AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCING FACTORS OF CHINESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' WILLINGNESS TO STUDY ABROAD FOR POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMS
Keywords:
Chinese university students, Study abroad willingness, Postgraduate education, Internationalization of education, Study abroad decision-making mechanismAbstract
This study aims to explore the influencing factors of Chinese university students' willingness to study abroad for postgraduate programs. A mixed-methods approach (questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews) was adopted to analyze 108 participants. The findings reveal that learning experience factors, such as undergraduate institution reputation and major advantages, exert the greatest impact on study abroad willingness, followed by personal factors (career prospects, language proficiency, etc.), target institution factors, and family factors. Through in-depth interviews, this study finds that students' decision-making is mainly driven by the improvement of academic competitiveness, career development needs, and attraction of international resources, while family support plays a more auxiliary role. The study reveals the complex mechanism of study abroad decision-making among postgraduate students, emphasizes the core status of autonomy and goal orientation, and provides an empirical basis for the optimization of educational policies and study abroad guidance.References
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