Analysis of korean students international mobility by 2 d model

High Educ (2009) 57:741–755
DOI 10.1007/s10734-008-9173-x

Analysis of Korean students’ international mobility
by 2-D model: driving force factor and directional factor
Elisa L. Park

Published online: 17 September 2008
Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract The purpose of this study is to understand the dynamics of Korean students’
international mobility to study abroad by using the 2-D Model. The first D, the driving
force factor, explains how and what components of the dissatisfaction with domestic
higher education perceived by Korean students drives students’ outward mobility to seek
foreign higher education. The second D, the directional factor, describes the factors that
influence the choice of destination country for students’ outward mobility, and is explained
by the comparison of Korean students’ perceptions on the images of universities in the
U.S., China, the U.K., and Australia and their expectations for higher education in each
country (categorized as ‘academic’–‘environmental’). Two questionnaire surveys were
conducted to analyze the two D factors and the research findings were integrated into
suggestions for each country’s higher education institutions that can be incorporated into
their recruitment strategies for international students.
Keywords Higher education Á School choice Á Student mobility Á International students Á
Images of universities Á Expectation

Introduction
Higher education has been changing dramatically in its overall landscape with the trends of
internationalization and globalization. Especially, students’ educational mobility, traditionally limited within domestic education, now expands its volumes and ranges of motion
internationally. The number of internationally mobile students, estimated to be 0.6 million
in 1975, doubled in 1990 (1.2 million), more than doubled again in 2005 (2.7 million)
(UNESCO 2006) and the growth continues to escalate, which is now forecasted to reach in

excess of 7.2 million in 2025 (IDP Education Australia 2002).
Korean students have been one of the most active participants in international mobility.
Total number of internationally mobile students, 149,933 in 1997, has grown to 217,959 in
E. L. Park (&)
Yonsei University, 159 DaeWoo ParkVilla #202, Seoul, South Korea
e-mail:

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home

deciding to study abroad

selecting destination country

U.S.
U.K.

students’

driving force factor

outward

CHINA

mobility
AUSTRALIA
dissatisfaction with

OTHERS

domestic education

directional factor

expectations

images

Fig. 1 2-D model: driving force factor and directional factor

2007 (Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development 1999; 2007). The
number of Korean students in U.S. higher education comprises 10.7% (62,392) of the total
number of foreign students in 2007 while Indians take up 14.4% (83,833) and Chinese
11.6% (67,723) (Open Doors 2007). When considering that the population of Korea is less
than 1/27 of China and 1/23 of India,1 the number of Korean students is proportionately far
greater, and merits deeper speculation about their intentions and patterns of international
mobility.
Then, why do these numbers of Korean students leave their home country seeking for
foreign higher education? Why do some students decide to go to the U.S. while others
prefer the U.K., China, Australia or others? In order to find answers to these questions, this
study developed a 2-D Model: Driving Force Factor and Directional Factor as presented
in Fig. 1, explaining the sequential process of Korean students’ international mobility.
The first D, the driving force factor, refers to the internal, domestic, and home components that initially drive students’ outward mobility for foreign higher education. The

outward mobility is often driven by various personal and situational reasons and each
individual would have different sets of driving force factors. Among these, this study
focuses on the dissatisfaction with domestic higher education perceived by Korean students, which has been a serious issue in Korean higher education.
The second D, the directional factor, refers to the students’ perceptions of images and
expectations for foreign higher education, which may influence the directional decisions on
the destination country. Students who have decided to study abroad begin to compare possible destination countries and eventually select one in particular. In this process, various
elements, such as opinions from parents and friends, information from media and websites
about student visa processes, feasibility of admissions, educational environments, and
economical and political conditions of each country, are all integrated in forming images and
expectations on each country’s universities. Among these, the preferred set of images and
expectations of a certain country influences students’ choice and leads them to decide their
mobility direction toward that country. With this supposition, this study compared the
images and expectations that Korean students have on universities in the U.S., U.K., China,
1

Vital statistics of China: 1.3 billion; India: 1.1 billion; S. Korea: 49 million (CIA 2008).

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Table 1 Characteristics of participants in survey 1 (total number of students: 219)
PCSA (97) (44%)

Non-PCSA (122) (56%)

Age in average

17.6 years old

16.9 years old

Sex

Male (47%), Female (53%)

Male (44%), Female (56%)

Wish or plan for oversea study

Yes (100%)

Yes (12%)

Table 2 Characteristics of participants in survey 2 (total number of students: 1,359)
Age in average

16.4 years old

Sex

Male (51%)

Female (49%)

GPA level

Top (32%)

Middle (48%)

Wish or plan for oversea study

Yes (33%)

No (67%)

Low (20%)

and Australia, the most preferred four destination countries by Korean students and analyzed
how these perceptions influence the selection of the destination country.

Research methodology
This study conducted two questionnaire surveys for analyzing the 2-D factors. The first
survey was designed to learn the reasons for dissatisfaction with domestic education and to
collect the words, commonly used by Korean high school students for describing the
images and expectations for foreign higher education. The given words were then grouped
into several categories and provided as answer choices in the second questionnaire to
gauge the frequency distribution.
The first survey specifically targeted two high schools located in Seoul, Korea that
have a ‘Preparation Class for Study Abroad’ (PCSA)2 with the assumption that students
in the PCSA would have different opinions on domestic and foreign higher education
from those of non-PCSA students who do not have a plan or preference for study abroad.
A total of 230 questionnaires were distributed, 110 to the PCSA group and 120 to the
non-PSCA group (Table 1), and collected directly by the researcher (100% return rate)
and a total of 219 questionnaires were utilized for research analysis after discarding
eleven defective ones.

The second questionnaire survey was conducted at 7 high schools located in Seoul,
Korea. A total of 1,800 questionnaires were delivered by the researcher directly to the
principals and teachers at participating schools. A total of 1,539 questionnaires were
collected (86% return rate) and 1,359 questionnaires were utilized after eliminating 180
defective ones. The high schools targeted for the second survey were particularly
chosen in order to eliminate any possible bias resulting from the background of individual students such as socio-economic status and academic achievement levels
(Table 2).

2

Preparation Class for Study Abroad (PCSA) is a special class provided by several private high schools that
are highly competitive in Korea. The main purpose of PCSA is to provide educational support and counseling to students who plan to apply to universities in foreign countries. Curricula are mainly concentrated in
English language, SAT preparation, histories of foreign countries, and special training for essay writing.

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Table 3 Level of dissatisfaction and attitudes toward studying abroad
PCSA students (44%)

Non-PCSA students (56%)

4.22a

2.42a

Survey 1
Level of dissatisfaction

Students who have plan
or wish for oversea study (33%)

Students who don’t have plan
or wish for oversea study (67%)

Level of dissatisfaction

4.38a

2.16a

Students’ attitudes

Have positive attitude for outward mobility

Stay domestic

Survey 2

a

Average score of level of dissatisfaction (scale 1, very satisfied; 2, satisfied; 3, moderate; 4, dissatisfied;
5, very dissatisfied)

The driving force factor: dissatisfaction with domestic education
Influence of dissatisfaction on students’ attitudes toward studying abroad

As previously mentioned, this study regarded students’ dissatisfaction with domestic
education as a driving force factor and investigated the linkage between students’ perceived dissatisfaction and their attitudes toward studying abroad. As the survey outcome
shows in Table 3, there was a clear positive correlation that students who perceived higher
level of dissatisfaction with domestic education showed stronger tendencies to have
positive attitude for outward mobility for foreign higher education. Specifically, the PCSA
students who had already made their decision to study abroad showed considerably higher
levels of dissatisfaction (4.22 score: ‘dissatisfied–very dissatisfied’) than the non-PCSA
students (2.42 score: ‘satisfied to moderate’). The result of the second survey was similar,
with a larger gap. Students, who answered that they have plans or wish to study abroad,
scored 4.38 (‘dissatisfied–very dissatisfied’) while students, who answered that they prefer
to stay in domestic schools, scored 2.16 (‘satisfied–moderate’).
The level of dissatisfaction and its driving force may vary by individual and country.
However, it appears clear to Korean students that the perceived dissatisfaction with
domestic higher education acts as a driving force factor, which strongly motivates students’
outward mobility for seeking other educational opportunities in foreign higher education as
a substitute for domestic education.
Reasons for dissatisfaction with domestic higher education
Then, what elicits the dissatisfaction of Korean students with domestic higher education?
In fact, there are considerable cries of concern in Korea on the issue of dissatisfaction with
domestic higher education. Since the exodus rate of Korean students has been increasing drastically and even the average age of students has been getting younger,3 many
3

In Korea, the continuously increasing trend of sending young children abroad for education has created a
new term, ‘Goose Father,’ which describes fathers who lead solitary lives after sending their children abroad
to study with their mothers. These fathers stay home, make money to provide financial support for their
children, and only see them during school holidays. Such excessive educational fervor has been further
charged as the main culprit in the dismantling of traditional family values.

