Chinese Students' Choice of Major When Considering Higher Education Abroad: The Case of Mainland China

摘要

Based on human capital theory, this article views the choice of major as an investment in human capital, and uses quantitative methods to analyse the choice of major of Mainland Chinese students when studying higher education abroad, and their affecting factors. The data used in this study, which sampled 12,961 Mainland Chinese senior secondary school students, are from a data set from a project subsidised by the Research Grant Committee of Hong Kong. Economic factors, such as expected economic return and expected employment prospects have significant effects on Chinese students' choice of major, after controlling factors relating to individual characteristics and family background. Furthermore, this article, using the case of China, provides feedback for the human capital theory and also proposes policy implications for developing and developed countries, and for international education institutions.