Factors Influencing International Students to Study at Universities in Taiwan

Le Thu Trang

Yao-Chuan Tsai*

Business Administration, National Cheng Kung University

Tainan City, Taiwan

The 16th Asia Pacific Management ConferenceKobe, Japan

Outline1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

3. Research Design

4. Data Analysis

5. Conclusions and Future Research

1. Introduction

• In order to not only compete, but survive, an industry must identify the needs of its potential customers and develop products or services that can meet these needs (Harvey and Busher, 1996) .

• This is true for the education industry as well, which is essentially a service industry directed at people’s minds with students as clients (Harvey and Busher, 1996; Mazzarol 1998).

• Overseas studying could be the most expensive decision that a student would ever have to make, so the research in this field is necessary (Mazzarol 1998).

Background

Previous research• Previous research surveyed opinions of international students regarding

certain factors and considering whether or not the factors were influential on their intention of application for university admissions. • For example, Phang (2013) and Chang and Chou (2012) found the

factors of scholarship, desired course, institutional image, international environment, language, and future job would affect the international students’ intention to apply for admissions. • Previous research did not compute the weights (importance) of those

factors which would affect the students’ intention for applying to schools.

Taiwan as an example• Taiwan’s institutions of higher education have been actively recruiting

outstanding international students in the recent years. This could lead Taiwan’s competition status to become Center for Higher Education in Southeast Asia (Higher Education in Taiwan 2012-2013). • The number of international students in Taiwan has almost doubled from

2006 to 2011.

Purpose• This study computed the percentages of certain important factors which

would affect students' intention of applying for university admission in Taiwan. • We hope to correctly interpret the students’ preferences for choosing

universities. The results may contribute to school administration in making proper strategies to attract outstanding international students.

2 Literature Review

• 2.1 Application intention • Intention is often a more realistic measure than merely consideration (Giles

and Rea 1999). Also, it has been found that there is a difference between the attraction to an organization and the intention to pursue an employment opportunity (Aiman-Smith, Bauer, and Cable 2001).• Srikatanyoo and Gnoth (2002) used the destination intention as the students’

preferential choice of an education destination. After then, Cubillo et al. (2006) proposed some factors that would influence the purchase intention of international students. They defined the purchase intention as a predictor of students’ choices when they consider different elements in their overseas study decisions. • This study involved international students’ decision on selecting universities.

We use the term application intention to represent the students’ intention of applying for university admissions in Taiwan.

2.2 Factors that might influence students’ application intention

No Factors References

1 Scholarship Dian Fu Chang, Wen Ching Chou (2012)

2 Low tuition fee Dian Fu Chang, Wen Ching Chou (2012)

3 An institutional image Bodycott (2009); Chen & Zimitat (2006)

4 A desired program/course Suh Li Phang (2013)

5 Language Suh Li Phang (2013)

6 International environment Suh Li Phang (2013)

7 Influences and recommendation from family, friends and professors

Suh Li Phang (2013)Bodycott (2009)

8 Collaboration with agencies Dian Fu Chang, Wen Ching Chou (2012)Chen & Zimitat (2006)

9 Future Job Cheung, Yuen, Yuen & Cheng (2011)

2.3 Conjoint analysis

• Green (1970) recognized that conjoint measurement could be applied to marketing problems.• Conjoint analysis is a technique used by marketing managers to gain

an insight into consumers' preferences for products and services and to predict buyers’ behaviors (Vriens, 2010) . • Conjoint analysis allows the respondents to consider certain factors

(attributes) involved in a decision. By analyzing the results of the respondents’ judgments, the weighted percentages (importance) of the attributes can be measured.

3 Research Design

3.1 Study processFactors Chosen

(Literature)

Pre-test(Reduce number of

factors)

Formal Questionnaire

Data Analysis(Conjoint analysis, Statistical analysis)

3.2 Pre-test

Factors Definitions Results1 Scholarship The university provides international students with scholarship or financial

assistances.331

2 Desired program/course The university provides interesting programs that meet prospective students’ needs.

311

3 International environment The university and its studying environment allows international students to experience new culture and to meet classmates from different countries.

