Students’ Decision-Making About Postgraduate Education at G University in China: The Main Factors and the Role of Family and of Teachers

Abstract

The paper draws on findings from a case study which explored factors influencing students' decisionmaking of postgraduate (PG) education at G University in China. Both questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used for data collection. This paper reports the main reasons for students' choices of subject and institution for PG education, and the influences of families and teachers, and of guanxi in their decision-making. The findings show that both families and teachers play important roles in shaping students' decision-making about PG education. It provides insights into students' decision-making about higher education embedded in the Chinese culture of Confucianism.

Motivations for Studying Abroad and Immigration Intentions

“…This section will further discuss the findings in association with the socioeconomic, cultural, and political issues of Vietnam and relevant literature in the field of education. All 12 motivational factors identified in this study are consistent with the existing literature (e.g., English et al, 2016;Liu & Morgan, 2016;Nguyen, 2013). Pull factors appeared to influence Vietnamese students' decision to study abroad more strongly than push factors did.…”

“…Pull factors consist of factors in the host country or institution that attract international students (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002), such as culture, living standards, socioeconomic status of the host country, improved career prospects, and immigration opportunities. Other studies that do not use the push-pull model have reached similar conclusions and further revealed that international students' decisions to study abroad can be influenced by their family, teachers, and other socioeconomic, political, and cultural issues in both the home and host countries (e.g., English, Allison, & Ma, 2016;Liu & Morgan, 2016;Nguyen, 2013;Spinks, 2016).…”

“…This can partially explain why many international graduates are economically successful in their home and host countries, as evidenced in previous studies (e.g., Chellaraj et al, 2005) In particular, pursuit of immigration opportunities (M = 3.20, SD = 1.21) was ranked ninth out of the 12 motivations and was correlated the most with the factor of "being asked to study abroad by my family" (n = 313, r = 0.35, p = 0.00). This indicates that pursuit of immigration was not the primary purpose of Vietnamese students, and in many cases, this depended on the wishes of their family, just like in the case of their Chinese counterparts (Liu & Morgan, 2016). This also reflects the current socioeconomic status and culture of many Vietnamese families in Vietnam: Rich families send their children abroad to obtain better quality education, and then the latter come back to continue their family business.…”

Understanding Postgraduate Student Preferences for University Choice in Zambia: The Case of ZCAS University

“…In China, potential postgraduate students considered personal interest, employability, good income prospects, entry requirements, reputation, location, teaching quality and facilities as factors that underpinned their choice of a Chinese University (Liu & Morgan, 2015). In the UK the following choice criteria for potential postgraduate students (in order of importance) were unveiled (Soilemetzidis, Bennett, & Leman, 2014): HEI location, HEI reputation, course content and reputation of the subject area/department.…”

The Role of Family and Teachers on Art Choice of Students- The Example of Fine Arts High School

“…Bu çalışma ayrıca Bourdieu'nun diğer bir anahtar kavramı olan toplumsal sermaye kavramına yer vermektedir. Çin bağlamında öğrencilerin yükseköğrenim tercihlerine etki eden ana sebepler olarak bu üç etkinin bir arada araştırıldığı sadece bir çalışma (Liu ve Morgan, 2016) bulunmaktadır. Lise düzeyinde ise öğrencilerin sanat eğitimi tercihleri üzerine yapılmış ve bu üç etkinin bir arada yer aldığı bir çalışma bulunmamaktadır.…”