A Stepping Stone to International Education: Chinese Students' Motivations for Pursuing Programmes and Dependent Institutions in Transnational Higher Education

• In Event: AERA Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Invited Roundtable: Understanding Student Motivation, Creativity, and Ability across National Education Contexts (Table 2)

Abstract

Pursuing transnational higher education has been a trend worldwide. A growing number of Chinese universities are engaged in TNHE, which offers students options to international education via branch campuses, transnational programmes (TPs), and dependent institutions (DIs). While previous studies have explored the reasons for choosing branch campuses, few have focused on TPs or DIs. However, the latter are significantly higher in number. We integrated the push‒pull model and the theory of planned behaviour to examine 43 Chinese students’ motivations for pursuing TPs and DIs in a qualitative study. The findings highlight 11 essential factors, including influences from social environments, English proficiency, and adaptability which have not been extensively discussed before.

Author

• Yan Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong