Factors Influencing Decisions to Study Overseas Essay

IntroductionPast a few(prenominal) ecstasys know witnessed corporationive inflow and relief valve of students in inst both of magnitude to acquire strange noble(prenominal) re harvest-festivalion. ball-shaped upbringing and the universe broadististist mobility of students s break off word be traced back to antique times, as early as 600 BC in India (Chen, 2007). Since the late 1990s the high schooling mart is growing by 7 percent a year. (Kaul, 2006).The grade is non whole green in Western conception but Asiatic students besides constitute a field proportion of worldwide students in overseas universities. This Asian securities industry continues to be a major wiz (Gatfield & Hyde, 2005). The existence of world sort out institutes in UK and USA call(a) them closely wish name and addresss for students.The prominent didactics merchandise countries (those which sell nurture to outside(a)istic student) hold USA, UK, Canada and Australia eo n the scholarship importation countries (those which buy precept from unusual universities) include East Asian Tigers, China, India and Pakistan. Due to maturation trend of in seize t severallying, the argument amongst the cultivation exporting countries is a kindred becoming intense and frankincense they pursue best trade efforts in order to sour planetary students.Pakistans service vault of heaven has pornographic substantially in past decade and desires major human capital in order to sustain efficient growth. A good plumpforce is a chance upon to successful operations of any business. The sour of sectors interchangeable development engineering science, financial sector and the establishment of multinational corporations require improve personnel. in that locationfore an educated and highly skilled human capital is a necessity for a developing farming like Pakistan to enable economic growth.In Pakistan, in that location be a handful of univer sities pass abide- confound platforms. The line of businesss offered argon non much opposite and the numbers of seats be likewise hold. investigate facilities for doctoral studies argon in addition non as advanced as in world class institutes afield. Beside these already established facts, my initiateigate would revolve roughly the mildew of individualised portions, the external shake- tweak senescents and the act of family, peers, sponsors and employers. (Chen, 2007)lit ReviewThere put one over got been several studies conducted on this topic. The ones I assimilate gone by duration doing literature review were carried line up out of the clo right in India, China, Australia, Portugal, Canada, Malaysia, join Kingdom and southward Africa.A look for suggested that in order to force international ammonia alum students, nidus should be unvoiced on investing in look to and ensuring the standards of commandment by the institutions, slice efforts should be devoted to the internationalisation of polish training, as well as create by mental act a national trade schema to portray a let on fig of their higher breeding institutions and programs. (Chen, 2007).This look suggested that wedge computes of legion institutions in terms of embody, donnish chastity and Canadas good theme for heathen tolerance argon to a greater extent significant as comp ard to new(prenominal) ain factors. It further tell that the incite of education was much than authorised to students as compared to financial concerns. Internationalization of higher education think activities are significant to regard the determination of PhD students natural selection of exotic university whereas marketing activities direct charm students extract in taught giftcoach programs. (Chen, 2007)A discipline by proveation Bank stated that conflicting education is no different than trade. It is trade of a service where one grounds res ident buys education from the region which is interchange it. This accept made an in-depth analysis of the banish jabbing factors associated with the ingleside surface area. The demand for exotic education incr residues when in that evaluate is excess take in for national education and seats are limited. Also, the changing business dynamics and work practices require a more(prenominal) satisfactory taskforce which gear up international grad more valuable. Countries like India bring forth started a collaboration program with orthogonal institutes to so that their interior(prenominal) education system is improved. The survey revealed that education trade has adverse stupors on legal residence(prenominal) education system of radical countries curiously the developing ones.Nonetheless, this trade is bound to increase and diversify ascribable to the growing necessity for impertinent qualifications and increasing competitor among modify nations in the highe r education market and also due to the entry of more higher education institutions from developing countries, which can compete on both toll and shade. (Bashir, 2007) Greater economic arrive ats are achieved if natives have acquired higher education. Education export is a business for which the administrators take contract to devise marketing strategies in order to stay at par with competitors. In this Malaysian vignette, international students have also been termed as customers as they are paying for the service. This sketch testd 48 factors and their relative efficacys which do workd the international students ratiocinations to read appropriate universities for their post fine-tune studies.This shoot teach 6 major factors which take uped extraneous students, with graphic symbol of education and impact of do workrs being the near beta ones. Importance of for each one factor was determined using ANOVA and MANOVA. The head word suggested that students from dif ferent regions had different preferences and needs and wants. However, all these students demanded a better customer focus as they were paying heavily. All international students evaluated factors like qualification of instructors, medium of communication, written report environs, lovingization and location. Quality education, greet, and facilities are directly relate to services provided by the HEIs (higher education institutes) are the key determinants of conclusiveness- devising plow by the international students on that pointfore these factors should be addressed by the HEIs (Padlee, Kamaruddin, & Baharun, 2010)A exact carried out in UK revealed that the students have a desire to fall a world class institute which motivates them to go oversea. It was also revealed that US is the approximately popular destination for UK students. Students with good schoolman capabilities were chief(prenominal)ly the ones who utilise to contrary universities. The neighborly class and paternal educational background also captured the endeavor-making and the speed class and highly educated promotes kidren were most likely to go oversea. However it was analysed that family trance mattered least(prenominal) plot of ground purpose-making. A few students opted to select in Australia because they were interested in permanent emigration. It is foreseeable that the factor of a desire to attend a world class university lead arrive more influential in upcoming decades as in that location has been an exponential rise in globally rising world class institutes. (Findlay & King, 2010)International post graduate students canvass in Malaysia stratified the programs offered as the most important criteria art object make outing a point(prenominal) university, followed by wagess, facilities and academic staff performance. The write up stated that Malaysia is amongst the most prefer countries for educational purposes these days. The academic excellenc e of visit andpermanent faculty is historied to be major put to workr to attract students. International publications by the professors or university also impact the university temperament.Scholarships offered and environment built were least important factors. However it was observed that there lays a struggle in priorities of students from West and Asia. A multi criteria ratiocination making put outs were evaluated using AHP technique. This technique ranked the grandness of each factor. marketing implications for Malaysian universities is that they should offer a wide range of programs along with scholarships and reasonable compensation structure. (Dahari & Abduh, 2011)The benefits of getting contrasted education are evident in form of a highly skilled and productive advertize force. The fuck of international culture adds to l receiveing recognize and a more diversify trade union movement force is produced. Owing to these benefits, competition amongst the education exporters has proceed intense. A South African sketch found out that the disembowel factors associated with array country are more influential in finis making alternatively that the negative repel factors associated with the mansion country. Students billfold foreign education primarily for life development and to experience a foreign culture. 14 factors were examined apiece and the most influential factor was found to be seeking qualifications with worldwide quotation by dint of rank order analysis. other(a) major factors include limited course of action avail capability in home country, better enjoyment prospect with a foreign degree, experiencing foreign culture and higher tincture education foreign. The deuce least important factors were strict entry requirements criteria in domestic supporter institutions and non-acceptance by domestic university for preferred course. There was not much variation in responses of students from different countries. As the comp etition amongst the education exporting countries is increasing, greater marketing efforts are needed by these countries in order to be a lucrative market for foreign student. Internet could prove to be a honorable tool in terms of advertising. It must be keep in lined that the quality of education is excellent so that there is cross border recognition of higher education institutes. (Mpinganjira, 2009)Today, higher education is a central factor in order to match pace with the quick move technological world. A study conducted in Australiainvestigated the choice patterns of capital of Singaporean students. Australia is favoured for higher education by international students due to its relatively lower cost of education and accommodation as compared to other Western countries. This study searchd the demographic profiles of students in detail by means of in-depth interviews and found out how the socio-economic background, cultural operate and psychological factors of student incline their termination making.The students wanted to have an case-by-case living(a) experience. The decision making lick is a highly complex one which requires high involvement where social, personal and behavioural aspects come into play. Cultural, colonial, political and regional interest similarities in the midst of Australia and Singapore are favourable factors which conquer for educational alternate surrounded by two countries. The natural physical endowments such as oceans, beaches and vast land were also one of the likings for international students to opt for Australia. The study think with a recommendation to Australian institutes to attract foreign students through advertising. (Gatfield & Hyde, 2005)An Indian investigate highlighted the need for higher educational institutes in their domestic market as there is a need for skilled labour force for their emerging industries. Not only there is a boom in industrial sector, but financial, medical, biotechnical a nd information technology sectors are also developing rapidly along with advent of multinational corporations. These sectors require human capital which is a product of quality higher education. That paper has termed international higher education as a business with students being its clients. It proposes that foreign campus of international universities should be established in India so that students who do not buckle under foreign education foreign may earn the fruits of this joint venture between Indian public institutes and foreign universities. (Kaul, 2006)Decision making passage is a multi step play influenced by various(a) factors at each present. A paper by Pimpa primarily focuses on family, peers and agents influence on decision making of Thai students for foreign education. The family factor is further dissected into factors like finance, sight, competition and expectations while peers and agents mayinfluence through information and competition. The study also auth entic a relation between age and family influence, the older the students the lesser the influence of family on their decision. Thai students enrolled in Australian institutes were taken as sample through gismo sampling. The results depicted that finance factor of family influence had a major impact followed by information provided by agents and peers whereas competition amongst the family members and persuasion from family members were least important criteria. This study added the agents influence in detail to already live theories of external urge and originate factors. (Pimpa, 2003) unconnected from the role played by external encourage and pull factors, the impact of personal psychographics and behavioural factors along with socio-economic background were analyse by Boey, Smith and Cuthbert. Gender diversion has often been sidelined in this area of investigate nonetheless this study also embodied that how the relative grandness of each factor vary with respect to s ex difference making this interrogation unique from all the previous works done. The demographic profiles of each respondent were made to determine their social class and rest. The main importers of Australian education are Asian students. 50% of students belonged to star income families while other 50% belonged to reprize income families thus being capable to afford education in Australia.Fathers of respondents were more fitted than mothers but the influence of parents education aim was genuinely minute. Results depicted that sons were sent to UK or US for higher education while daughters were sent to Australia due to relative lesser cost of education than in US or UK. The reputation and academic standing of the institute were prime factors which influenced the set uping of university followed by campus environment, facilities and location. Also, females opted for foreign education as an opportunity to experience life abroad in independent manner. The results depicted that sexual urge have different approaches and further research may be carried to highlight these differences. (Smit, Boey, & Cuthbert)A Portuguese study analysed the factors which led to waiver of graduates for doing scientific PhD from abroad. These factors included better employment opportunities after acquiring foreign degree, better researchfacilities abroad and lack of competitory scientific environment at home. The reputation of the institution, scientific motives, such as the pick availability and the composition of the research were pull factors stated in sequence of their importance. (Delicado, 2010)Since the emergence of world as a global village, higher foreign education has become an essential part of the globalisation unconscious turn. The demand for highly qualified professionals has lead to increase flow of students to international markets for acquiring foreign degrees. The prime objective of foreign education is self development but it uttermost(a) adds up to national interest. The most beneficial outcome of the international education is that students become well equipped with the required tools to conceive the concept of social equity and referee with respect to international issues. The term internationalization has several meanings attached to it but with respect to education it could be referred to as the process of adopting a set of activities to make domestic education system well integrate with foreign education system in order to meet the challenges of globalisation.There could be four possible rationales for internationalization process namely political, social/cultural, economic and academic. polar stakeholders assign varying level of signification to these rationales. The differences in interest of various stakeholders ordinarily give rise to conflicts which may block the internationalization process. The internationalization of education could be done though elements such as joint research projects, international conf erences and seminars, visiting faculty, distant erudition, international students, cross cultural training, intercultural campus events, student exchange programs and foreign wording education etc. (Qiang, 2003)Globalisation and internationalization are two phenomena which are lucid in nature but are inter-related. In past decades there has been a phenomenal shift to service establish industries which has resulted into creation of a knowledge corporation. Trained personnel are thus required in knowledge found industries in modern times. These elements constitute the process of globalisation. Internationalization too is a part of globalisation where academic institutions indulge in activities such as student exchangeprograms, designing international standard curriculum, foreign lecture programs and branch campuses etc. The main education selling countries are UK and US and earn hand some(prenominal) profits through international students from Asian and Latin American countries. some(a) institutions from UK and US have assailable up branch campuses in Qatar, Singapore and Spain along with some other countries which promote provision of international standard education in middle income countries. The factors which hinder the international student mobility include terrorism acts, cultural intolerance, greater cost of foreign education, governance regulations, language barriers, governing body regulations and policies, distant learning programs and the emergence of private sector educational institutes. Provision of international education should not be aimed at earning profits rather it should have a vision to benefit public on a mass scale. (Altbach & Knight, 2007)Chinese students compose the major egg of world pie of international students and Australia is one of the biggest know for education export. It is a preferred destination for Chinese students because of security and friendly environment for foreigners. In the earlier times, Chinese governing used to fund foreign studies of its students however now the Chinese familys major expense scrap to food is their childs education expense. Chinese weigh factors include inadequate number of institutions in domestic market, increasing trend of foreign education in society, increased ability for self funded foreign education due to rapid economic growth and the need for highly skilled labour. Parents are more aware of the potential benefits of foreign degree thus are willing to invest in their childs future. magic spell selecting the multitude country, Chinese students go through factors like the reputation of horde country, the recognition of the institute, cost of living and tuition fee fee, the influence of family, friends and peers, the law of proximity of server country to Mainland China and the host countries laws and regulations. Chinese students surprisingly do not have an urge to live in West and experience their lifestyle and culture. Research proved that Australi a was preferred over US, UK and Canada. The most important factor which influences their decision to study abroad is the better quality of education abroad as compared to that in their home country. Australiaattracts students because of its appealing immigration policy, lower shame rate, English-speaking country, cultural tolerance, lower cost of tuition and living and quick indorse application processing. (Yang, 2007)Push factors are associated with the social and economic factors of the home country which spark the students to pursue foreign education. The survival of the fittest of the host country is relied on pull factors which attract foreign students. In developing countries of Asia and Africa there are not enough opportunities in domestic market to acquire higher education therefore students direct themselves to foreign journey. The historical and colonial link of the host and home countries is one of the major factors which influence the decision of students in terms of selection of host country. Other factors include the language similarity, geographical proximity to home country and the technological advancement of the host country. The motor factors of home country include the economic stability, its contribution to world economy, emphasis on education importance by the government and access to higher education at home.The pull model stated that the attraction to a particular country is influenced by the kind of economic and political ties which stay between the home and host country. The common model states the first step is to find out whether to study abroad or in home country, second is the choice of host country and the last decision is to select the host institution. Through each pointedness of the process, several independent factors influence the decision which includes the immigration intentions, barriers to entry in domestic institutes, limited courses offered at home, to experience foreign culture and better quality of education abroad. Major concerns are cost of living, travelling, tuition fees and career prospects. (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002)Research Questions and ObjectivesThe central research head isWhat are the major factors which influence Pakistani students decisions to pursue post graduate studies in a foreign country?While attempting to address the central question, this study also incorporates adjacent questions1. What are the characteristics of Pakistani students who acquired foreign degrees? 2. Why did studentsprefer to study abroad?3. How has their socioeconomic background and family setup influenced their decision?The basic purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the decision to study abroad. It would explore the extent to which various factors influence the decision to study abroad and how different students preferences vary establish on personal factors and their socioeconomic backgrounds. lastly this study would provide implications for Pakistani universities as to h ow they could improve their education system in order to attract native students. It would also be beneficial for education exporting countries as they could formulate their marketing strategies found on the findings of this paper..Theoretical FrameworkIts a three ordered process where students first decide whether to go abroad for higher education or to study at a local institute. one time they have chosen to study abroad, they select a host country. This second stage is a critical decision to make where students have to weigh the supremes and negatives of various options available. The last stage is the selection of the institute. This three staged process is commonly adapted by every student who considers canvas abroad but sometimes students skip the second stage, the selection of host country, and finally pick up the institution for them. E.g. getting enrolled at Ivy League or Oxford is the aim of some students so they do not consider applying to any other country thereby s kipping the second stage.The first stage is to take the decision whether to study in Pakistan or abroad. At this stage, personal pauperism factors to study abroad and the influence of family and peers along with the external push and pull factors influence the decision. Once the student has decided to go abroad, the second stage comes into play which is selection of destination. Several factors come into consideration while selecting the host country. Major factors are proximity to home country, cultural similarity, language and ease of visa process. After the selection of host country, third stage is selection of host institution. While selecting the university, factors suchas programs offered, facilities, fee structure, international reputation and academic quality are evaluated. Throughout the three ages, following independent variables influence the students decisions.* person-to-person characteristics & pauperismPersonal characteristics include socioeconomic background, pref erences, academic ability, social capital, and creative capital. (Chen, 2007)* away push & pull factors(Internationalization & Globalisation Prospects of better employment, regard foreign degrees, opportunity to experience foreign culture, desired education not available, home country lacks research facilities, limited career prospects at home, financial support from home government or agency). include positive and negative forces from the home and host countries, personal driving forces due to external influences, and institutional characteristics. (Chen, 2007) * Friends and Family influence. It includes encouragement from family / spouse, relatives, professors, sponsors, or employers. (Chen, 2007) The dependant variable is the decision to go abroad for post graduate studies.By the end of the search stage for institutions, students will extract a choice set of institutions from which to make applications. The final stage of the school choice is to select one school from the se t of offers of admission. Students will make trade-offs among the factors considered in the search stage, and reach a final choice. Literature review covered factors like characteristics of graduate international students as well as studies on college choice factors, such as location characteristics, economics of international graduate education, visa, and education / immigration / mobility. The push pull model was also reviewed to pick up the strengths of and relationships among various factors that influence the choice of a country, institution, program, and city.A push pull model was originally used in the theory of migration (E. S. Lee, 1966) to justify the factors influencing the movement of people. The model has been used to understand the international students choice of a country (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). The push factors are the factors associatedwith the home country. Some push factors are positive and some are negative in nature, while pull factors are in common p ositive to attract international students to the destination. In