Research on the mechanism to break the barriers in information resource communication for school-enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges with a digital background: A qualitative inquiry based on grounded theory

Abstract

The digital wave is reshaping the ecosystem of vocational education, where deep collaboration between vocational colleges and enterprises has become a critical pathway for cultivating highly adaptable technical and skilled talents. Efficient information communication mechanisms now serve as core variables determining the effectiveness of such cooperation. This study focuses on vocational college teachers, enterprise managers, and internship students engaged in school-enterprise collaboration. Following the procedural grounded-theory paradigm, in-depth interviews, non-participatory observations, and digital document analyses were conducted to construct a "technical support-information interaction-goal alignment-effect feedback loop" theoretical model. The findings reveal that while digital technologies significantly enhance information transmission efficiency and resource-sharing breadth, they also introduce new barriers, such as information overload, delayed feedback, and system heterogeneity. The root causes lie in schools' and enterprises' divergent organizational goals and insufficient technological adaptability, as well as the absence of institutional incentives. Based on these insights, a three-dimensional (institutions-technology-culture) synergy optimization path is proposed, and the "demand-technology-institution" linkage mechanism is further refined, offering a transferable communication governance framework for the digital transformation of vocational education.