Intention of China’s higher education students to study abroad: Destination preferred under the Covid-19 pandemic

• In Event: Higher Education in a Changing World

Proposal

Title
Intention of China’s higher education students to study abroad: Destination preferred under the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract
During the Covid-19 pandemic, studying abroad has been internationally, intensely interrupted in terms of student enrollment, destination, subject and course studied. This study aims to investigate whether the intention of higher education students in China to study abroad has significantly changed before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, with special reference to factors affecting such intentions: students’ demographic and study characteristics, destinations and subjects preferred, perceived attractions and difficulties of overseas higher education, and expected emotional impacts while studying abroad. The study is based on online questionnaire surveys conducted in February 2022 to 8,559 students studying undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, or postdoctoral degree/program in over 300 higher education institutions in China. Employing regression analysis, results of findings will be analyzed and discussed.

The paper
Introduction/Objective
During the Covid-19 pandemic, studying abroad has been internationally, intensely interrupted in terms of student enrollment, destination, subject and course studied. In the case of China, this paper investigates, due to the Covid-19, whether students’ preference of overseas-study destination would significantly affect their intention to study abroad? If yes, which particular destination(s) preferred would significantly increase (or decrease) students’ intention to study abroad and to what extent, as compared with other destinations preferred, during and after the pandemic? Would the intention, for students with a particular destination preferred, differ among students studying at higher education institutions ranging from top-tier research universities to general/ordinary universities/higher education institutions, at degree courses ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degree courses, and at universities located in various regions of China as a home country?

Perspectives
Main perspectives of this study include study abroad, higher education, international student mobility, and impacts of Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods and the Data
The study is based on online questionnaire surveys conducted in February 2022 to 8,559 students (see Table 2 for sample distribution) studying undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, or postdoctoral degree/program in over 300 universities/HE institutions in China.

Regression analysis is employed to analyze the intention (the dependent variable) and its factors affecting (as predictors).

In the questionnaire survey, student respondents were given three scenarios to give their intention to study HE abroad (the dependent variable in the regression analysis): before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic, each being measured on a weighted method: intention given on a six-point scale with 1 representing least intention and 6 highest intention, while being given weigh of 5 if student respondent is supposed to have been given offer by China’s top ten universities, 3 if given offer by the next top-tier universities, and 1 if given offer by other general universities/higher education institutions, thus arriving at a total ranging 9-54. Thus, the intention to study HE abroad before, during, and after the pandemic has respectively been computed (see Table 1 for their descriptive characteristics).

Factors affecting the intention to study abroad (as predictors in the regression analysis) include variables as follows:
 demographic
 male
 relatives/friends stay overseas (Y/N)
 place of origin
 mother’s education
 perceived family income locally
 study characteristics
 tier of university presently under study
 region of university under study
 level of degree presently under study
 choices of study abroad
 destination most preferred for overseas HE study.
 subject most preferred for overseas HE study
 Perceived studying higher education abroad
 Expected emotional impacts of the pandemic if study abroad
 Perceived attractions of overseas HE
 Perceived difficulties of overseas HE
The last three are generated by factor analysis from 18-20 questions in each of three questions in the questionnaire.

Descriptive characteristics of the above predicators are illustrated in Table 1.

Initial results of finding
Model 1 of regression analysis (Table 3) shows that, at the significance level of 0.05, students who are male and whose relative/friends stay overseas have significant intention to study HE aboard during and after the pandemic. Students from cities exhibit significantly stronger intention than from villages to study abroad during and after the pandemic. During the pandemic, students with mother’s education as diploma have weaker intention than those with mother’s education as junior secondary or below. Before and after the pandemic, students who are studying currently at research universities tier I have significant stronger intentions to study abroad than those at other universities. Doctoral or postdoctoral students/researchers significantly tend to study abroad after the pandemic as compared with other levels of HE students.

Model 2 (Table 4)
On top of Model 1, results of Model 2 regression analysis show that after the pandemic, students would significantly intend to study abroad if they preferred “West 7” (US/Canada/France/Germany/Netherland/Finland) and “Asia 4” (Japan/Korea/Singapore/Malaysi) as their destination. Students are under positive and negative emotional impacts significantly when undertaking overseas study before, during and after the pandemic. They are also under significant positive impact in intending to study overseas for all the two attractions of overseas HE they perceived, but inversely by their perceived difficulties in high cost and adaptation of overseas HE.

Model 3 will be made to analyze the interaction effects of destination preferred with students’ demographic and study characteristics such as: tier of university under study, region of university under study, level of study, place of origin, and perceived family income locally.

Scholarly significance
It is expected results of the final analysis will provide fuller understanding on and more insights into students’ intention to study higher education abroad under the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, with special reference to China and her student choice of destination. Human behavior in pursuing education abroad under the pandemic, including their intention and destination preferred, can be better understood in terms of the pandemic shocks to various sectors of students and institutions in higher education. Thus, these understandings will inform possible and better adjustments and alignments of higher education development, including but not limited to student need, access, and equity issues, in host and home countries in study abroad in the post-Covid 19 era.

Author

• Fan-sing Hung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong