Why Chinese students choose to pursue secondary education in Canada: an empirical investigation based on push–pull model

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With the growing trend of globalization, an increasing number of Chinese students choose to study overseas. While researchers have conducted many studies to explore factors motivating these students to undertake higher education overseas, few studies have investigated Chinese students’ motivations to pursue secondary education abroad. To fill this research gap, we interviewed 20 Chinese secondary students and four Chinese parents to explore Chinese students’ motivations to pursue secondary education abroad by taking Canada as a study destination example. By adopting the push–pull model as the theoretical framework, we identify two macro-level push factors and three micro-level push factors that propel Chinese secondary students to study outside China. It also reveals five pull factors at the macro-level and two pull factors at the micro-level that attract these students to select Canada as a study abroad destination. On the basis of identifying these push–pull factors, we further discuss the similarities and differences of Chinese students’ motivations to pursue secondary education abroad and to undertake higher education overseas.