Pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Southeast Asian Developing Countries: Contextualising Chinese Students' Decision‐Making Processes

ABSTRACT International student mobility (ISM) flows have historically involved students moving from developing regions to developed countries. However, recently, there has been a shift, with more Chinese students pursuing doctoral studies in several Southeast Asian developing countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Their decision‐making processes remain under‐researched. This study addresses this gap by contextualising the decision‐making processes of Chinese students choosing to pursue doctoral degrees in these countries. Informed by Bourdieu's thinking tools of field, capital and habitus, this exploratory qualitative study draws upon semi‐structured interviews with 33 Chinese doctoral students. The findings revealed how the broader conditions in which students worked and studied influenced students' decision‐making processes. These conditions related to: the importance of gaining a PhD as a form of cultural capital in the Chinese higher education sub‐field; students' lack of cultural capital in the Chinese higher education sub‐field; the way in which these Southeast Asian countries were construed as homologous destinations within the Chinese social, cultural and academic context, and; increased affinity between Southeast Asian institutions and individual habitus. This research contributes new insights into international student mobility within developing countries.