Chinese High School Students’ Plans in Studying Overseas: Who and Why

Brokers of international student mobility: The roles and processes of education agents in China

“…In our study, one agent described how a wealthy family's investment in a research expedition allowed to enhance the student's application profile; this example resonates with an admissions scandal in 2019 in the United States (Jaschik, 2019). We propose that these examples illustrate how international student mobility aligns with processes of socioeconomic differentiation and social inequality (see also Cheng et al., 2017; Lorz et al., 2016).…”

“…Figure 1 illustrates the dynamic agency model for the student–agent relationship in the direct admissions service provided by education agents. The principals in this framework tend to be students with high academic potential, high secondary school grades and high relevant university admissions test scores (e.g., SATs), complemented by excellent English language proficiency, who come from families from high social and economic status who tend to be attracted to higher‐quality education overseas (Cheng et al., 2017). These students aim to enter the most prestigious international universities, which also have the most stringent admissions criteria.…”

“…More people are participating in higher education worldwide, but the massification of higher education has not necessarily translated into more equitable participation or societies (e.g., Dias, 2015). In the context of increasing competitiveness and the need to influence others, countries and universities understand internationalisation activities, and particularly those associated with the international mobility of international students, as part of the struggle to attain more positional and economic goods (Cheng et al., 2017). These activities serve to bolster revenues and to replace or complement public funding (Ziguras, 2011).…”

“…With the cost of higher education increasing and universities actively marketing for students and treating them as consumers (e.g., Furedi, 2017), it is unsurprising that students frequently act and are perceived as consumers (Nixon et al., 2018). Given the increasingly marketised higher education context, students use their families' socioeconomic resources to achieve a competitive edge, which is often achieved through the internationalisation of their studies (Bahna, 2018; Cheng et al., 2017).…”

The L2 motivational self‐system: A meta‐analysis approach

“…Data suggest the growing research focus on Asian learners’ motivational development in recent years. In addition to the substantial body of empirical work on Asian learners of English, it is worth mentioning the recent and robust trends in Asian countries (e.g., “the great China exodus,” see Browne, 2014), where learners seeking better learning environments and opportunities to develop their education overseas (Chen, 2011; Luo, 2013). In an age in which globalization, global Englishes, and cosmopolitan relationships are having profound impacts on educational systems, curriculum practices, language education, and, of course, on student motivation (Canagarajah, 2013), interest in motivation is “driven by local practical concerns” (Ushioda, 2013, p. 2).…”