Introduction
This chapter advances the task of the previous chapter and enriches the push–pull framework (hereafter the framework) in international student mobility studies. Drawing on in-depth interviews with three Chinese students in the United States,1 this chapter substantiates the relevance and utility of this framework in understanding Chinese students’ motivations and decision-making process regarding overseas studies. Their stories corroborate multiple patterns revealed in the previous chapter and other existing studies of this framework. For example, although the three students came from different regions of China and are in different programs in the United States, the major gravitational pull of the United States—in accordance with previous findings—is the academic prestige of the US higher education system. The fact that two of them consider the intense competition of the Chinese education system and corporate environment also echoes the findings of previous research (e.g., Li & Bray, 2007; Park, 2009; Tan, 2013). My findings on the significance of students’ social networks also support the conclusion of some existing studies on international students in non-US countries, such as Turkey (Kondakci, 2011).
Furthermore, these students’ nuanced stories are drawn upon to highlight how to further develop the framework. One area of improvement lies in existing studies’s tendency to conceptualize particular push or pull factors statically. As will be shown, decision-making for overseas studies is a fluid process in which students and their parents constantly reframe the same pull or push factor in different directions.2 In some cases, decision-makers can go so far as to translate a factor that has been previously conceived as a push factor into a pull. For example, one of my informants initially considered the pizza-dominated food culture in the United States a “push from host countries,” but she later translated it into a “pull from host countries” when she was prepared to challenge herself in her life skills and adaptability to new environments.
Another area of reflection concerns the mechanisms through which students and their parents engage with push and pull factors to make decisions about overseas studies. The premise in the extant literature is that individual decision-makers engage directly with various factors at the nation-state level as push and pull forces. However, the stories in this chapter showcase a variety of intermediaries (e.g., test-preparation schools, educational consulting firms and alumni networks) that interpret push–pull factors for decision-makers.3 The details of informants’ stories show how these intermediaries can frame a factor that has been commonly perceived as a push of the host country into a pull. At the end of the chapter, these areas of improvement are revisited and the implications of the findings for the push–pull framework are discussed.
Yan: The Influence of Family and the Competition in Chinese Education System
Yan (pseudonym) is a second-year undergraduate student at a state university in the United States. She is from a major city in Western China and plans to major in dental hygiene. When discussing her motivation for studying in the United States, she highlights the US academic environment as the pull factor, and a series of other factors that have pushed her out of China.
My mom talks about US universities every day. She said, “Harvard University’s library has its lights on until 4 a.m. All students there work hard. They study hard with good self-discipline.” So it sounds like a great learning environment. I found the idea of self-discipline appealing. You know, I found myself sometimes disciplined, but sometimes not. So I figured it would be a great opportunity to further improve myself (by studying abroad—the author add the words in this and other parentheses to clarify quotes by informants). I wanted to find out if I can adapt to the learning environment here, and if I can follow every step.
My parents are professors in China. So I know very well how they teach, and I have seen how Chinese college students live their lives ever since my childhood. I have no interest in that kind of life. There are all kinds of control there. You know, all the students there live in dorms, and those old ladies supervising dorms are tough, keeping all the students in the dorms. But students still run out of the dorm (for entertainment) all the time. So those regulations do not really matter. They are all symbolic. Also, every class in Chinese universities has a director. My father used to be a director. He is a responsible one. But a lot of other people are not. So it is really up to the specific person. You know, a lot of things in China are about relationships and connections. It is not about following rules. I don’t like that.
Yan’s disdain for Chinese universities is one of the engines that prompted her to opt for overseas studies. Her story below corroborates Iannelli and Huang’s (2014) findings with regard to competitive pressure being a common push factor of the home country. Further conversations reveal a long process through which her tolerance for the Chinese education system diminished. She mentioned the mounting competitive pressure in her first of high school year as a novel push factor she had not experienced in middle school. She traces how the idea to study abroad developed:
My mom asked me during my middle-school years about whether I would like to study abroad. I felt that she was ready then. But I was not. I told her, “Students in the U.S. are bad at math but my friends here are good”. You know, I was interested in math at that time. I did pretty well on math exams. I was thinking about staying in China. I said “no”. Then, I had this huge regret after I started high school. “Why didn’t I leave?” There was just too much pressure. I wanted to learn math well, but I just couldn’t. I was really longing for a life that was easier. I was getting more and more into studying abroad.
