Studying abroad decisions among Taiwanese students: The roles of mooring factors and employability prospects

Despite the growing importance of international student mobility, limited research has simultaneously examined how educational quality, employability prospects, and psychological mooring factors jointly influence students’ intentions to study abroad (ISA). To address this gap, this study develops an integrative framework based on the Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) model, expectancy theory, social identity theory, self-congruity theory, human capital theory, and signaling theory. Specifically, education quality of destination country (EQDC) is conceptualized as a pull factor, employability prospects of the home country (EPHC) and destination country (EPDC) as mediators, and patriotism and self-congruity as mooring factors that moderate students’ study abroad decision-making processes. Data were collected from 846 university students with an existing intention to study abroad across twelve universities in northern, central, and southern Taiwan using a stratified purposive/quota sampling approach. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that EPDC positively mediates the relationship between EQDC and ISA, whereas EPHC exhibits a significant negative mediating effect. Patriotism strengthens the positive relationship between EQDC and EPHC while weakening the relationship between EQDC and EPDC. Furthermore, self-congruity weakens the negative effect of EPHC on ISA, whereas its moderating effect on the EPDC–ISA relationship is not significant. Additionally, EQDC has a significant positive direct effect on intention to study abroad. The study contributes to the literature by extending the PPM framework through the integration of employability-based mechanisms and identity-related psychological factors. The findings further refine expectancy theory by showing that the effects of employability evaluations vary across home- and destination-country contexts. They also extend social identity and self-congruity theories by highlighting the moderating roles of patriotism and self-congruity in study-abroad decision-making. Practically, the findings provide actionable implications for policymakers, higher education institutions, students, parents, and overseas recruitment agencies seeking to promote and better understand international student mobility, while population-level generalization should be made cautiously because of the non-probability sampling design and defined analytical scope.