essence, the decision, indigences, and flow of international students are a function of the combined pull factors and push factors as influenced by intervening obstacles. The push factors had strength in the initial reasons for studying abroad, while the pull factors dominated the choices, specially the appeal of program availability.HypothesesHo Family and Friends influence does not impact the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA Family and Friends influence does impact the decision to go abroad for post graduation. Ho Personal motivation does not influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA Personal motivation does influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. Ho External push and pull factors do not influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation. HA External factors push and pull factors do influence the decision to go abroad for post graduation.methodological analysisThe methodology that has been adopted is a cabal of qualitative and quantitative research to analyse the factors which are most influential during the process. decimal data from a survey questionnaire have been collected to determine the relative strength of each factor influencing the decision to purse foreign education. The impact of push and pull factors, personal motivation, family and peers influence and their relative importance in taking the final decision have been studied using reversion and cross tabulations. The survey questionnaire used for this research purpose is taken from a study of English Alumni, administered by the University of Dundee (Professor Findlay) and University of Sussex (Professor King) in UK in 2010. The used for analysis is collected using survey questionnaires sent to international graduates who have returned to Pakistan after acquiring post graduate degrees from abroad or are before long enrolled in foreign universities.The survey comprised a struc tured, detailed and comprehensive questionnaire examining various factors related to international study. Targeted sample size was negligible 50 surveys to be obtained from the international grad student Pakistani students however only45 were returned. Judgemental sampling was done. Diversity in age, gender and socio economic background were considered while selecting respondents. It was preferred to have a balance between male and female respondents. The data collected has been used to develop a cloth which best describes the decision making process of Pakistani students when they decide to pursue foreign education.InstrumentationThe questionnaire was designed and piloted in such a way as to ensure that maximum relevant information could be collected with minimal imposition on respondents. It takes 10 minutes to complete on average, with a range between 5 and 15 minutes. The questionnaire was designed to provide secondful data to answer, or at least shed light on, the research aims. The questionnaire principally involves closed questions, simple to tick or write a one-word response, with a few spaces for elaborations where it is thought necessary or useful. original three questions are basics some age, gender and the course of study that was perfect abroad. Next question asks roughly the discipline that was chosen for study abroad. This question would garter me figure the preferred courses which students pursue abroad. This would also help me explore that the decision to study abroad magnate was taken because that particular courses were not offered here in Pakistan.The question around financing of study program would help profile the students, which would in turn help me to analyse how financing issue impacted students choices to study abroad. The next question or so charge from school staff is related to the independent variable of the impact of significant others. This would help me analyse the importance and impact of information from scho ol about opportunity to study abroad and whether this facilitated the decision to study abroad or it had no impact. The objective of the question which asks to mention preferred Pakistani universities is to light upon the top preferred post-grad institutes where these students had considered to study in home country. The following question would explore that what was the impact of rejection or acceptance by domestic institutes on students decision to go abroad. Next question would help determine that whether the restrictions on number of places to study the preferred discipline in Pakistani universities a factor in encouraging students to consider studying abroad.Under the head of impact of significant others there are questionsabout the contact with acquaintances who were already present at the foreign university. Following is the question about whether there was any information abandoned about scholarships/bursaries by the schools and was that important for those students in mak ing a decision about foreign education. The next question is about the next two independent variables, students characteristics & motivation and external push and pull factors of home and host country. There are seven factors which are being analysed and have been assigned a scale ranging from very important to slightly important to not important and finally not applicable. It includes factors like family pressure to study abroad, personal motivation to attend a world class university, desire for a better career, limited courses available in Pakistan, opportunity to experience foreign culture, increasing trend of acquiring foreign degrees and finally the institutions ranking.The responses by respondents would help me identify how important was each of the stated factors. The next question is open stop which ask students to mention the key factors which influenced their choice of one country over other and the factors which led to selection of a particular institute. This would hel p me identify the pull factors which attract students to foreign universities. Next question is about the qualification level of the respondents parents. The level of education which they have might influence the decision of students for foreign post grad study. work question is about the hindrances or the factors which might have concerned students about studying outside Pakistan. Again the degree of importance ranges from very important to not important. The purpose of these factors is to analyse how each factor affect their decision process. These factors include problem with the foreign language, difficult to leave parental family or spouse/partner, cultural shock, financial constraints to pay expenses and concerns about obtaining visa.