Study on factors infuencing the decision to study abroad for vietnamese student

STUDY ON FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION TO STUDY ABROAD FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION In Inte

STUDY ON FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION TO STUDY

ABROAD FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In International Business

By Ms: To Tran Phuong Thao

ID: MBA05041

International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

March 2014

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Independence - Freedom - Happiness

ASSURANCE QUALIFIED THESIS

Student’s Name: TO TRAN PHUONG THAO

Title of Thesis:

STUDY ON FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION TO STUDY

ABROAD FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENT

Advisor: PHD PHAN TRIEU ANH

I assure that the content of this thesis has been qualified all requirements for a

research paper and able to participate in the final thesis defense

Approved by

STUDY ON FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION TO STUDY

ABROAD FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In International Business

By Ms: To Tran Phuong Thao ID: MBA05041 International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approved by all its members, this thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

In addition, I would like to thank my colleagues in my company and in MBA class for supporting me in giving advice about my thesis Their advice is valuable to me

I am especially thankful to students who spend time to have interview with me and take survey with 58 questions If without their help, I could not finish this study

Last but not least, I really thank my mother and husband They always support and help me take care of family jobs and they are always together with me on the learning journey

TO TRAN PHUONG THAO – AUGUST 2014

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Plagiarism Statements

I would like to declare that, apart from the acknowledged references, this thesis either does not use language, ideas, or other original material from anyone; or has not been previously submitted to any other educational and research programs or institutions I fully understand that any writings in this thesis contradicted to the above statement will automatically lead to the rejection from the MBA program at the International University – Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City

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Copyright Statement

This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it

is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent

© To Tran Phuong Thao/ MBA05041

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TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 4

1.2 Rationale 6

1.3 Research objective 6

1.4 Research question 7

1.5 Scope and limitation 7

1.6 Significance and Implication 7

CHAPTER 2 8

LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 Concept of international education 8

2.2 Concept of international student 8

2.3 Theory of Planned Behavior 9

2.4 Push-Pull model of International student flow 11

2.5 Factor that influence to international student’s decision 13

2.6 Influencing factors of student mobility trend 15

2.6.1 Benefit of international education 15

2.6.2 Significant people 16

2.6.3 Institution characteristics 18

2.6.4 Immigration and employment prospects 19

2.6.5 Barriers factors have influence to student’s decision 21

2.7 Conceptual framework 24

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CHAPTER 3 24

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 Qualitative and quantitative research 26

3.2 Research process 27

3.3 Measurement 28

3.4 Questionnaire design 28

3.4.1 Qualitative study 29

3.4.2 First draft questionnaires – Pilot study 29

3.5 Sampling 29

3.6 Questionnaire’s Design 30

CHAPTER 4 32

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 32

4.1 Demographic details 32

4.1.1 Gender 33

4.1.2 Age 33

4.1.3 Degree which the students want to study abroad 33

4.1.4 Income 34

4.1.5 Student’s major of study 35

4.1.6 Student’s country of study 36

4.1.7 Source of information 37

4.2 Descriptive analysis 38

4.2.1 Student’s choice for studying abroad 39

4.2.2 Personal growth factors 39

4.2.3 Value of degree 40

4.2.4 Social link factors 41

4.2.5 Institutional factors 43

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4.2.6 Immigration and Employment 44

4.2.7 Barrier factors 45

4.3 Reliability analysis 46

4.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 47

4.4.1 EFA for independent variables 47

4.4.2 EFA for dependent variables 51

4.5 One Sample T Test 52

4.6 Correlation testing 54

4.7 Regression analysis 57

4.8 ANOVA test 59

4.8.1 Difference of gender about the student’s decision making 59

4.8.2 Difference of 5 different income groups 59

4.8.3 Difference of friend group 61

CHAPTER 5 62

DISCUSSION, IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION 62

5.1 Discussion 62

5.2 Implication 63

5.2.1 What to communicate 63

5.2.2 Who to communicate 64

5.2.3 How to communicate 65

5.3 Recommendation for future research 66

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List of Tables

Table 1: Vietnamese students in the United States from 1980s to 1990s 5

Table 4: Comparison between qualitative research and quantitative research 25

Table 6: Descriptive Statistics of personal growth factors 40

Table 9: Descriptive Statistics of institutional factors 43 Table 10: Descriptive Statistics of Employment and Immigration factor 44