294

4 Language The university provides courses which are taught in both Chinese and English.

286

5 Institutional image The ranking, reputation, and equipment of the institution are good or not. 274

6 Future job The university and its offered degree allows international students to work in Taiwan after graduation.

271

7 Recommendation by others The students’ family, friends, and professors recommend them to study at certain universities.

250

8 Collaboration with other universities

The university collaborates with other universities in the world, including international students’ home countries, and/or provides the exchange students program.

228

9 Low tuition fee The university’s tuition and fee are low. 227

Table: Pretest Results

A seven-point Likert scale was used to rank each factor’s importance. Fifty international students were randomly selected to conduct the pre-test. The pre-test time period was from 1st to 14th January, 2014.

Scholarship Desired course International environment

Language Institutional image

Future job Recommendation by others

Collaboration with other

universities

Low tuition fee200

250

300

350

331

311

294286

274 271

250

228 227

Pre-test results shown by a graph

Attributes Levels

1 ScholarshipYesNo

2 Desired program/courseYesNo

3 Institutional imageYesNo

4 LanguageYesNo

5 International environmentYesNo

6 Future jobYesNo

Table: Attributes and Attribute-Levels

3.3 The design of attribute-levels

The meanings of each attribute-level1) Scholarship

• Yes : The university provides scholarship for you.• No: The university doesn’t provide scholarship for you.

2) Desired program/course• Yes: The university provides interesting courses that meet prospective students’ desire.• No: The university doesn’t provide interesting courses that meet prospective students’ desire.

3) Institutional image• Yes: The ranking, reputation and the equipment of the institution are good.• No: The ranking, reputation and the equipment of the institution are not good.

4) Language • Yes: The university provides courses which taught in both Chinese and English.• No: The university doesn’t provide courses which taught in both Chinese and English.

5) International environment• Yes: You can experience new culture and meet classmates from different countries.• No: You can’t experience new culture or meet classmates from different countries.

6) Future job• Yes: A degree from this university will ensure you to have more opportunities to work in Taiwan after graduating

from the university.• No: A degree from this university will not ensure you to have more opportunities to work in Taiwan after graduating

from the university.

3.4 Questionnaire Design

• Fractional factorial design was used to reduce the number of combinations, while still maintaining orthogonally among the levels (Hair et al. 1998)

• 10 out of 64 (=26) combinations were taken in the formal questionnaire design.

• Similar to Aiman-Smith and Bauer (2001), “application intention” was asked by using the statement: “I would apply for admissions to this university.”

• Formal questionnaires were presented in three languages: English, Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.

• Demographic data (gender, age, marital status, nationality, educational program, major) were collected in order to check if there are any different preferences among demographic data.

1 4 7 10

Scholarship: YesDesired Course: NoInstitutional Image: NoLanguage: NoInternational Environment: NoFuture Job : Yes

Scholarship: YESDesired course: YESInstitutional image: YESLanguage: YESInternational environment: YESFuture Job: YES

Scholarship: YESDesired course: YESInstitutional image: NOLanguage: YESInternational environment: NOFuture Job: NO

Scholarship: YESDesired course: YESInstitutional image: NOLanguage: YESInternational environment: YESFuture Job: YES

Rank:____________ Rank:____________ Rank:____________ Rank:____________

2 5 8 Demographic Data:• Gender (M, F)• Age• Marital Status• Nationality• Educational Program • Major

Scholarship: NODesired course: NOInstitutional image: NOLanguage: YESInternational environment: YESFuture Job: NO

Scholarship: NODesired course: YESInstitutional image: YESLanguage: NOInternational environment: NOFuture Job: NO

Scholarship: NODesired course: YESInstitutional image: NOLanguage: NOInternational environment: YESFuture Job: YES

Rank:____________ Rank:____________ Rank:____________

3 6 9

Scholarship: NODesired course: NOInstitutional image: YESLanguage: YESInternational environment: NOFuture Job: YES

Scholarship: YESDesired course: NOInstitutional image: YESLanguage: NOInternational environment: YESFuture Job: NO

Scholarship: NODesired course: YESInstitutional image: YESLanguage: NOInternational environment: NOFuture Job: YES