Other push–pull factors outlined in the previous chapter, such as the pull from the home country and the push from the host country, also influenced Yan’s decision. For example, she mentioned the familiar environment and easy lifestyle in Chinese colleges as pull factors from the home country. These factors indeed induced her to think twice when she was making decisions about overseas studies. However, since she had prioritized academic prestige over other factors, she was able to translate the potential lifestyle challenges in the United States into a pull from the host country:
You know, I was worried whether I could take care of myself after coming here. College life in China is easy. When you receive the offer letter, you also receive a debit card. Your life is being taken care of. But later, I convinced myself to come here. I mean I could polish my life skills when I left China. I did not want to attend a Chinese college anyway.
This suggests the fluidity in engaging the push–pull factors in the decision-making process. When a student has prioritized one factor (e.g., the academic prestige of the host country), he or she can translate another push or pull factor into a different category. Moreover, the same push or pull factor is subject to reconsideration and re-interpretation by the same student over time. It is not uncommon for a student, such as Yan, to consider lifestyle difficulty a push from the host country one day, but to reassess it as a pull from the host country later.
While some studies find that students decide why and where to study in separate steps (e.g., Mazzarol and Soutar, 2002; Park, 2009), my findings suggest that these two questions are often inseparable when students are making decisions. In Yan’s case, her familiarity with the United States and admiration for its academic prestige facilitated her decision to study abroad. She elaborates on her choice to study in the United States:
I have been most interested in the US ever since I was a child. My mom did her PhD here (at the same university as mine) and she brought me here once. Once when she was attending a class, I observed in the classroom. So I could feel that it was different here…. There were also four or five senior students at my high school in China. They later attended high schools in the US and went to good US colleges. So I was getting a bit red-eyed (jealous).
It is evident that her choice of the United States as her destination has not been based directly on the academic prestige of US higher education. Rather, her family members, alumni networks, and even her prior experience in the United States, had also influenced her confidence in the US higher education.
Ailing: The Role of Social Network in Framing Push and Pull
Ailing is a first-year PhD student in mechanical engineering at a state university in the United States. Born in 1983, she had already received her master’s degree in China before overseas studies. Interested in exposing herself to Western science and technology, and influenced by her overseas alumni networks, Ailing never doubted that she would study abroad one day. However, as will be shown, the language barrier and English-based standardized tests made her reconsider her location of choice. Her case reminds us of the role of social networks in students’ decision-making process. It also introduces the often-overlooked test-preparation and application processes as push-pull factors. Ailing elaborates on the genesis behind her motivation for overseas studies and the role of overseas alumni networks:
That was my second year in the master’s program (in China). Students of senior cohorts in our lab were applying for different programs in Europe and the US. There were also senior students who had already lived overseas. They came back and talked to us about their lives overseas. So the things they talked about made me feel good. I mean I saw that they had broader visions. So I got this plan (for overseas studies) already…. They (students of senior cohorts) were the major source of information for us. You know, each year about half of the student body in our lab goes abroad…. This includes both the master’s and PhD students. From their experience, I felt that we could get in touch with different perspectives and directions (by studying abroad). You know, for science and technology programs, you want to get in touch with these different perspectives. You want to have an inter-disciplinary perspective to publish good articles. That’s why I changed from chemistry to mechanical engineering after I left China. That way I could combine the knowledge I had already learned.
The quotation above reveals the perceived academic advantages of the United States and Europe in terms of interdisciplinary research and broad vision. These constitute pulls from host countries for Ailing. What is also crucial here is that her alumni network, both domestic and foreign, plays an integral role in framing these academic advantages into the pulls of host countries. When asked whether she had adopted the idea of overseas studies prior to talking with students of senior cohorts, Ailing confirmed their influence.
No, I had not. My original plan was to do both a master’s and a PhD program with my advisor (in China). I only started thinking and planning about coming out (of China) after hearing from them (students of senior cohorts).
Similar to the previous case, Ailing had heard that everyday life in Western countries, such as what to eat, was a challenge for overseas Chinese students. She describes the food issue she has encountered in the United States:
There is a friend of mine who came to the US a few years ago. And he went to a state university in Utah. He told me a lot about his lifestyle in the US. I mean he basically talked about everything like food, housing, clothing and transportation, etc. I asked him if he had gotten used to the food here. So he told me he was fine. He only had issues during the first six months. After that, he had had no problem blending in. Actually I had more problems when I had just arrived. The day I arrived was a Saturday and all the cafeterias on campus were closed over the weekend. I was starving for the first two days! I only had instant noodles I had brought with me. The first real food I had was when my advisor treated me to a buffet. But I couldn’t eat anything. Everything was so oily! You know, pizza and that kind of stuff. I actually lost weight after I came.
