Exploring the Code of Rural Talent Attraction: A Configurational Study on the Influencing Factors of College Graduates' Willingness to Work in Rural Areas—Based on the Survey in City S and Analysis Using the fsQCA Method

Abstract

In light of the current situation where college graduates face employment difficulties and rural areas suffer from a shortage of talent, leading to slow development, and by integrating social cognitive theory, a ternary framework and research model for college graduates' willingness to work in rural areas have been constructed. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, the differential impact of various factors on the willingness of college graduates from City S to work in rural areas was studied. The research indicates that the willingness of college graduates to work in rural areas is influenced by multiple concurrent factors, yet these factors converge in different ways, and there exists an asymmetric nature of causality. The antecedent conditions leading to high willingness outcomes are not consistent with those leading to low willingness. Furthermore, the research reveals the sufficient and necessary conditions influencing the willingness of college graduates to work in rural areas. In addition, the study identifies two configurations each for high and low willingness groups, namely, high ability + resource-driven type, policy-led type, external deficiency type, and internal-external linkage deficiency type.