Push-Pull Factors Shaping Chinese Students’ Post-Exchange Decisions in Malaysia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_42How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Reverse Study Abroad; Push-Pull Framework; Exchange Program; Malaysia; Further Study Decisions

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the globalization of higher education, the phenomenon of “reverse study”, which means studying in developing-country, has become increasingly salient, yet empirical research remains limited. This study employs the push-pull framework and qualitative methods to conduct in-depth interviews with three Chinese students who completed exchange programs in Malaysia, investigating the push and pull factors present in their exchange experiences and the influence of those factors on subsequent decisions about further education. Findings indicate that Malaysia’s primary pull factors include geographic and cultural proximity, student-centered pedagogical approaches, and lower living costs. Predominant push factors comprise limited recognition of academic credentials, inadequate professional practical training, and an overly relaxed learning pace. A given factor may exert opposite pull and push effects across different students. Exchange experiences are observed to facilitate a shift from affective preferences to more rational decision making, producing three distinct decision pathways, including pursuing further study abroad, returning to China to prepare for postgraduate entrance examinations, and regarding the exchange as a contingency option. By extending the push-pull framework to post-exchange decision contexts, this study reveals a push-pull duality mechanism and offers evidence to inform developing countries’ international student recruitment strategies and Chinese universities’ design of reverse exchange programs.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingwen Zhang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/07
TI  - Push-Pull Factors Shaping Chinese Students’ Post-Exchange Decisions in Malaysia
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 12th International Conference on Digital Humanities and Frontiers in Social Sciences (DHFSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 378
EP  - 387
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_42
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-611-6_42
ID  - Zhang2026
ER  -