Decision-Making Process of International Undergraduate Students - An Exploratory Narrative Inquiry into Reflections of Chinese Students in Canada - Abstract, Findings, and Keywords

Oct 15, 2026

Exploratory narrative inquiry investigates how three Chinese international undergraduate students at a Canadian university describe their complete decision-making processes toward studying abroad. A two-dimensional analytical framework structures the process into phases: deciding whether to study abroad, selecting destination countries, and choosing target institutions. Environmental factors are further examined as policy, family and regional socioeconomic, and information influences. Semi-structured interviews provide first-hand data. The findings call for stronger support from policymakers in China and administrators in Canada.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

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Abstract

Purpose

Design/Approach/Methods

Findings

Originality/Value

Keywords

Decision-Making Process of International Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Narrative Inquiry into Reflections of Chinese Students in Canada Hantian Wu College of Education, Zhejiang University ECNU Review of Education 2020, Vol. 3(2) 254–268 ª The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/2096531119890143](DOI: 10.1177/2096531119890143)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/2096531119890143)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: This research is an exploratory narrative inquiry into reflections of three Chinese international undergraduate students in a Canadian university, University S, which reveals participants’ entire decision-making processes as potential international undergraduate students. Design/Approach/Methods: A two-dimensional analytical framework has been constructed. One dimension is based on three phases of the entire decision-making process: the phases of deciding whether or not to study abroad, selecting destination countries, and choosing target institutions. The second dimension is based on three kinds of hypothetically proposed environmental factors within each phase: policy factors,(family and regional) socioeconomic factors, and information factors. First-hand data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted based on the analytical framework. Findings: This article suggests that both policymakers in the source country (i.e., China) and university administrators in the destination country (i.e., Canada) should further support potential Corresponding author: Hantian Wu, College of Education, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. [Email: wuhantian7@gmail.com](Email: wuhantian7@gmail.com) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). international undergraduate students during each phase of their decision-making processes, particularly through optimizing information supply channels. Originality/Value: This article has the potential to construct a new theoretical framework as a supplement for analyzing the entire decision-making process of potential international students. As a pilot study, it provides a template for further investigations. Keywords Canada, China, decision-making process, higher education, international student, undergraduate student Date received: 5 April 2018; accepted: 1 November 2019 Introduction During the past three decades,“the staggering economic growth of China [ .. . ] has transformed higher education (HE) around the globe”(Schulmann & Ye, 2017, para. 1) . As the largest source country of international students, Chinese mainland had sent 608,400 students abroad in 2017 (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China [MOE], 2018) . Although there are sufficient studies that investigate on Chinese overseas students, relatively limited narrative approaches have been conducted among the entire decision-making process of Chinese students as potential international undergraduates of overseas HE institutions (HEIs) . Canada has become one of China’s major study abroad destinations. As a pilot, this exploratory narrative inquiry digs into potential crucial factors within decision-making processes of three Chinese international students at a Canadian university, University S. Through analyzing data collected via semistructured interviews, this article attempts to ex

FAQs

What is the purpose of this exploratory narrative inquiry?

To reveal the full decision-making processes of three Chinese international undergraduate students in a Canadian university and clarify major environmental factors across each phase.

How is the decision-making process analyzed in the study?

Through a two-dimensional analytical framework covering three phases (study abroad, destination country, and institution selection) and three environmental-factor types (policy, socioeconomic, and information factors).

What support does the article suggest policymakers and university administrators should provide?

It recommends further support during each phase of decision-making, especially by optimizing information supply channels.

Oct 15, 2026

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