Table 14: Independent variables Rotated component matrix 48

Table 20: Correlation analysis for dependent and independent variables 55

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Table 25: Difference of friend group with decision of studying abroad 61

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List of Figures

Figure 2: Theory planned behavior (TPB) of Ajzen (1991) 10 Figure 3: Peterson’s (2003) model of the decision to study abroad 11 Figure 4: Judith Eder, Wayne W.Smith and Robert E Pitts model 13 Figure 5: Conceptual framework of the student’s decision making process 23

Figure 13: Percentage by source of information on study abroad 37

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ABBRERIATE

1 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

2 Theory Planned Behavior (TPB)

3 Attitude toward behavior (AB)

4 Subject norms (SN)

5 Perceived Behavior Control (PBC)

6 Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing student’s decision to study abroad This study also compared the most influencing factors to their decision The synthesis model is developed to aim explanation the student’s decision making process The influential factors include in personal growth, degree value, institutions, immigration and employment, social links and barrier factors The research samples comprises 204 students from the different areas in Vietnam who are those having intention for studying oversea purpose in the future

The main research method applied in this study was quantitative study Through regression and ANOVA analysis of variance and one sample T test, the results showed that the most influencing factors are personal growth, degree value, institutions, and social links and barrier factors Results also indicated that there were similarities and differences leading to the student’s decision by family income, gender and friends connection studying abroad

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter will describe the background of the study which provides fact and figures of student mobility trend overseas Next, it will provide some statistic data about number of students studying many worldwide countries in the recent years in Vietnam Then, it will mention to the study object, research question and significant

of this study Finally, it ends with the scope and limitation of the research

1.1 Background

The number of students for participating international education over the last few decades is increasing dramatically, even despite the global economic downturn of recent years The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that 3.7 million of international students seeks opportunities for studying overseas, which shows 75% increase since 2000 (OECD, 2011) With dramatic expansion of students participated in international education, many researches represented many reasons have influence to the increasing trend such as study on student’s motivation and purposes for studying abroad The global trend with the field

of higher education has brought many competitors (Ivy, 2001), who are involved in attracting many international students (Nicholls, Harris, Mogan, Clark & Sims, 1995; Soutar & Turner, 2002) The Unites States is always the most favorite destination for international students with 22% (Verbik and Lasanowski, 2007) In 2009/2010, there were 690,923 international students studying in United States (Open Doors, 2010) Other countries such as Australia, Canada, and UK are facing competition together in attracting international students

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In Asian countries such as Korean, China and Vietnam, students seek overseas educational opportunities going deep into their culture and the fact that there is not any alternative way to get success or good career by getting prestigious degree Micheal Seth, Korean history professor in James Madison University (United State) said that” The truth 50 years ago and still right now” It can say that Vietnam is one of countries in recent years with number of students going to study abroad increasing dramatically In USA, Vietnam is among top ten countries; in Australia, Vietnam is top fourth with more students

Vietnam is a new Asian tiger and has one of growing economics in the world Currently, 45% of the population is under the age of 25, which means a young generation, growing population will continue to demand increased access to tertiary education Integration with international education is becoming global trend especially in Vietnam; a country has slow education system compared with developed countries in the world Today, over two million Vietnamese students are enrolled in tertiary studies This will continue to increases a result of the growing youth population and economic expansion According to the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the number of Vietnamese student overseas has increased for the recent years In 2000, just 10,000 students choose to go abroad for study purpose

In 2012, there are more than 100,000 Vietnamese students studying in 49 countries and territories Majority of study abroad are self-financing, a ten-fold increase compared to a decade ago and a limited number financial support from both Vietnamese government and host institutions Number of students study in Australia with the highest rate nearly (25%), followed by USA (16%), China (13%) The trend

of self-financing studying abroad is to focus on Undergraduate sector For example, 2010-2011, nearly 15 thousand students studying in US, among them are 11,054

