Abstract: Based on the perspective of an ecosystem’s symbiosis, this study analyzes the factors influencing the integration of industry and education (I&E) in local application-oriented undergraduate universities from three aspects: the main bodies, the environment, and the mechanisms. It constructs a set of influencing factors and then uses the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method (DEMATEL) and Interpretive Structural Modeling method (ISM) to determine the importance and hierarchical structure of these factors. The results show that the resources for I&E in universities, the resource investment of enterprises in I&E, and the regional I&E platform are the top three factors in the entire influencing factor system, which significantly affect the level of I&E in local application-oriented undergraduate universities. Policy guidance and implementation are the underlying factors, acting on the middle and upper factors. The middle factors are mainly environmental factors, while the upper factors are mainly the main body factors and institutional factors. Environmental factors are influenced by the main body factors and also affect the main body factors and mechanism factors.

Key words: Symbiosis theory, Application-oriented undergraduate undergraduate colleges, Industry-education integration, DEMATEL method, ISM method, Influencing factors