Determinants of Chinese students’ increasing pursuit of UK’s taught master degree under the third wave of international education mobility

Although there is an abundance of research on international students’ study and life experiences in the receiving countries and their post-study labour market outcomes in the sending countries, the motivations to study in a specific country have rarely been studied. Based on the theoretically grounded analysis, this article aims to explore the determinants driving Chinese students to increasingly choose UK’s postgraduate taught programmes, under the context of the third wave of international student mobility. Drawing on 41 interviews and thematic analysis, this study finds a variety of determinants: China’s intense domestic competition for the master programme entry, social networks, China’s traditional culture, short duration of master programme, global competence and parental influence. Also, the results suggest that China’s domestic master education is experiencing great changes. The findings provide implications for UK higher education institutions and Chinese students in terms of studying abroad. This study contributes to a broadened empirical and conceptual understanding of capital conversion and push-pull model under Chinese student context, offering empirical evidence for explaining the inner decision process of studying in the UK regarding students coming from China’s contemporary middle class.