Her account reveals that the lifestyle in the United States can be a push factor of the host country. However, the information she obtained from her friend helped her realize that such an issue was bearable. This example substantiates the earlier point about the role of alumni and friend networks in framing push and pull factors.
Another factor Ailing mentioned was the liability of preparing for English-based standardized tests. The need to prepare for these tests not only affects the decision about whether to study abroad; it also influences students’ decisions about where to study. For many Chinese students, these two decisions are inseparable because learning English and preparing for standardized tests such as TOEFL and GRE are not only time-consuming but also challenging, especially for STEM students. Whether a host country requires these tests, which tests and what scores are required, therefore, are issues a student has to consider. In the following account, Ailing explains how the test requirements and her chemistry background led her to choose where to study:
Actually for us STEM students, we don’t have to take TOEFL or IELTS if we are going to the UK instead of the US. For many European countries, we only need the interviewer to provide a certificate about our language capacity. Then we can go there directly…. Also, most of my fellow students of senior cohorts went to Europe. People did not want to spend time learning English or preparing for the tests. You know, we were quite busy as master’s students (in China) because as chemistry students we worked on a schedule from 8am-11pm, six days a week. So we really did not have much time to prepare for English tests. Very often we only had one day off a week, and sometimes only half a day.
In addition to the countries’ varying language test requirements, the disparate program lengths also affected the decision of where to choose for overseas studies. Ailing explains,
Another thing is that it only takes about three years to get a PhD degree in Europe. Germany is an exception. You need four years there. Here in the US you need at least four years. In those higher-ranking universities, it is fairly common for you to spend five years or more (on your PhD). Also, you need to take classes in the US. There is no need for that in Europe. You start working in the lab once you arrive there. You know, taking classes might affect the progress of your lab work.
Indeed, challenging lifestyles, stringent language test requirements, and lengthy programs can become push factors of the host country. To Ailing, these factors render the United States less appealing than staying in China or studying abroad in Europe. However, students tend to translate these pushes into pull factors after they prioritize other determinants, such as academic fitness. Ailing had already been leaning toward the United States since she had discovered that “for STEM students, studying abroad was more about choosing the right advisor than choosing the right country, and I found there was a perfect match between what my current advisor does and what I am interested in.” As academic fitness nudged her toward the United States, she started translating the pushes of the United States into pulls:
Of course it was time-consuming to prepare for those language tests. But I figured that preparing for these tests was not a big thing. I still wanted to improve my English (through these tests). I also took those tests so I wouldn’t limit myself to European universities. I even went to a local test-preparation school to prepare for the tests.
In addition to translating push and pull factors into different directions, decision-makers sometimes change their stance toward a push or pull factor over time. This is because decision-making is a process rather than a one-time event. New factors, such as abrupt changes in the host country’s political environment, can influence the decision-making process. In Ailing’s case, she started to think twice about studying in the United States after she had already decided it would be her destination. One of her concerns was recent visa complications associated with the Trump Administration’s anti-immigration policies. Ailing explains the impact of these policies on her visa and decisions:
Of course these policies have a huge impact on our visas. My previous program (chemistry) is considered “sensitive”(to national security) and they (the US government) issued a “check” on my visa. In such a case, the validity period for my visa status is shortened. Now I only get a one-year visa. Some students of senior cohorts who came here for postdoctoral studies got visas that were only valid for two months! Plus these visas only give you a single entry. You know, in the past they used to provide a one-year visa for postdoctoral students. Anyway, I had such a painful experience getting the visa. I went to the US Consulate twice. The first time, they told me there was something wrong with my I-20 form. They said that my US university had revoked the form. But I called my university and they told me everything was fine. A week later, I went to the Consulate again and they told me they needed to “check” me because of my chemistry background. They told me it would take a month for them to come to a conclusion. Fortunately, I got my visa a week later. But not everyone was as lucky as I was. You know, this is terrifying. Years ago they never checked chemistry-major students. These new policies will have an impact on our lives, our package delivery, our plans to go back home during holidays, etc. So I have already started to question whether I should have come. Now I am thinking perhaps I should go back to China immediately after my PhD.
Ailing’s accounts show that even after beginning her overseas studies she is still deciding where to stay and for how long. For her, decision-making about overseas studies is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.
Hong: Family as Both Push and Pull
Hong is a 38-year-old senior product manager at a leading United States high-tech firm. She graduated with an MBA from an elite private US university in 2015. When she discusses her motivations for studying abroad, she emphasizes the gravitational pull of her husband and the push from her parents. She worked as a manager at another US firm in China before the MBA. Limited room for personal development also contributed to her decision to change life courses.
