Zhang Keming, Zeng Neng, Zhang Kesen
School of Educational Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
School of Teacher Education, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 23;13:1067184. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1067184. eCollection 2022.
COVID-19 is now a global public health crisis with unprecedented political, economic, and social consequences affecting nations across the world. It also has a profound impact on the mobility of international students. When the COVID-19 was under control in China, and it was spreading dramatically in the United Kingdom, Chinese international students studying in the United Kingdom have been caught in a double bind over whether to return home or not.
This study aims to explore the factors that influenced Chinese international students' choices of return during the COVID-19 pandemic when the COVID-19 was under control in China, while it was spreading dramatically in the United Kingdom.
Taking Chinese international students studying in the United Kingdom as an empirical case, this study used qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the factors that influenced their choices of return. Based on the Rational Choice Theory and qualitative analysis of text data, this paper constructed the influencing factors model of returning to China. On this basis, we developed a questionnaire and collected data from 1,333 students in late April and early May 2020. Binary Logistic Regression with 95% CI for odds ratio (OR) was used to identify significant factors.
The reserve of epidemic prevention supplies (OR = 0.712), transportation expenses (OR = 0.618), and quarantine expenses (OR = 0.702) negatively affected the return choice of overseas students. The supply of daily necessities (OR = 1.495), the anti-epidemic policy of the United Kingdom (OR = 1.684), and the demand for job hunting after graduation (OR = 1.661) had positive effects.
The institutional rationality had the biggest promoting effect, replaced development rationality, and became the most important factor for overseas students to return to China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic rationality, which has a significant negative effect, is the biggest obstacle to returning home. These conclusions have policy implications for governments' response to the COVID-19 epidemic and improvement of the quality of services for overseas students.
新冠疫情如今已成为一场全球公共卫生危机，带来了前所未有的政治、经济和社会影响，波及世界各国。它对国际学生的流动也产生了深远影响。当中国的新冠疫情得到控制，而英国疫情急剧蔓延时，在英国留学的中国学生在是否回国的问题上陷入了两难境地。
本研究旨在探讨在中国新冠疫情得到控制而英国疫情急剧蔓延的新冠疫情大流行期间，影响中国留学生回国选择的因素。
以在英国留学的中国学生为实证案例，本研究采用定性和定量研究方法来探究影响他们回国选择的因素。基于理性选择理论并对文本数据进行定性分析，本文构建了回国影响因素模型。在此基础上，我们编制了一份问卷，并于2020年4月下旬和5月上旬从1333名学生中收集了数据。使用带有95%置信区间的二元逻辑回归来确定显著因素。
防疫物资储备（比值比[OR]=0.712）、交通费用（OR=0.618）和隔离费用（OR=0.702）对留学生的回国选择产生负面影响。生活必需品供应（OR=1.495）、英国的抗疫政策（OR=1.684）以及毕业后的求职需求（OR=1.661）产生了积极影响。
制度合理性具有最大的促进作用，取代了发展合理性，成为新冠疫情大流行期间留学生回国的最重要因素。具有显著负面影响的经济合理性是回国的最大障碍。这些结论对政府应对新冠疫情及改善留学生服务质量具有政策启示。
