Factors Affecting Students’ Preferences to Study Abroad Programs: A Case of Indian Business School Students

ABSTRACT

This study makes an attempt to explore the factors affecting Indian students’ preferences to study abroad programs. A survey administered in one of the leading business schools of India and subsequent analysis reveals the significance and importance of study abroad for Indian students. Result shows that the top-ranked factors affecting students’ preferences to study abroad are: quality of education in the host country, safety issues in the host country, and reputation and ranking of the host institution. Also, USA was found to be the most preferred country for study, and students belonging to a family business prefer the USA for study. However, no significant relationship was found between country choice and gender of the student. Similarly, specialization of the study was not found to be a significant factor of country choice.

KEYWORDS:

• Study abroad program
• Internationalization of business education
• Student preferences

Notes

¹ There are multiple rankings of business schools in India. The target business school is considered as one of the top business schools in most of the rankings.

² Residents of Gujarat, an Indian province, are referred to as Gujarati.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Neha Singh

Neha Singh, is a PhD scholar at Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad (India). She holds an MBA degree from Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi (India) in Marketing and Operations. She has one year of industry experience. Her current research interests lies in Consumer Behavior, Online Marketing and International Marketing.

Deepak K. Srivastava

Deepak K. Srivastava, is Professor of International Business and Chairman of the General Management area at the Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad (India). He holds MBA and Ph.D. degrees from Jiwaji University, Gwalior (India), and has more than sixteen years of academic experience. He has published many research articles in peer-reviewed journals, and numerous articles in newspapers. Dr. Deepak K. Srivastava has served on the editorial boards of several academic journals. He has held visiting teaching and research assignments in many countries. His current research interests include Internationalization of SMEs and Indian Born Global Firms.