Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on international higher education and student mobility: Student perspectives from mainland China and Hong Kong

Ka Ho Mok; Weiyan Xiong; Guoguo Ke; Joyce Oi Wun Cheung

doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101718

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on international higher education and student mobility: Student perspectives from mainland China and Hong Kong

Int J Educ Res. 2021:105:101718. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101718. Epub 2020 Nov 27.

Authors

Ka Ho Mok¹, Weiyan Xiong¹, Guoguo Ke¹, Joyce Oi Wun Cheung²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Policy Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China.
² Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney, Australia.

Abstract

The study critically examines how students in Mainland China and Hong Kong conceive overseas studies plans against the COVID-19 crisis. Amongst the 2739 respondents, 84 % showed no interest to study abroad after the pandemic. For those respondents who will continue to pursue further degrees abroad, Asian regions and countries, specifically Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, are listed in the top five, apart from the US and the UK. The pandemic has not only significantly decreased international student mobility but is also shifting the mobility flow of international students. This article also discusses the policy implications, particularly reflecting on how the current global health crisis would intensify social and economic inequalities across different higher education systems.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Quality education; Student mobility; Studying abroad; Transnational higher education.