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Table 4 Reasons for dissatisfaction with domestic education answered by Korean students
1. Low quality of college education (59.8%):
lack of opportunities for second language education, majors and courses unavailable, poor faculty and
facilities, low reputation of Korean universities, relatively low social recognition of domestic diploma
compared to foreign diploma, corruption in higher education
2. Excessive private tutoring (57.6%):
monetary burden for private tutoring (mainly for English and for college entrance examination), mental
and physical stress from heavy load of private tutoring
3. Excessive competition for college entrance (47.0%):
complicated system of college entrance examination, frequent changes of government policies regarding
college entrance, excessively stressful and competitive atmosphere for preparing for college entrance
examinations in high school, difficulty of college admission
4. Others (45.2%):
uncertain job prospects after graduation, conservative and bureaucratic atmosphere in school,
standardized and uncreative education methods, memorization-oriented teaching methods, and unfair
educational opportunities based on economic status

Korean researchers have sought the reasons for the educational exodus. A study conducted by the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) in 2005, which was
sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education, discovered that 8,166 surveyed students and parents preferred foreign education for the reasons of (1) the utility of
English language instruction, (2) the excessively competitive environment for college
entrance in Korea, and (3) the excessive expenditure for private tutoring in Korea. Job
Korea (2006) also conducted a similar study with 1,047 college students and found that
students wished to study abroad because of (1) potential improvement in global
competitiveness (including second language proficiency), (2) Korean society’s high
recognition and preference for foreign diplomas, and (3) the low quality of Korean

higher education.
The first survey of this research also discovered the similar outcome in Table 4 that
59.8% of surveyed students complained about ‘the low quality of college education,’
including lack of opportunities for learning a second language; majors and courses
unavailable; and poor faculty and facilities. Other components of dissatisfaction
included: ‘excessive private tutoring’4 (57.6%) for college entrance examination
including financial burdens and mental and physical stress from the heavy workload,
and an ‘excessively competitive environment for college entrance’ (47.0%), including a
complicated system of college entrance examination and frequent changes of government policies regarding college entrance. These listed reasons, low quality of college
education, excessive private tutoring, and excessive competition for college entrance,
are the major concerns that Korean students have on domestic education and these
components for dissatisfaction ultimately function as the driving force to push them
outward seeking for better higher education abroad.

4

According to Korean National Statistical Office (2008), the educational market for private tutoring in
Korea has estimated up to $20 billion; total 77% of students (elementary to high school) are taking private
tutoring in addition to school education, which cost them extra educational spending of $280 a month in
average per student.

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The directional force factor: images and expectations
Images of international universities in destination choice

The influence of images of international universities in the decision-making process,
specifically in destination choice, can be explained by a consumer’s behavior in decisionmaking analysis, which is widely used in the field of business marketing. According to
Keller (1993) and Kotler (1994), consumers select a product through a comparison of
possible alternatives. In this comparison process, individuals rely on information and
personal preferences based on their perceptions. Information, however, is not readily
available in most cases, and consumers’ perceptions would not be objectively and scientifically rational but rather personally and emotionally biased (Boulding 1956; Martineau
1958; Olivier 1980). Korean students, major consumers of the international education
market, select their destination countries without detailed information about various foreign universities, and in most cases, their perceptions on images of international
universities would significantly influence their decision making. Regarding the perceptions
of students, several studies have made the connection between the images perceived by
students and their influences on students’ school choice. Grunde’s study in 1976 discovered
that the primary consideration in choosing a school is its image, which is mostly influenced
by the opinions of parents, high school counselors, and peer groups. According to
Tucciarone (2007), college enrollment is most saliently determined by school images and
students’ perceptions, which are critical factors that influence a student’s final choice.
Wilson’s study in 1985 also suggests that potential candidates for college often select a
school that possesses reputations of ideals they desire, such as ‘traditional’ and ‘conservative’ or ‘progressive’ and ‘modern.’
Image comparison of universities in four countries
In order to find out and compare what images Korean students have on universities in the
U.S., U.K., China, and Australia, the first survey asked students to list words for image
descriptions. The 40 most frequent words were compiled and listed in the second questionnaire, and the second group was asked to mark the matching image words to each of
four countries’ universities and Korean universities as well.
The most frequent words in image descriptions for foreign universities were ‘professional,’ ‘motivating,’ ‘academic oriented,’ ‘creative,’ ‘competitive,’ and ‘educationally
beneficial’ (categorized as academic image). Besides these academically associated
expressions, more socially, culturally and environmentally oriented expressions were also
widely used, such as ‘liberal,’ ‘racially discriminatory,’ ‘relaxing,’ ‘welcoming,’ ‘attractive,’ ‘dangerous,’ and ‘boring,’ (categorized as environmental image). A crucial finding is
that the images of foreign universities are formed not only within an academic context but
also largely associated with the country’s social and environmental concepts, often
informed by personal feelings and subjective judgments.
Regarding the images of each country’s universities, there was a salient distinction in