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students for undergraduate program, 2,420 students are for graduate program and remains are for other sector as high school and vocational courses Australia, US, Britain, Canada and France were market entrants and they still continue promotional campaigns to attract Vietnamese students In the recent years, emerging education market such as Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Japan are increasing effort to encourage Vietnamese students by offering many number of scholarships, organizing many education exhibitions and recruitment activities Recently, the top five study destination countries are Australia, US, China, Singapore and UK

Regarding to the purpose of studying abroad, there are many various factors influencing to decide studying abroad Traditionally, one of factors was expectation to raise the graduate’s economic and social status, especially within higher education sector when home country may lack the supply of training for the specialized areas; seeking opportunities to personal development in the foreign studying environment

In addition, the close relationship between host and home countries has played important role in student’s decision studying abroad (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002) With

a rapid economic developments, young generation have deep understanding when choosing to study in many different countries “Push” and “pull” factors are link in affecting to student’s decision studying abroad (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002; Maringe

& Carter, 2007; Li & Bray, 2007).The push factors refers due to motivation factors from home country or individual factors and pull factors are from source of host country which affect to student’s studying purpose Many researchers found that the student’s decision making process is extensive and complex when they must consider cautiously for their studying abroad (Chen, 2008; Cubillo et al, 2006; Soutar & Turner, 2002)

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Following to figure 1 with the information from IDP, the author see that there are

many factors which motivate students choose to study in abroad The important

factors are quality of education, international recognition of qualification,

employment opportunities after graduation

Figure 1: Key drivers of destination choice (Source: IDP Buyer Behaviour Research, Prospect Research 2010, Forethought

Research, April 2012 – Preliminary Findings)

1.2 Rationale

Currently, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing markets of international students

studying in many worldwide countries Over the past decades, the number of

Vietnamese in US has increased more than 6 six fold from 1,200 students in

1997/1008 to nearly 13,000 in 2008/2009 With dramatic increase, Vietnam is placed

in top ten countries with large international students in US

In 2011 and 2012, 15,572 students from Vietnam are studying in the United States

It rises in 4.6% from the previous year Vietnam is the eighth leading countries with

students coming to the United States Vietnamese students choose to study

undergraduate level with 72.2%, 17% for graduate level, 5.5% for other and 5.2% for

Quality of education

International recognition of…

Home country recognition of…

Employment opportunities…

Affordability Safety Migration/ PR opportunities

Availability of scholarships

Lifestyle Ability to work part-time

Institution location Family / friends living or…

Distance from home country

Ease of obtaining a student visa

Australian bound students All student

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vocational course Following to report on International Educational Exchange, number of Vietnamese students have steady increase throughout the 1980s and 1990s

Table 1:

Number of Vietnamese students in the United States from 1980s to 1990s

Year Number of students

from Vietnam

Number of change from previous year

Number of US study abroad student going to Vietnam

4th position with number of students in Australia by Australian Education International’s source

Table 2: Top 5 nationalities in Australia The Top 5 nationalities contributed 52.1% of Australia’s total enrolments

1.5 Scope and limitation:

This research is conducted on Vietnamese female and male students in many areas

in Vietnam such as North area, South area, and Central area The sample will include Vietnamese students with many different academic levels from Foundation program, Diploma program, Undergraduate program and Postgraduate program

1.6 Significance and implication

To sum up, the research is to explore the factors of Vietnamese student for choosing to study abroad and help the author have thorough insight of the factors in student mobility trend to international education Particularly, the result would help the research give effective marketing strategies in recruiting many Vietnamese students to choose studying oversea in the future

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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Concept of International Education:

Following to UNESCO defined “International Education as a process resulting from international understanding, cooperation and pace”

International Baccalaureate chooses to define “international education” according

to the following criteria: “developing citizens of the world in relation to culture, live together; building and reinforcing students’ sense of identity and cultural awareness; fostering students’ recognition and development of universal human values; stimulating curiosity and inquiry in order to foster a spirit of discovery and enjoyment

of learning; equipping students with the skills to learn and acquire knowledge, individually or collaboratively, and to apply these skills and knowledge accordingly across a broad range of areas; providing international content while responding to local requirements and interests; encouraging diversity and flexibility in teaching methods; providing appropriate forms of assessment and international benchmarking.”

