Why do Latin American students choose China as a study abroad destination? An empirical investigation based on the pull-push model

• In Event: "Transnational Higher Education: Internationalization, Sustainability, and Student Perspectives from China and beyond"

Proposal

In the 21st century, international student mobility has become a prominent trend with the rapid development of globalization and internationalization. China, which was previously known as a “sending country” of international students, has been transforming into a “receiving country” as an increasing number of foreign students have selected it as their study destination. Despite the large body of research examining Chinese students’ motivations to study abroad, few studies have investigated foreign students’ motivations to study in China. To fill this research gap, we conducted semistructured interviews with 17 Latin American students to explore their motivations for studying in China. The push-pull model was adopted as the theoretical framework to analyse the factors pushing Latin American students to study abroad and the factors pulling them to study in China. Based on the results, we further compared the similarities and differences in the push-pull factors impacting international student mobility between developing countries and from developing countries to developed countries.

Author

• Yiyun Hu, Beijing Normal University