image descriptions among countries. As shown in Table 5, the top ranked images for U.S.
universities were ‘liberal,’ ‘competitive,’ ‘diverse,’ ‘advanced,’ and ‘modern,’ while the
images of U.K. universities were characterized as ‘traditional,’ ‘prestigious,’ ‘attractive,’
and ‘reliable.’ The images of ‘professional,’ ‘reputable’ and ‘expensive’ were shared by
both countries. However, the images of U.S. universities, such as ‘liberal,’ ‘competitive’
and ‘modern’ were far less associated with U.K. universities while ‘traditional,’

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Table 5 Top 20 image descriptions of four countries’ universities answered by Korean students

‘prestigious,’ and ‘attractive’ images of U.K. universities were not strongly conceived in
U.S. universities either.
The images of Chinese universities were also different: ‘developing,’ ‘high potential,’
and ‘up-and-coming’ but still ‘dangerous,’ ‘restrictive,’ and ‘boring.’ The ‘professional,’
‘reputable,’ ‘reliable,’ ‘secure,’ or ‘expensive’ images strongly associated with the U.S.
and U.K. universities were considerably less for Chinese universities.
Australian universities also received a far different set of images, characterized as
‘welcoming,’ ‘comfortable,’ ‘relaxing,’ and ‘fun.’ Such images of Australian universities
were mostly not academic but rather environmentally associated and personal feeling
oriented. These relaxing and comfortable images were far less associated with the other
three countries. At the same time, ‘professional,’ ‘prestigious,’ ‘reputable,’ ‘dangerous,’ or
‘traditional’ images were seldom used in the descriptions of Australian universities. More
extended image comparisons are available in Table 5.
Overall, it is an interesting finding that universities in the U.S. and U.K. both possess

academically oriented images. However, slightly different, U.S. universities have more
professional, advanced, and modern types of images, while U.K. universities are perceived
to be more traditional, conservative and prestigious. Chinese universities are also viewed
as academically oriented and developing with high potential but neither professional nor
prestigious. Australian universities are perceived as least academic but most attractive in
their environmental images of welcoming, comfort and relaxation.
When these results are compared with images of Korean universities in Table 6, it is
more than surprising that the top ranked images for Korean universities were mostly
negatively expressed, such as ‘stressful,’ ‘stagnant,’ ‘boring,’ ‘repressive,’ ‘expensive,’ and
‘difficult.’ Korean students did not perceive Korean universities as professional,

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Table 6 Top 20 image
descriptions of Korean
universities answered by
Korean students

High Educ (2009) 57:741–755

Rank

Image descriptions
of Korean universities

Rank

Image descriptions

of Korean universities

1

Stressful

11

Academically
oriented

2

Stagnant

12

High potential

3

Boring

13

Developing

4

Repressive

14

Welcoming

5

Expensive

15

Modern

6

Passionate

16

Fun

7

Difficult

17

Secure

8

Corrupt

18

Conservative

9

Restrictive

19

Relaxing

10

Party school life

20

Comfortable

educationally beneficial, creative, or attractive, but perceived the other four countries
comparatively more positive and even idealized.
These negative images of Korean universities are the direct reflection of the dissatisfactions listed by Korean students (Table 4), such as ‘excessively competitive
environments for college entrance,’ ‘physical stress from heavy load of private tutoring,’
‘coercive academic atmosphere,’ and ‘conservative environment in schools.’ These perceived dissatisfactions were directly carried over to their negative images and it can be
inferred that the gap between the negative images on domestic universities and the positive
images on foreign universities would fuel the attraction to foreign higher education.