2.2 Concept of international student

International student mobility defined many different ways According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international

students are those who are studying in a country different from their home country for

the purpose of tertiary study Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country because of their own national education system

In the 2006 EURODATA report, Kelo et al label presented international student as

“students who cross national borders for the purpose or in the context of their studies”

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Kuptsch (2003) classified two groups of international students The first group is defined as “educational inlanders” are those students participated in their studying process at secondary education level in the host country and have foreign nationality They are immigrants and have tight family ties The second group is called as

“educational foreigner” is students who entered the host country for higher

educational purpose and are allowed to stay legally as student visa during the studying time

2.3 Theory of Planned Behavior

According to Theory Planned Behavior (TPB) of Ajzen (1991), there are three elements of TPB are Attitude toward behavior (AB), Subject norms (SN) and Perceived Behavior Control (PBC) In term of AB reflect positive or negative individual belief evaluation to impact of particular behavior For instance whether they believe that studying abroad will bring many opportunities in the future as well

as they assess that studying abroad takes a lot of money for their parents Subject norms are the own perception about the particular behavior, which have effect by others such as parents, friends, or teachers etc Next is PBC as perceived self about the particular behavior and understand factors could facilitate or impede in performing behavior It is explained that the individual could realize many factors affecting to their decision, what is the advantageous factors so that they give final decision and lead to perform behavior or action PBC involves two main sides Firstly, as internal control, it depends on the degree which the individuals conceptualize themselves as adequately skill, knowledge of performance (Kraft, Rise, Sutton and Roysamb, 2005) which overlaps with concept of self-potency Secondly, external control defined as individuals’ evaluation about external factors (Kraft, Rise, Sutton and Roysamb, 2005)

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Figure 3: Peterson’s (2003) model of the decision to study abroad

2.4 Push-pull model of international education flows

A push–pull model arises from the theory of migration (E S Lee, 1966) to explain the factors impact on the movement of people The model has been applied to describe international student flows (Neice and Braun, 1977;Cummings, 1984; K.H Lee and Tan, 1984; Sirowy and Inkeles, 1984; Agarwal and Winkler, 1985; Cummings and So, 1985), the decision or motivation of studying oversea (Glaser, 1978; Rao, 1979; Altbach and Lulat, 1985)

Behavior believe

Attitude toward to study aboard

Subject norm about study abroad Nominative beliefs

Motivation of to comply

Evaluation of outcomes

Intention

to study abroad

STUDY ABROAD

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Most push factors are intangible to analyze desires of the individual associated with home country It urges human to implement and achieve wants It can be understood that students have perceived the benefit of studying abroad and they have desires for their studying purpose The pull factors referred to factors to attract in the recruitment of international students to study abroad In essence, flow of international student is the combine of two push-pull factors

With the study on from eighteen developing countries to developed countries in the 1960s and 1970s, McMahon (1992) found movement of international students having influences from many factors The push model referred that economic prosperity, relation between developing countries and world economy, importance of education has been placed the top concern by government and success of educational opportunities His pull model identified that the movement of students is due to size

of the host country’s economy compared to home country, economic influence between two nations and politic ties through special assistance Many scholarships are granted as one of support from the host country

Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) further found out the “push” factors are defined as factors are originated from home country leading to student’s choices while “pull” factors are attracting reasons for international students from host country There were six push-pull factors influencing the selection of a host country The level of knowledge and awareness of the host country were the first factor as the students were influenced by reputation for teaching quality and recognition of qualifications achieved in the destination country The second factor is personal recommendations Before making final decision, students tend to look for the advice from parents, friends, and relatives Another important factor relates to the cost issues including cost

of living, tuition fee, travel costs and social cost A fourth factor is environment as the

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student have adaptation with new country and feel love with friendliness in people and lifestyle The fifth factor is geographic proximity and final factor is social links, which related to whether the students have any relative in the destination country or friends and family have studied there previously