Hong’s husband came to the United States 2 years before she applied for her MBA. She considers joining her husband the most important pull from the United States:
My husband grew up in a family where his parents always talked about how great democracy was in the US.…He also talks a lot about Western ideas like freedom, democracy and individual choice. In the beginning, I did not take these ideas seriously. I wasn’t really very interested in coming to the US. But then he came to the US a few years before I did, so we were living separately. We were married before he came. We surely did not want to continue like that. I mean he was determined to come and stay in the US. I figured that I had to move if we still wanted to stay together.
When asked whether the move had meant sacrificing in her career, Hong clarifies that overseas studies had proven to be her opportunity to change job tracks. She explains the regard for elite MBA programs among high-tech firms as an indispensable pull factor for the United States. By her account below, the lack of opportunity in her previous position in China also serves as a push factor for her home country:
I was a sales manager in a US company’s Beijing office. I wasn’t really into sales. I was more interested in marketing. But it was difficult to switch to the marketing team without relevant experience or a degree. I also noticed that it was very difficult to get promoted in our department. It was pretty clear that those with MBA degrees were on the fast track to promotion. You know, our company was an American tech firm. An MBA degree from an elite university in the US is what people expect when promotion comes up. So basically I knew there wasn’t too much to give up (if I left). After the MBA, I changed to marketing and the transition was smooth.
Of course, leaving China during its rapid economic growth invokes economic and opportunity costs for a manager. Not every manager, however, necessarily considers economic prosperity as a pull of the home country. It is often through the framing and interpretation of family members and friends that such pull factors are felt. Hong explains,
Sure there are tremendous costs and uncertainties when you decide to leave your old job and your country. Looking back, housing costs in China have more than tripled since we left. Some of our friends have become millionaires (through owning and selling properties). Can you believe that? … But again, I did not think too much about these things. I was thinking about how to be together with my husband. I was thinking about how to land a job I liked better. I wasn’t paying much attention to other things. My father thought of these factors more than I did. I remember he even sent me a message asking me to think twice. He thought it would be a big loss to give up my three hundred thousand RMB annual salary there (in China). He was dubious that I could find a good job in the US. And I was like, “OK, perhaps I should think a little bit about that.”
Clearly, Hong’s family members have successfully framed the economic gains associated with the previous position as a pull of the home country. On the other hand, her family serves as a factor that pushes her out of her home country. In light of extensive parental control over children’s lives in China, students do not necessarily consider leaving their parents to be unbearably painful. As Hong suggests,
You would think Chinese people always want to live close to their parents, right? That may be true for many Chinese. I have a different opinion on this issue. My mother is a middle-school math teacher. She likes giving orders on everything I do, like what to wear, what food to eat, what to study and who to befriend. I mean we have not lived together since my college years. But every time I go back home for holidays or other things, she still treats me like a child. So honestly, I don’t mind living a bit far away from my parents. I mean we will still go back and visit them for sure. By the way, my father used to be in the army. I did not see him much even when I was young. So we aren’t very close anyway.
Hong’s comments do not mean that she does not care about her parents. Neither does she want to remain away from them forever. To her, leaving China for overseas studies is like adding a temporary cushion between her and her parents.
Hong’s words also emphasize the importance of alumni networks. In her case, her schoolmates had not explicitly encouraged her to study abroad. However, she had been under pressure to compare herself to her former schoolmates. She also views their life trajectories as a benchmark to discovering what her next step should be:
I definitely miss my best friends in Beijing who were also my fellow college students. We were really close, especially when my husband was away. But in general, I would say my college experience and classmates made me realize I wanted to leave China…There are two groups of people that are relevant here. One of them consists mostly of guys. Many of them are working on their own startups in China. Some are now millionaires. But when I looked at how they lived their lives, you know, going to parties all night long and hanging out with businessmen, I didn’t see myself…Another group includes many of my college friends who studied overseas right after graduation. You know, there are a lot of them because I was in a computer science program. Quite a few of them are now professors in the US and Canada. There are also managers living in Silicon Valley. I looked at their Facebook pictures and I said to myself, “this is more or less like how I want to live”. It is not that they live a rich life. You look at their family pictures and you just feel that their lives are peaceful.
In this case, her alumni network is both a push and a pull factor. While those with corporate lifestyles had discouraged Hong from pursuing a business career in China, the peaceful lives of her schoolmates in the United States were attractive to her.
