education were identified through the ISM-based hier- archical framework and structural self-interaction matrix, as illustrated in Fig 4. The results indicate that the ineffective implementation is primarily attributed to enterprises’ weak willingness to par- ticipate, ambiguous delineation of responsibilities, rights, and obligations between schools and enterprises during col- laboration, and insufficient teacher engagement. These direct factors are further shaped by various intermediate- and bottom-level factors, which exert either direct or indirect influences. Specifically, the critical constraining factors include inadequate policies and regulations for IEI, a weak foundation for school-enterprise collaboration, insufficient institutional commitment from vocational colleges, and ineffective communication during implementation. These bottom-level factors directly or indirectly impact the adequacy of software/hardware facilities (e.g., teaching staff, training venues, equipment),

Fig 4. The constraint mechanism of IEI development in vocational education. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339158.g004