Why do Chinese international students studying in Australia repatriate? Australian Chinese graduates tell it all

ABSTRACT

Scholarly articles on the repatriation of international students mainly derive from the United States and the United Kingdom. Little is known as to why Chinese international students studying in Australia repatriate home. This paper closes the gap by employing semi-structured interviews with 19 Chinese graduates who studied at one Australian university and returned home upon graduation. Based on a thematic analysis, the results of this study highlight the push and pull factors for their repatriation decision back to their homeland, China. The push factors include stricter Australian migration policy, discrimination towards Chinese graduates by Australian employers and difficulty in obtaining suitable employment in Australia. Conversely, the pull factors include China’s booming economy and family pressures. The paper also discusses the micro (graduates and higher learning institutions) and macro (Australia and China economic) implications of the repatriation decisions made by Chinese graduates.

KEYWORDS:

• Push-pull factors
• repatriation
• Chinese graduates
• Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the La Trobe China Studies Research Centre.

Notes on contributors

Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh

Dr Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh is an award-winning Lecturer at the Department of Management, Sport and Tourism, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Australia. In 2018, Dr Singh has received La Trobe University Teaching Award and Best Presenter Award at the Global Higher Education Forum, Malaysia. Dr Singh’s research passion includes exploring international students’ current issues such as their academic success lived experiences, employability and career aspirations and learning experiences in a blended learning environment. Dr Singh has received several grants from La Trobe University to conduct her research on issues pertaining to international students.