Amount of information influences the images
For an additional reference, it was also found that the amount of information students
possess about foreign universities also influences students’ perceptions on the images. The
more information students have, the more specific and academic images students describe.
As shown in Table 7, Korean students answered that they ‘know somewhat’ about universities in the U.S. (scored 4.0) and indicated ‘know moderate’ to ‘know somewhat’
(scored 3.8) for universities in China. This relatively higher level of familiarity, which may
be due to U.S.’ world famous universities and China’s regional proximity to Korea, helped
to specify students’ perceptions and resulted in more specific and academic images
(Table 5).
In reverse, less information presents more generalized and environmentally associated
images, mostly imbued by ideas of the country’s cultural and social environments. Even
though there are a number of high-quality, competitive universities in the U.K. and
Table 7 Amount of information Korean students have about universities in each country
U.S.

China

U.K.

Australia

Amount of informationa

4.0a

3.8a

2.5a

1.8a

Image description

/ Academic

a

Environmental ?

Average score of scale (scale 1, don’t know at all; 2, don’t know much; 3, know moderate; 4, know
somewhat; 5, know very well)

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Australia, because Korean students did not know much about them (2.5 for U.K. universities: ‘don’t know much’ to ‘know moderate’; 1.8 for Australian universities: ‘don’t know
at all’ to ‘don’t know much’), the image descriptions for universities were rather the
general concepts about the country itself such as ‘traditional’ and ‘prestigious’ and based
on personal feelings such as ‘welcoming’ and ‘comfortable,’ which were automatically
transferred onto university images.
Personally preferred images enhance the choice of destinations
Survey participants were divided into four groups depending on their preferred destination
country in order to find out how images were differently perceived by students upon their
preference of countries. When comparing the images in Tables 5 and 8, specifically
regarding Chinese universities, the negative images strongly perceived by all students
(such as ‘dangerous,’ ‘restrictive,’ ‘boring,’ ‘conservative,’ ‘corrupt,’ ‘difficult,’ and

‘stagnant’ in Table 5) were considerably lessened in the group that chose China as an ideal
destination for foreign higher education as shown in Table 8. The images perceived by the
China chooser group were more positive and academically oriented, added by the images
of ‘potential,’ ‘challenging,’ ‘competitive,’ ‘passionate,’ ‘attractive,’ ‘innovative,’ and
‘reputable.’
The ‘expensive’ image of U.S. and U.K. universities was also lessened by the U.S. and
U.K. chooser groups and ‘competitive,’ ‘reliable’ and ‘motivating’ images were
strengthened instead. Except for the ‘expensive’ image, since most of the images of the
U.S., U.K., and Australian universities were positively described, not much difference was
made by each group of students except the small changes in the order of ranks.
This outcome suggests a significant implication that the positive images upon students’
preference enhance their choices. Those who choose the U.S. do so because they perceive
U.S. universities as professional, reputable, competitive, and advanced, and, in fact, they
like the values associated with those images. Those who choose China favor Chinese
universities’ developing, up-and-coming, high potential and challenging images. Those
who choose the U.K. prefer its universities’ prestigious, traditional, attractive and reliable
images, while those who choose Australia selected that country because they like the
attractive, fun, welcoming and comfortable university images. In sum, different sets of

Table 8 Top 10 image descriptions answered by four groups of students depending on preference of
destination country
Rank

U.S.

China

U.K.

Australia

1
2

Professional

Developing

Prestigious

Attractive

Reputable

Up-and-coming

Traditional

Fun

3

Competitive

High potential

Attractive

Welcoming

4

Advanced

Challenging

Reliable

Comfortable

5

Diverse

Competitive

Academically oriented

Creative

6

Liberal

Passionate

Reputable

Up-and-coming

7

Modern

Attractive

Motivating

Liberal

8

Self-achieving

Innovative

Educationally beneficial

Educationally beneficial

9

Motivating

Reputable

Professional

Secure

10

Reliable

Academically oriented

Competitive

Diverse

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characteristics in the images of each country’s universities attract students according to
their preferences and associated values, formulating as a directional factor.
Expectations for foreign higher education in destination choice
Psychologists Fiske and Taylor (1991) argue that an individual depends on his or her
existing expectations toward the categories to which the object belongs, which means that
individuals may evaluate an object differently depending on their preexisting schema,
defined as ‘an organized pattern of expectations’ (Folkes and Kiesler 1991). So, what
expectations do Korean students have for a certain country’s universities and how do these
affect the destination choice?
With the supposition that there would be differences in students’ expectations towards a
particular destination country, this study divided students into four groups depending on
their preferences among four countries. The top 20 expectations, answered by students in
the first survey, were given in the second survey in the format of a five-point Likert scale,

