A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Chinese International Students' Decision-Making in Selecting Regional Australian Higher Education

In recent years an increasing number of Chinese international students have made a decision to attend regional Australian universities rather than following the large city tendency. However, so far little attention has been paid to this trend. This paper proposes a holistic theoretical framework to interpret Chinese students' decision-making in choosing regional Australian higher education. Inspired by the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) model, according to which choices, factors and process are main components in people's decision-making, this paper combines the following three theoretical approaches. Firstly, in cognitive perspective, six choices relating to Australian higher education made by international students (Duan, 1997) provide a theoretical basis to explain core choices of Chinese students about regional Australian higher education. Secondly, using migration theory, Mazzarol and Soutar's push-pull model (2002) refers to factors influencing Chinese students' decision-making of regional Australian higher education. Thirdly, again in terms of cognitive perspective, three classic decision-making process models (Lawley (1993), Duan (1997), and Pimpa (2002)) offer an additional insight to analyze Chinese international students' decision-making process. By integrating these three approaches, the framework develops a multidimensional and systematic theoretical comprehension of Chinese international students' decision-making in selecting regional Australian higher education.