The College Choice Experiences of Pakistani Undergraduates in the United States.

[摘要] This study examines the college choice experiences of Pakistani undergraduates who chose to attend institutions in the United States. The context for this study includes the increasingly competitive global environment for recruiting and attracting foreign students. While the United States has been the leading host nation for foreign students since World War II, its market share of foreign students has been in decline since the mid-1980s, and in the post 9/11 period, international enrollments as a percentage of total enrollments has been shrinking. Much of the literature on foreign student mobility has examined student flows in the aggregate, and international student college choice studies have tended to examine the behaviors and experiences of foreign students as a group, assuming that different national, social, or ethnic groups behave in similar ways. United States’ institutions have had little research to guide international recruitment efforts. This study examines the experiences of a particular national group, Pakistanis, in an effort to answer the following primary question: How did the students decide to study in the United States?Data were gathered by interviewing eighteen students at three different institutions – a doctoral intensive, a doctoral extensive, and a masters comprehensive university. Interviews transcripts were analyzed using phenomenological procedures.Results of the study were as follows: (1) students have a predisposition to attend college based on parental and social expectations; (2) decisions to study in the United States are rooted in cosmopolitan experiences; (3) students have role models for study abroad; (4) the search and choice phases of students’ decisions are often compressed; (5) students have small choice sets; (6) students prefer United States institutions because of their perceived quality; (7) choice sets are limited by cost; (8) information about schools provided by family and friends greatly influences decisions; (9) students seek security by enrolling in schools that are near relatives, or at schools where other Pakistanis are enrolled; and (10) as a result of the security offered by other Pakistanis, students do not express concern about cultural adaptation or separation from friends and family at home.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] College Choice

[关键词] Student Mobility;College Choice;Foreign Students;Pakistani Students;Education;Social Sciences;Education