From push-pull model, Judith Eder, Wayne W.Smith and Robert E Pitts explored factors influencing study abroad destination choice and give the model is shown in figure 4 The student’s choice is not made in the short time They need to have cautious preparation and weigh the benefits of studying overseas The author determined three major factors from interviews: push, pull and structural In the push factors, it referred to three sub factors such as personal growth, language and career Pull factors are two sub factors as college, physical geography and US culture Visa issues and money are stated in structural factors

Figure 4: Judith Eder, Wayne W.Smith and Robert E Pitts model of student’s

decision making process

2.5 Reasons have influence for studying abroad

Many researches indicated that there are a variety of key factors influencing to decide to study abroad The researches Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002 mentioned that in

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the past, the expectation of developing economy and growing their social status were two purposes that motive studying overseas Over the second half of the twentieth century, many Asia and Africa countries has lacked of accessing higher education over the world, it has led to the movement of international student flow Furthermore, the tight relationship between two nations is also a reason in the students’ choice With the rapid changes, a lot of studies classified main factors to encourage movement of students abroad

IOM (2008) has pointed out main reasons for studying overseas They are range of educational, social, economic conditions and influence of the destination country’s immigration and visa policy against international students, employment opportunities and recognition of skills and foreign qualification In addition, other key determinants for a selected destination also relates to the cost of studying abroad as tuition fee, living expenses, financial assistance

According to Eder, Smith & Pitts, 2010; Maringe, 2006; Petruzzellis & Romanazzi, 2010; Soo & Elliott, 2008; Soutar & Turner, 2002, the institute’s reputation and perceived education quality which are the most important factors influencing study destination choice

Pima (2003) researched that Thai students have been influenced by five categories such as finance, information (from family, friends), expectations (familial expectation), competition (competition among family member) and persuasion (counseling from the agent) Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) highlighted the strong parental influence on undergraduate students in choosing the destination for study, especially in Indonesian and Taiwanese students

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According to (Cubillo et al, 2006: 104), there are four factors with nineteen variables that affect decision-making The identified factors are personal reasons, country image, and institution image and programmed evaluation

2.6 Influencing factors of student mobility trend

2.6.1 Benefits of international education

Many studies focus on the benefits of studying abroad program for students Carsello & Creaser, 1976; Kuh & Kaufman, 1984; Carlson & Widman, 1988; McCabe, 1994; Kitsantas & Meyers, 2002 referred that international education help enhance the student’s worldview and self-reliance, self-confidence and personal well-being through cross cultural understanding The similar reports explained positive impact in enhancing higher level of openness and flexibility, emotional resilience and personal autonomy (Kitsantas & Meyers, 2002; Carlson & Widaman, 1988; Nash, 1976; Ward & Kennedy, 1993)

Teichler (2004) provided explanation of benefits for students in choosing oversea programs The first thing is to cultivate knowledge Second, international education and research bring understanding of multi-cultures including social-culture, political, economic and educational system All experience contributes to personal growth to able to participate in labor market after graduation Fernandez (2006) also stated a similar explanation for the mobility trend that students are able to gain awareness of global perception about worldwide issues via studying path. The benefit is

international communication which the students are able to obtain through higher international education

As several researches identified that studying abroad is not just for studying languages There are many numerous benefits in participating in global education program (Cushner & Mahon, 2002; Fernández, 1996; Salisbury, Umbach, Paulsen,

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and Pascarella; 2009) The students must learn to adapt with new environment and

overcome obstacles Mistretta (2008) mentioned that students would have been

increased their self-confidence and have grown their personal skill when coming back

home

As the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan (2010) has stated,

"Studying abroad will distinguish your student from his/her peers Employers are

looking for the soft skills that students typically develop abroad." These skills include

critical thinking, self-sufficiency, flexibility, communication skills, as well as

intercultural knowledge and awareness Especially, with the experience gained by

studying global education program, students have a competitive advantage over others

in the job market

With benefit of international education, students have difficulty to make final

decision Ivy (2010) stated that there are some personal factors having influence

student’s choices such as academic performance, ethnic group, parental involvement,

and financial constraint

Bourke, 2000; Krzaklewska and Krupnik, 2005 referred that irrespective of

drawback, the students still want to seek oversea opportunities because of individual

