Considering International Higher Education inChina: An Exploratory Study of International MBA Students' Motivations

Recent disruptions to cross-border mobility, alongside shifting geopolitical and economic conditions, have intensified interests in“off-beat” study destinations beyond the traditional Anglophone Global North. China has become a key case for understandinginternational students' considerations of alternative destinations and programmes. This study centres on an international MBAprogramme at a top-ranked university in China and draws on semi-structured interviews with 10 international students to ex-plore why this student group chose to study in China. Findings suggest that participants' motivations were strongly shaped bypre-existing professional and social ties to China, including prior work experience and Chinese community networks. Pursuingthe MBA programme was seen as a strategic pathway to learn China-specific business cases and models, expand China-relevantprofessional networks and position themselves for career progression “with” and “through” China. These findings challenge theconventional assumption of (absolute) advantages and privileges of studying at the popular universities in “onbeat” countries.