from the range of 1 (not important) to 5 (very important).
According to the answers from the second survey, each group of students had different
sets of expectations for their preference of a particular destination country. As shown in
Table 9, students who selected the U.S. as an ideal destination had their high expectations
of ‘curriculum excellence,’ ‘high reputation of school,’ and ‘high job opportunity after
graduation’ for U.S. higher education.
‘Curriculum excellence,’ ‘improving second language proficiency,’ and ‘creative
learning environment’ were the shared high expectations of pursuing higher education in
the U.S., China, and the U.K. However, students who preferred China had additional
expectations—‘reasonable cost of living’ and ‘low tuition,’ which were not expected for
U.S. and U.K. higher education.
Besides the high academic expectations for U.K. universities, the environmental
expectations were also highly ranked, such as ‘pleasant campus environment,’ ‘safe
environment (low crime rate)’ and ‘exciting place to live,’ which were not significantly
associated with U.S. and Chinese universities.
Expectations for Australian universities were distinctly different from those of the other
three countries’ universities. Students who preferred to go to Australia expected Australia
to be an ‘exciting place to live,’ with a ‘safe environment (low crime rate),’ ‘comfortable
climate and surroundings,’ and ‘pleasant campus environment.’ They also had high
expectations for ‘improving second language proficiency,’ however, expectations for
‘curriculum excellence,’ ‘high job opportunity after graduation,’ ‘renown faculty members,’ and ‘high reputation of school’ were significantly lower than other countries. An
extended comparison is available in Table 9.
To view the outcomes in another light, first, regardless of preference of country, all
students had high expectations for foreign higher education with ‘improving second language proficiency’ and ‘creative learning environment.’ With particular preference of
destination, students who selected the U.S., China, and the U.K. considered ‘curriculum
excellence,’ ‘creative learning environment,’ ‘high reputation of school,’ and ‘high job
opportunities after graduation’ as significant aspects in their destination selection. The
‘good quality of school facilities’ also scored high for U.S. and U.K. schools but relatively
low for Chinese and Australian universities.
Second, it can be inferred that students who weigh academic factors as more important

in deciding their mobility direction choose the U.S., China, or the U.K. as their destination
country. However, students who also take into account monetary issues choose China

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Table 9 Top 20 expectations for higher education at four countries answered by Korean students

despite low environmental expectations. If students do not consider monetary issues but
have high academic expectations, they select the U.S. or the U.K. In the meantime, those
who choose the U.K. concentrate not only on academic expectations but also on environmental expectations such as ‘pleasant campus environment,’ ‘safe environment (low
crime rate)’ and ‘exciting place to live.’ These environmental expectations were considerably lower with those choosing the U.S. and China. It can be interpreted that those who
choose the U.S. and China do not consider these environmental factors as crucial when
they consider studying abroad, while those who choose the U.K. do. Students who value
academic over monetary or environmental issues selected the U.S.

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Third, students who seek a combination of academic excellence and a favorable
environment choose the U.K. However, students who place a high priority on environmental expectations select Australian universities; these students place relatively low
importance on academic factors. These interpretations can be illustrated as shown in the

following Figs. 2 and 3.
Korean students’ expectations for these four countries’ universities are directly reflective of how they perceive domestic education. As discussed earlier in regard to the driving
force factor, the primary reason for students’ dissatisfaction was the low quality of Korean
college education, including difficulties in learning second languages, few world-class
institutions, and so on (Table 7). Students’ expectations, especially their shared expectations, such as ‘curriculum excellences,’ ‘improving second language proficiency,’ and
‘high reputation of schools,’ directly match to the components of dissatisfaction with
domestic education. It can be inferred that their dissatisfactions reflect and enhance their
expectations of the alternatives that propel students to pursue education in foreign
countries.
It is also an interesting finding that the expectations for each country’s universities are
correlated with students’ perceptions of images. For example, even though students
answered that they did not know much about Australian universities, since Australia was
academic expectations
U.S.:
highest academic + low environmental expectations

U.S.

-------------------------------------------------------------

CHINA

U.K.