perception such as desire of exploring many different cultures, improving foreign

language and enriching real-life experience of self

2.6.2 Significant people

Lucas (2009), Anderson (2007), Kasravi (2009) and Sanchez et at (2006) stated

similar findings about the parent’s involvement for the students’ decision They are

people with the strongest influence Mazzarol & Soutar 2002 presented similar

conclusion It can be said that the final decision is from the student but family

in studying abroad It is important to decide which country to be good choice (Wang, 2007) Parents not only support financial issue but “place great pride in the education

of their children and therefore are active in decision making process” (Shanka, Quintal and Taylor, 2005)

Research by Hossler et al in 1999 (cited in Burns, 2006) on significant persons to

a student college choice showed that 43% of respondents reported that they spoke with friends, teachers, counselors, or parents about college The results revealed that teachers and counselors played an important role in assisting students learn about specific institutions

Anderson; Peterson (2003) found that peer also bring significant influence in decision making process and the impact difference in demographic group (Kasravi, Lucas) Kasravi researched that this influence was for Asian/Asian American or biracial students Lucas referred that “male generally put a lot of emphasis on friends and peer messages-more than females; however these messages were not always supportive” (p.226)

Lay & Maguire (1981), Murphy (1981), Sevier (1986), Keling, (2006) Absher & Crawford (1996) stated that institutes facilities such as classrooms, laboratories and libraries are important issues in a student’s selection of a college or university

Price et at (2003) conducted qualitative research with a five-point Likert scale for the first-year students in UK from nine universities in 2000 With 87 questions were divided into 12 categories e.g university type, city reputation, accommodation, teaching infrastructure, university safety, transport Study program and university’s teaching reputation were evaluated as two of six most important factors

The similar studies of Veloutsou et Al (2004) focused on need and the importance

of information when choosing the universities Survey with 306 students in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the result showed that they need the information about structure of study program, faculty reputation, and campus and city nightlife These

Another concerned variable in choosing institutions for studying abroad are financial assistance offered by university Yusof (2008) stated that this factor is one of the four important attributes expected from a particular higher education institution of choice and Jackson (1988), Litten, 1982, Manski &Wise, (1983) have stated similar conclusion

Leslie and Brinkman (1988, cited in Heller, 2001) examined the role of financial assistance for student’s decision such as 1) the decision whether to enroll in college or not (access); 2) what institution to attend (choice); and 3) whether to continue their enrollment from one year to the next (persistence) The author found that scholarship has the important impact for the students with low-income level Hurwitz (2012) concluded about level of sensitive to financial aid in the college’s choice

Some researchers (Absher & Crawford, 1996; Servier, 1994) also mentioned that some students seek a school close to their hometown or place of work for convenience and accessibility (cited in Sia, 2010)

2.6.4 Immigration and employment prospects

The immigration factor is another of key choice that students considered Nowadays, in many countries, they have applied policy to encourage international

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students For example, in Australia, the student could get permanent visa when enrolling majors such as nursing, civil engineering, mining, accounting….or get extra point when studying provincial areas In Canada, the students could stay when they choose to study in Manitoba

Next, the employment factor has been considered by students as well Many students would like to seek for employment opportunities after graduation or part time job during studying They prefer to choose destinations allowing international students to work For instance, in Australia, the students could work 40 hours in two weeks or with bachelor degree or master program, students could stay in Australia for

2 years automatically On the contrary, in US, the students are allowed to work in campus University

on-Sevier (1998), Paulsen (1990) claimed that students decide to study because of job prospects for graduated students This study hypothesizes that employment opportunities are significant factors influencing college choice decision

Pupils also considered job prospects when selecting their faculty (Băcilă et al 2006; Băcilă 2008; Wiese et al 2009) along with the enjoyment of the subject, need for a degree for a career, better job, new subject areas and the enjoyment of student life (Soutar & Turner 2002)