Rank:____________ Rank:____________ Rank:____________

Formal Questionnaire

4. Data Analysis

• Sample data• 210 international students currently enrolled in Taiwan were given

questionnaires, but six out of them were either filled out improperly or not returned. • Time: 02/15/2014 – 03/25/2014

• Data Analysis Methods• Statistical Analysis (using SPSS 16.0) • Descriptive Statistic• Hypothesis Testing

• Conjoint Analysis (using Excel 2013)

4.1 Sample Data and Analysis Methods

Background Characteristics Total (n = 204) PercentageGender Male 97 48%

Female 107 52%Age Under 20 31 17%

21 – 30 168 82%31 – 40 5 3%

Marital Status Single 187 92%Married 17 8%Divorced 0 0%

Educational Program Extension 40 20%Undergraduate 66 32%Master 91 45%Doctor 7 3%

Major Management 64 35.6%Finance 29 14%Science and Engineering 44 22%Literature and Art 32 18%Others 35 17%

Table Characteristics of the Respondents

4.2 Descriptive Statistics

Table Nationalities of International Students

NATION Total (n= 204) Percentage

Vietnam 57 28%

Malaysia 46 22%

Indonesia 32 18%

Thailand 18 9%

Philippines 12 6%

Korea 10 5%

Mongolia 10 5%

Hong Kong 8 4%

Russia 6 3%

Haiti 5 2%

Attribute-Level Scores1 Scholarship (Yes) 1.02 Language (Yes) 0.743 International Environment (Yes) 0.734 Desired course (Yes) 0.705 Future Job (Yes) 0.636 Institutional Image (Yes) 0.527 Institutional Image (No) 0.488 Future Job (No) 0.319 International Environment (No) 0.27

10 Language (No) 0.2611 Desired course (No) 0.2012 Scholarship (No) 0.00

Table: The Scores of Attribute-Levels

4.3 Conjoint Analysis• The respondents’ rankings were converted to scores, and then normalized into the range of 0 to 1.• Scholarship (Yes) has the highest score of 1.• Scholarship (No) has the lowest score of 0.

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Option 6 Option 7 Option 8 Option 9 Option 100

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

2.83

2.45 2.36

4.32

2.06

3.02

3.5

2.8

2.38

4.28Score of Each Option

Option 4 (all 6 factors have ‘YES’ levels) and Option 10 (all factors have ‘YES’ levels, except International Image) are the two favorite choices by international students.

The Weight (Importance) of Each Factor

Yes No0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.00

0

Scholarship (35.6%)

Yes No0

0.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.8 0.7

0.2

Desired course (18%)

Yes No0

0.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.8 0.74

0.26

Language (17%)

Yes No0

0.20.40.60.8 0.73

0.27

International Environment (16%)

Yes No0

0.10.20.30.40.50.60.7 0.63

0.31

Future Job (11.4%)

Yes No0.450.460.470.480.49

0.50.510.520.53 0.52

0.48

Institutional Image (2%)

4.4 Comparison for Demographic Data

Demographic Variables Characteristics Scholarship Desired course Institutional Image Language International Environment Future job

Total   35.6%* 18% 2% 17% 16% 11.4%Gender Male 33%* 21% 3% 17% 14% 12%

Female 37%* 16% 0% 18% 18% 11%Marital Status Single 35%* 18% 2% 17% 16% 11%

Married 37%* 16% 1% 17% 14% 15%Age Under 20 36%* 17% 2% 17% 16% 12%

21 – 30 32%* 21% 0% 20% 17% 10%31 – 40 48%* 16% 1% 17% 10% 8%

Nationality Vietnam 34%* 18% 2% 17% 15% 13%Malaysia 34%* 23% 3% 13% 16% 11%Indonesia 40%* 17% 1% 15% 14% 13%Thailand 41%* 14% 3% 12% 12% 18%Philippine 31%* 25% 8% 21% 8% 6%Korea 19% 17% 1% 39%* 21% 4%Mongolia 38%* 11% 1% 23% 25% 1%Hong Kong 45%* 3% 6% 17% 21% 7%Russia 30%* 11% 9% 18% 22% 10%Haiti 31%* 5% 5% 26% 24% 10%