CHINA:
high academic + lowest environmental expectations
------------------------------------------------------------U.K.:

AUSTRALIA

high academic + high environmental expectations
------------------------------------------------------------AUSTRALIA:
lowest academic + highest environmental expectations

environmental expectations

Fig. 2 Comparison of academic and environmental expectations in four countries

U.S.
academic expectations

low tuition,
reasonable cost of living

CHINA

U.K.
environmental expectations
AUSTRALIA

Fig. 3 Academic and environmental expectations and choice of destination countries

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viewed as environmentally friendly and comfortable, their expectations for Australian

universities focused more on environmental aspects. U.K. was strongly associated with
both academically and environmentally appealing images, and the expectation for U.K.
universities also included pleasant environment with the expectation of an exciting place to
live and academically oriented at the same time. Since students perceived Chinese universities as inexpensive, the expectations of a reasonable cost of living and low tuition
were highly ranked and ultimately became a critical factor in their selection of China. U.S.
universities, which are generally well known to Korean students, gained strong academic
images and raised students’ academic expectations, which in turn would attract more
academically-oriented students.

Conclusion and suggestions
This study considered all Korean high school students as potential applicants to international higher education and the understanding from the research findings can be utilized as
an application to the recruitment strategies of universities at each country for Korean
students. For example, the U.S., already the well-known destination for Korean students,
may identify students who are academically oriented but who do not consider the U.S. due
to monetary issues. In such cases, providing more information about financial aid programs
and other incentives for international students will induce them to make directional
decision toward the U.S. higher education.
U.K. and Australian universities have not been well known to Korean students and this
lack of information has resulted in projecting the countries’ social, cultural, and environmental images onto their university images. Even though most of these images are
positively perceived, they still lose students, who are highly academically oriented, to the
U.S. higher education. If these countries are geared to recruiting more academically oriented Korean students, it would be necessary to establish the image management strategies
such as advertising their highly developed higher education system and its academic
excellence, which will eventually strengthen their academic images and expectations.
Chinese universities have been relatively well known to Korean students due to geographic proximity, however, their negative images, such as ‘dangerous’ and ‘restrictive,’
have impaired Korean students’ environmental expectations. Providing more information
that highlights the safe, reliable and comfortable environment for studying would further
leverage their attractiveness to Korean students.
For Korean higher education, it is crucial to close the gap between Korean students’
dissatisfaction with domestic higher education and expectations for foreign higher education. Research findings explain that Korean students perceive that they need to
experience an excessively competitive process for college entrance and have to spend

excessive time and money for private tutoring for college entrance examination, the quality
of higher education that they will get as a consequence is relatively unsatisfactory, and the
college diploma that they will attain at last is regarded as comparatively lower graded and
less recognized than foreign diploma, which, in overall, cause Korean students’ high
dissatisfaction with domestic higher education and, in turn, high demands for foreign
higher education. Therefore, it is necessary for Korean universities to develop a new
method of college entrance examination system that can relieve students’ overheated
competitions and lessen students’ undue dependence on private tutoring. It is also fundamental for Korean universities to improve their quality of education in order to meet
Korean students’ expectations for higher education as Korean students expressed as

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expectations for foreign higher education. For example, the shared expectations for foreign
higher education were ‘curriculum excellence,’ ‘improving second language proficiency,’
and ‘creative learning environment.’ The efforts in developing new curriculums and well
structured programs that will also benefit students’ opportunities for learning a second
language and creating more academic and motivating environment in college education
will dissolve some major components of dissatisfaction of Korean students and retain them
within the domestic higher education.
As for the suggestions for further studies, each country would have different components of the driving force factor depending on its educational and social conditions. What
is certain is that the students satisfied with their domestic education are not as motivated to
study abroad as those who are dissatisfied. Therefore, examining the level of dissatisfaction
with domestic education in various countries or analyzing the components of driving force
factor itself per country would further contribute to the comparative analysis in understanding international student mobility.
Regarding the directional factor, images and expectations would also be situational and

regional: for example, the images and expectations of U.K. universities would be differently perceived by U.S. students who possess relatively more abundant information than
Korean students. Similarly, U.K. students may not be familiar with Chinese education as
Koreans are. Comparison of images for a particular country’s universities perceived by
several countries’ students would be another topic for comparative research. The analysis
of image comparison would further provide in-depth applications for university image
management for the rapidly developing international higher education market.

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