According to Tatar & Oktay 2006; Whitehead et al 2006, a similar situation was found in Western Australia (Soutar & Turner 2002) and in Turkey (Tatar & Oktay 2006) However, for South Africa student’s employment prospect were listed as second important choice factor after 6 quality of teaching (Wiese et al 2009) Furthermore, based on Tavares‟s et al (2008) study in Portuguese universities, vocation‟ or specialization was a stronger reason for programmer choice than employment prospects

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The student mobility trend is increasing dramatically and a lot of foreign students have become immigrant legally and they have motivation to study abroad because of policy of immigration from the host country (Massey& Malone, 2002; Finn, 2003; Zhang & Li, 2001; Gao & Liu, 1998;

Tremblay, 2005 stated desire of immigration for students when they choose to study overseas

2.6.5 Barriers factors have influence to student’s decision

Barrier factors are one of important factors affecting to the decision of studying abroad The students need to consider carefully many issues and identify risks Financial burden is main obstacle for majority of students interested in studying oversea Even risk of delayed graduation, racial discrimination, loneliness, and visa issues are drawback of students

Cost-related issues are the most concern for the international student Jackson (1986, cited in Sia, 2010) concluded that price is a negative influence on college choice In another research, Kusumawati (2013) gave similar conclusion about cost of studying program

Joseph & Joseph (2000) referred that cost issues seem to place the importance compared to other reasons Similarly, Houston (1979), Webb (1993), Joseph & Joseph (1998) found the finance issue are the most of important elements Jackson (1986) presented that the cost related issue has negative influence in decision of college choice for students while financial support to reduce cost is positive influence

Maringe & Carter, 2007 stated difficulty for international students such as homesick, disruption of family life, uncertainties about progress and success in the studying path,

The following table 3 shows influential factors are originated from previous studies

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Table 3: Factor have influence the student’s decision Personal growth

Carsello & Creaser, 1976; Kuh & Kaufman,

1984; Carlson & Widman, 1988; McCabe,

1994; Kitsantas & Meyers, 2002; Mistretta

(2008)

Enhance the student’s worldview Self-reliance, self confidence

Kitsantas & Meyers, 2002; Carlson &

Widaman, 1988; Nash, 1976; Ward &

2005

Exploring many different cultures, Improving foreign language and Enriching real-life experience

Significant people

Lucas (2009), Anderson (2007), Kasravi

(2009) and Sanchez et at (2006), Mazzarol &

Soutar 2002

Family and relatives

Institutional characteristics

Moogan & Baron 2003; Briggs 2006; Ancheh

et at.2007; Wiese et al 2009; Afful-Broni &

Noi-Okwei 2010; Beneke & Human 2010)

University’s ranking

Campus and city life

Lay & Maguire (1981), Murphy (1981),

Sevier (1986), Keling, (2006) Absher &

Crawford (1996)

Facilities

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Joseph and Joseph (2000) Study program and career opportunities Yusof (2008); Leslie and Brinkman (1988,

cited in Heller, 2001); Hurwitz (2012)

Financial assistance

Absher & Crawford, 1996; Servier, 1994 Location

Career prospects and Immigration

Sevier (1998), Paulsen (1990); (Soutar &

Turner 2002)

Career prospects

Massey& Malone, 2002; Finn, 2003;

Zhang & Li, 2001; Gao & Liu, 1998;

Tremblay, 2005

Immigration

Barrier factors

Jackson (1986, cited in Sia, 2010);

Kusumawati (2013); Joseph & Joseph (2000)

Cost

Disruption of family life Uncertainties about the success of course

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2.7 Conceptual framework

In the reference of Peterson (2003) model and Judith Eder, Wayne and Robert E Pitts model as well as information from literature review, the author choose Push-Pull model to explain influence of factors for Vietnamese’s student to decide for studying abroad Furthermore, the author develops the model of Push-Pull model to explain clearly about the research The model identifies sub-factors to have influence to Vietnamese students’ decision to international education

The model (figure 5) includes 3 main factors such Push factors, Pull factors and Structural factors In push factors, it includes sub factors such as personal growth and value of degree In structural factors, the author refers to barrier factors In pull factors, it identifies many sub factors such as institution, social link and employment and immigration factors

Employment

& Immigration

DECISION MAKING OF STUDYING ABROAD Structural factors

Push factors

Pull factors