Educational Program Extension 31%* 21% 1% 22% 20% 5%Undergraduate 30%* 18% 3% 17% 18% 14%Master 41%* 17% 1% 16% 13% 12%Doctor 39%* 17% 3% 14% 14% 14%

Major Management 39%* 16% 0% 17% 16% 13%Finance 27%* 20% 2% 15% 20% 15%Science and Engineering 42%* 19% 4% 14% 10% 12%Literature and Art 30%* 24% 3% 21% 18% 5%Other 35%* 14% 0% 20% 20% 11%

Table: Sample Statistics by Demographic Data

The number with “*” represents the highest percentage in each row.

Demographic Variables

Characteristics Scholarship

Desired course

Institutional Image

Language International Environment

Future job

Total   35.6%* 18% 2% 17% 16% 11.4%Gender Male 33%* 21% 3% 17% 14% 12%

Female 37%* 16% 0% 18% 18% 11%Marital Status

Single 35%* 18% 2% 17% 16% 11%Married 37%* 16% 1% 17% 14% 15%

Age Under 20 36%* 17% 2% 17% 16% 12%21 – 30 32%* 21% 0% 20% 17% 10%31 – 40 48%* 16% 1% 17% 10% 8%

Nationality Vietnam 34%* 18% 2% 17% 15% 13%Malaysia 34%* 23% 3% 13% 16% 11%Indonesia 40%* 17% 1% 15% 14% 13%Thailand 41%* 14% 3% 12% 12% 18%Philippines 31%* 25% 8% 21% 8% 6%Korea 19% 17% 1% 39%* 21% 4%Mongolia 38%* 11% 1% 23% 25% 1%Hong Kong 45%* 3% 6% 17% 21% 7%Russia 30%* 11% 9% 18% 22% 10%Haiti 31%* 5% 5% 26% 24% 10%

Educational Program

Extension 31%* 21% 1% 22% 20% 5%Undergraduate 30%* 18% 3% 17% 18% 14%Master 41%* 17% 1% 16% 13% 12%Doctor 39%* 17% 3% 14% 14% 14%

Major Management 39%* 16% 0% 17% 16% 13%Finance 27%* 20% 2% 15% 20% 15%Science and Engineering

42%* 19% 4% 14% 10% 12%

Literature and Art 30%* 24% 3% 21% 18% 5%

Other 35%* 14% 0% 20% 20% 11%

Testing the Difference of Two Proportions (2 Populations)

Two-Sided Testing (the influence of scholarship on master and undergraduate): The influence of scholarship on master students is the same as that on undergraduate students (=): The influence of scholarship on master students is not the same as that on undergraduate students ()

The test statistic is:

  where is the “Pooled Sample Proportion”, n1 is the number of master students (n1 = 91), n2 is the number of undergraduate students (n2 = 66), is the influence score of scholarship on master students ( = 0.41), and is the is the influence score of scholarship on undergraduate students (= 0.30).

Using the formula:  

 With α = 0.05, we have the result Z = 1.41 < Z0.05/2 = 1.96, so we would favor H0. Therefore, the influence of scholarship on master students is the same as that on undergraduate students.

5. Conclusions and Future Research

Conclusions:• This study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the important weights of

the 6 selected factors that might influence international students’ selections of universities in Taiwan. • The strongest influencing factor is “scholarship”, followed by “desired

course”, “language”, and “international environment” ( these 3 factors have the same rank), then followed by “future job”, and finally the weakest influencing factor is “institutional image”.• In addition to the conjoint analysis of sample data, the testing of

statistical hypothesis is applied to test the significance of certain sample results.　

Some Further Research:

• “Scholarship” is the most influencing factor which accounts for 35.6% weight in this sample study. “Scholarship” has only 2 levels in this study. Further study should refine its levels into several levels in order to estimate the international students’ preference (intention) of application more accurately.

• This study presented a hypothesis testing example. Another research can be conducted by completing statistical testings of the sample results among demographic data. A complete, summarized statistical results would lay a solid foundation for the school administration use, especially for universities in making proper strategies of recruiting outstanding international students.

Thank you for your listening!