African students’ motivations for studying in China’s higher education

Abstract

As the number of African students in the international education market increases, it is important to understand their motivation to study in China and decision-making process they follow. This study focuses on African students being educated in Hangzhou, a new first-tier city. Using interview data, a tentative model on the push–pull factors affecting African students’ decision-making is presented. The findings show that African students’ decision-making process follows one of two sequences depending on whether they have received advice from others. All African students in China who were interviewed began to consider studying abroad due to personal reasons, recommendation from others, a lack of opportunity nearby, and the poor capacity of local universities along with social instability. For African students who do not have others’ advice to guide them, the subsequent stages of their decision-making process include choosing first to study in China and choosing a city and institution. This decision-making depends in large part on the information available online including program availability, reputation and rank of the university, its academic quality, the image of the city, and the availability of scholarships, the affordability of tuition and the cost of living, and application accessibility. By contrast, those who have access to others’ advice may skip the choice of host country and city, directly choosing the recommended institution.