Circulating East to East

The Present Study
According to Altbach’s (1998) push–pull model, studying abroad is a complex and 
dynamic process in which some international students are pushed by unfavorable con-
ditions in their home countries to study abroad, whereas others are instead pulled by 
the perceived favorable conditions of potential host countries and institutions. Based 
on this model, prior literature has been able to identify and understand a range of dis-
tinct external factors that drive students to leave their home countries and factors that 
attract those students to study in their new host countries (Li & Bray, 2007; Mazzarol 
& Soutar, 2002; Wilkins, Balakrishnan, & Huisman, 2012). Unlike in the past, when a 
majority of students have typically chosen English-speaking and Western countries as 
their study-abroad destinations, increasingly more students are now circulating within 
Asia. To better understand this new trend and the unique factors that influence students 
to study in non-English-speaking countries, this study not only expands on Altbach’s 
(1998) push–pull model but also conducts qualitative research to identify the unique 
push factors within China and the unique pull factors in Korea that together drive 
Chinese students to study in Korea. Moreover, by investigating the relation between 
these push–pull factors and satisfaction, governments and institutions can strategically 
emphasize the factors that are more strongly associated with student satisfaction. 
Considering that this emerging trend is also occurring in other non-Western countries 
such as Japan, Malaysia, and other Asian countries, which have all seen an increasing 
number of Chinese international students, this novel approach provides meaningful 
implications not only for Korean educational and political leaders but also for other 
emerging countries attempting to compete in the global market to recruit more inter-
national students.
Method
This study used a mixed methods approach to explore the dynamics of East to East 
circulation among Chinese international students, specifically in Korea. Given the 
lack of previous research on international students’ choices to pursue a college educa-
tion in non-English-speaking countries, rather than simply applying traditional push–
pull factors as identified in the literature, this study first conducted in-person interviews 
with Chinese students to develop insights and identify unique factors that influence 
their choice to study in Korea (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Creswell, 2003). Based on the 
key themes generated from analysis of the interviews and building on the Korean 
Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) survey
1
(Lee & Shouse, 2011) and insights 
from the literature (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002), this study developed a survey that was 

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able to identify factors and measure their significance with regard to influencing the 
choice to study abroad as well as how those factors affect study-abroad satisfaction. 
The survey was also pilot-tested on several Chinese international students, who pro-
vided valuable suggestions to improve wording as well as insights regarding items to 
add to the survey.