International Student Mobility and Study Choice: A Two-Stage Migration Pattern

This study aims to explore the main factors for Yemeni international students’ choice and motivation for selecting China as their study destination. We employed a qualitative case study approach, and conducted twenty-five semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Yemeni international students. The analyses provide new insights into the dynamics behind selecting China as the students’ study destination. Further, the analyses contribute to the identification of a two-stage migration pattern that highlights China as a stepping land, and then toward the global north. These new insights call for rethinking of the traditional push–pull models that have positive and negative effect on the well-being of international students, suggesting new approaches toward the understanding of the evolving dynamics of international student mobility.