Life Impact | The University of Adelaide
ECIC & School of Education
An explorative study on international research
student’s intention to research abroad and
collaborate with host institutions
Xu Ting
Doctoral Candidate Entrepreneurship
Dr Michelle Picard
Director, RED
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 1
Researcher’s Intention?
Area of Research Known
Development of host country (Economic & government data)
Benefits from fees & joint research ventures, skilled workforce
Development of home country (Economic & government data)
Benefits from educated workforce, trade and research links
Student perceptions (Student Barometer, Higher Education research)
Information on learning styles, perceptions of pedagogy, institutional support and experience of learning environment
Institution level research (Higher Education research, newspaper surveys)
Language issues, teaching and learning accommodations, declining standards
Research output (e.g. University Rankings)
Shanghai Jiaotong and Times Academic Ranking of World Universities: numbers of international students and staff
Supervision Interpersonal relationships, supervision pedagogy
Reasons behind data unexplored
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 2
Research Questions
What factors influence the intention of research students to
obtain a research degree abroad?
What factors influence research students to continue to study
at and/or collaborate with the host institution?
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 3
The literature
• Business management literature
- Existing resources
- Individual
- Group
- Institutional level
• Social science literature: Theory of planned behaviour
- To understand factors influencing intention
- To predict individual behaviours
Internal influences
• Attitude
• Subjective norm
• Individual capability
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 4
Research Method • 12 international PhD students
• Electronically distributed questionnaire
• Open-ended questions to understand their perception about subjective norm attitude and perceived
behavior control as factors influencing individual intention.
Part 1:
• 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting a PhD Degree overseas and why?
• 2. Who might approve or disapprove of your choice to do PhD research overseas and why?
• 3. What factors might help or prevent you doing PhD research overseas and why?
Part 2:
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages to collaborate with the host institution where you get
your degree and why?
2. Who might approve or disapprove of your choice to collaborate with your host institution where you
get your degree and why?
3. What are the factors that might help or prevent you to collaborate with host
institution where you get your degree and why?
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 5
Data analysis techniques
• Interview texts managed using Nvivo9
• Analysed using five-step framework approach
- Familiarise with data by reading and re-reading
- Identify themes and key ideas
- Develop an index identifying links between categories linking categories thematically
- Refer back to index and theory for explanations (Smith 2011)
- Explore relationships between different themes and respondents using Nvivo tools
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 6
Immersion in data & tentative themes/ key ideas
Predominantly internal factors:
Tentative categories of:
From the social sciences theory
• Attitude
• Subjective norm
• Abilities of respondents = Individual capability
New categories
• What they wanted to achieve = Expected outcomes
• Perceived external responsiveness
• Cultural/social issues = Mediating factors
Few external factors:
• Concrete resources = actual stipend/ scholarships, supervisory team accepting topic
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 7
Word similarity across respondents
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 8
Examples of data from different categories Category Data
Attitude “impression I had about and left in the host institution” (R9) “passion to expose oneself to a different culture/ country” (R1)
Subjective norm “The spouse will sacrifice her/his career if she/he comes” (R1) “So little practical cooperation between PhD students and staff in the Uni will undermine the motivation to cooperation in the long term” (R6)
Perceived external responsiveness
“University offer a wide range of assistance to international students” (R2) “Know the culture and people of Host University well. People know you well so if you are worth collaborate there is high possibility you will get what you want” (R1)
Individual capability “Have the knowledge to find the opportunity” (R10) “Language can limit your potential in your research” (R1)
Expected outcomes “More competitive in human resource market” (R2) “You may not be well recognized in your home country as people have different perception about different overseas university” (R1)
Mediating factors “Relationship of current institution and host institution” (R2) “Easy to continue employer of collaboration with host institution of will have a first hand knowledge of the people culture and processes as well as mission of the host institution” (R1)
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 9
Category coverage
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 10
Themes arising from the data
• Attitude: Pre: overall impressions of people and place, Post: desire for continued contact
• Subjective norm: Pre: family friends, spouse, previous supervisors and lab colleagues,
government, Post: employers, government, institutional support (both) emotional bond with
previous supervisors & institution, current colleagues
• Perceived external responsiveness: Pre: Need to work harder, mutual projects/ institutions,
perceived similarity of research, perceived levels of support/ information before arrival, perceived
access to information and academic services, perceived flexibility; Post: Mutual projects/
institutions, information access, perceived workload arrangements, continued similar focus
• Individual capability: Pre: Language (multiple), knowledge of world, Post: Communication style
• Expected outcomes: Pre: More employable, international recognition, new learning styles &
knowledge, enhanced language ability, respect, local irrelevance, Post: Prospect for job, networking
opportunities, building new knowledge, institutional links, overly narrow topic, financial and
research collaboration unequal, non-local focus problematic
• Mediating factors: Pre: social issues (loneliness, social isolation), cultural issues (not part of
community); Post: Knowledge of culture results in continued collaboration, emotional bonds,
institutional joint culture
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 11
Subjective Norm
Attitude
Intention
Perceived External
Responsiveness
Perceived Internal
Capability
Outcome Behaviour
Expected outcome
Mediating factors
International students’ intention to research and collaborate
Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 12
Recommendations
• Research more research on perceived external responsiveness
• Institutions focus on developing an environment that encourages on developing a
positively external responsible environment
• Explaining and sending out message available/ explicit/ accessible
• Looking at the relationship between all the internal variables as in our model
