Zhu, Huaer (2024). An exploration of the decision making of mainland Chinese undergraduates who have chosen to study in the United Kingdom. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Zhu2024PhD.pdf
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Abstract
The study explored how Mainland Chinese undergraduate students made their study abroad decisions: their initial decision to study overseas; their choice of the United Kingdom as a destination country; and their ultimate subject and university choices. The investigation focused on who or what influenced these decisions, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on all the above.
Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted, face to face or online, with 34 participants who were all current Year One or Year Two Mainland Chinese undergraduates studying at UK universities.
The findings indicate two strong themes emerging from participants’ data: educational competition as a driver of decision making, and the complex and intersectional nature of the decision-making process. Specifically, Students’ initial study abroad decisions and subject and university choices appeared to be influenced by their awareness of educational competition when pursuing university status and navigating neijuan. Furthermore, these decision making processes reveal the multifactorial nature of choice making and the overlaps between different factors. There seemed to be no clear-cut phases in participants’ decision making processes. Both their initial study abroad decision making and their subject and university choices were shaped by participants’ pre-university educational pathways. Four distinct pre-university pathways appeared in the interview data: the foundation course route, the gaokao route, the A-Level route and the international school route. In addition, their access to information sources and parental advice both played an important role throughout their decision-making.
The findings of this study illuminate the processes entailed in Mainland Chinese students’ study abroad choice making and add to our understanding of how individual Mainland Chinese students weigh different factors in order to make their study abroad decisions.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | |||||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | |||||||||
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | |||||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges > College of Social Sciences | |||||||||
| School or Department: | School of Education | |||||||||
| Funders: | None/not applicable | |||||||||
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) | |||||||||
| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/15114 |
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