ARTICLE
20 October 2026

Collaborative Optimization between Emerging Regional Industries and Local University Disciplines and Majors: Theoretical Models, Practical Challenges, and Implementation Paths

Xuan Lin1*
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1 Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, Guangxi, China
IEF 2026 , 4(9), 95–108; https://doi.org/10.26689/IEF.v4i9.15736
© 2026 by the Author. Licensee: Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty Ltd, Australia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical window for regions to cultivate new productive forces and reconstruct a modern industrial system. The structural mismatch between the supply of disciplines and majors in local universities and the demand of emerging industries in the region has become a prominent bottleneck restricting the deep integration of the education chain, talent chain, industrial chain, and innovation chain. Based on the integration of systems theory, synergy theory, and control theory, this study constructs a synergistic optimization model of “layered architecture - three major mechanisms - signal early warning” and uses questionnaires targeting three types of subjects (universities, enterprises, and government) and case studies from three local universities in Guangxi for empirical testing. The study found that the overall degree of synergy in the sampled region is low. Only 24.9% of respondents believed that the synergy between disciplines and majors and emerging industries was “relatively close” or “very close.” The combined percentages of “partially satisfied” and “not very satisfied” talent demand reached 61.4%, and the combined percentages of “few transformations” and “almost no transformations” of scientific research results reached 56.8%. Unreasonable distribution of benefits (62.4%), insufficient intellectual property protection (60.4%), lack of willingness to cooperate (58.9%), and information asymmetry (55.8%) constitute the four core obstacles, which are reinforced by the superposition of institutional, informational, and resource-related obstacles. Case studies show that the resource-based, industry-scenario-based, and discipline-derived models share a common mechanism in the closed loop of “focusing on discipline direction—co-constructing research platforms—producing key achievements—industry supporting disciplines.” Platform co-construction provides the organizational carrier, and talent circulation provides the flow channel. Based on this, a three-way collaborative path is proposed: the government strengthens top-level design and platform supply; universities restructure and dynamically adjust their training systems; and enterprises shift from “talent users” to “training participants.” This provides a regional solution for less developed regions to address the disconnect between industry and education.

Keywords
Emerging regional industries
Academic disciplines
Collaborative optimization
Industry-education integration
Funding
2025 Guangxi Degree and Postgraduate Education Reform Project (Project No.: JGY2025044); 2025 Guangxi Higher Education Development Research Center Project (Project No.: GXGJB202517); 2025 Guangxi Philosophy and Social Sciences Research Annual Project (Project No.: 25KXB270); 2025 Key Project of the College Graduates Employment Association (Project No.: GJXY2025K004); 2025 Guangxi Humanities and Social Sciences Development Research Center “Scientific Research Project - Preliminary Research on the 15th Five-Year Plan” Special Project (Project No.: SWWY2025003).
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