In addition to the above-mentioned factors, Hong points to the roles of test-preparation schools in China. These schools prepare Chinese students for standardized tests such as the TOEFL, GRE, and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). Like family and alumni networks, these organizations also act as interpreters for push and pull factors. Hong describes how these organizations and their classes shaped her perceptions about the United States, MBAs and her decision to study overseas:
I mentioned to you that I decided to come to the US because of my husband. But I had thought about overseas studies at an earlier time as well. In the summer after my first year in college, I took a GRE class at Supernova School (pseudonym) in Beijing. I went there because lots of my college classmates were going there too. Before going there, I actually knew very little about studying abroad. I did not even know what test to take. I just signed up for what was popular with my classmates. At Supernova, I got lots of new information. For example, I heard about MBA and the GMAT for the first time. I heard about many great US universities. I remember they (people at Supernova) organized free information sessions for students. One Supernova teacher came to share his experience. He had gotten a Yale MBA and come back to work for Supernova. I still remember how he described his MBA experience. He said, “It was like riding a helicopter. Before the MBA, we looked at business problems as if we were on the ground. But after the MBA, we were able to develop a birds-eye view.” You know, it was something like that. So I guess his sharing planted this seed in me.
Apparently, these test-preparation schools not only disseminate information about the United States and the application process; they also promulgate the academic prestige of US universities. In other words, they frame US education into a pull of the host country. This framing made US education more appealing.
In addition to framing the pull of host countries, these test-preparation schools also mitigate difficulties involved in test taking. As mentioned in the previous case, preparing for and participating in standardized tests are considered time-consuming and risky. Thus, these tasks are perceived as barriers for overseas studies. Test-preparation schools reduced this barrier by familiarizing students with information and skills for tests. More importantly, these test-preparation schools build new communities for students to prepare for tests. Hong contextualizes this idea:
It would be hard to imagine going through the test preparation and applications without these schools. Of course, the so-called test skills they teach are not really very useful. But the teachers are encouraging. They tell stories about how other students fight to go abroad. So sometimes their classes were only two hours but I would go back home and study for another twenty hours… Another thing is that these schools help students form a community. This is a group of people with common interests. After the class ends, we still kept in touch about how to prepare for tests and how to apply. When I felt tired or when I was stuck, I would reach out to them.
Concluding Remarks
This chapter draws on individual decision-making processes to enhance understanding of the push–pull framework introduced in earlier chapters. The stories provided by three overseas Chinese students support the validity of the push–pull framework. I find that multiple push and pull factors mentioned in earlier studies have shaped students’ decisions over whether and where to study.
These crucial push and pull factors include, but are not limited to, the academic prestige of the host country and the competition pressure of the home country. In all three informants’ stories, the academic superiority of US universities is a gravitational pull of the host country. With regard to the competitive pressure in China, two informants illustrate how it can push students outward: one informant considers the mounting pressure in high school a significant determinant for her study-abroad choice. Another informant lists the unlikelihood of a promotion at work as a crucial consideration for obtaining a professional degree from an elite US university.
The informants’ stories also provide new patterns that can be interpreted within the existing push and pull framework. One pattern that stands out in their stories is that few people consider the developed economic status of the United States to be a pull of the host country. A plausible explanation is that, given the rapid economic growth of China, especially for the majority of overseas students who come from urban areas, the United States is no longer economically attractive. Also absent in their stories is the political discourse: except for Hong’s husband, no one mentioned democracy, human rights or any other political factors as pulls of Western host countries. This lack of political consideration might be due to the fact that there are no humanities or social sciences students in the sample. Another pattern across the three stories is how decision-makers can translate one push–pull factor into another. When decision-makers have determined their priorities (e.g., academic excellence), they can translate what previously seems to be a pull or push factor in the opposite direction.
This chapter’s findings also suggest new directions for improving the existing push–pull framework. Existing studies under the push–pull framework often assume that nation states’ push and pull factors shape the decision-making process like objective forces. Moving beyond this assumption, this chapter illustrates that students are also exposed to how push and pull factor are interpreted and framed by test-preparation schools, educational consulting firms and alumni networks. Thus, the ways in which a pull or push factor is depicted and interpreted are no less important than its true nature.
Another area of improvement in the push–pull framework lies in conceptualizing the decision-making process. Most studies using the push–pull framework examine decision-making as if students and their parents reach a final conclusion after comparing the costs and benefits. The premise is that decision-makers do not change their minds once the decision is made. In reality, decision-makers participate in a process that is fluid and complicated: they constantly change their positions, second-guess themselves, and even justify problematic past decisions. In such cases, what was formerly known as a push might be re-interpreted as a pull and vice versa.