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The relationship between study abroad experiences and career decisions: A study of international students in South Korea
Date Issued
2023
Citation
Dos Santos, L. M., Lo, H. F., Wu, J., Kwee, C. T. T., Xiao, L., Zhao, H., Chen, Y., Chen, L., Qin, X., Liu, Y., & Liu, K. (4.11.2023). The relationship between study abroad experiences and career decisions: A study of international students in South Korea. Re-discovering Youths Today: Identity, Subculture, Psychosocial Functioning, and Service Needs, Hong Kong Shue Yan University.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Background: Studying abroad is an opportunity for students to experience a new learning environment during their undergraduate voyage. Students may establish networks, professional skills, and new insight from the host university and classmates. Some students decided to stay in the host country for their master’s and doctoral degrees after they finished their bachelor’s degrees. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons and sense-making processes of a group of international students who decided to continue their postgraduate studies in South Korea. Research Method: Based on the Social Cognitive Career and Motivation Theory and the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the researchers invited ten international students who decided to comeback to South Korea for their master’s and doctoral degrees after their study abroad experiences in South Korea during their undergraduate voyage. Three semi-structured interviews, remarkable item sharing, and member-checking interview tools were employed. Findings: As this is an ongoing study, three potential themes were yielded: 1) Interest in the South Korean Learning Hemisphere, 2) Government Scholarship and Affordable Living Costs, and 3) Career Opportunities. Contribution to Practice: The results of this study may offer recommendations to university leaders, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and human resources planners to reform the current policies for potential international students’ problems, challenges, scholarship distribution, and enrollment management. More importantly, university counseling centers may use this study as a reference to offer internationalbased counseling services to students who may face cultural differences and difficulties during their academic voyage in South Korea.
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