Abstract:

The processes of globalization have an active influence on the Russian educational space.The number of foreign students in raRussian universities is increasing steadily every year. During the past ten years, the number of students from the Asian region has risen particularly rapidly. The growth of the number of these students has positive and negative aspects. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the reasons and motivation of the decision-making of the students from Asian region of about the training in Russian universities. The paper presents the intermediate results of analysis of the groups of such reasons and motivation based on the theoretical and practical approaches.

There is a large volume of published studies describing the role of the education as the tool for enhancing the competitiveness of national business and the country as a whole. The authors note that the increase in the number of foreign students attests to the competitiveness of educational institutions. However, the lack of attention is being given to the study of the reasons and motivation for the arrival of the large numbers of young people and the consequences of the hidden migration.

Methods of study included a data grouping method, interpretation, statistic methods and a mixed-method design comprising a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews. Interview foreign students were organized on the basis of the Department of Economic Theory and Management of Moscow University of Education.

The findings allow us to identify the groups of the external and internal reasons and motivation for the admission of students from the Asian region to Russian universities. The explicit and implicit reasons and motivation were determined and analyzed for each of these groups.

One of the political reasons for the increase in the number of students from the Asian region was the strengthening of the educational cooperation among the countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Most of them are Chinese students who enroll in Bachelor’s, Master’s and Post-graduate educational programs at the leading universities.

Among the economic reasons, most students called the relative cheapness of educational programs because of the exchange rate.
Internal motivations included the desire of a part of Chinese students to join the family business or to open their own business in view of the significant free niches in the Russian market.Implicit group of motivation included one of the desire of young male students to create a family with educated female local students. These students have a strong migration attitude.

However, this study showed that the prevailing reasons and motivations for the training of the foreign students from Asia were career aspirations and the attainment of a prestigious education that would enable them to occupy the high positions in the International business space. Chinese talented students who themselves paid for the training courses considered the SCO countries as the most promising and perspective places for the realization their educational potential.

Analysis allowed to disclose some reasons and motivations of students from Asian region for selecting Russian universities for the education and a life-cycle perspective. Some reasons and motivations could bear the potential risk. In conclusion, we continue further research with regard to our findings.

Keywords:

Educational space, foreign students, reasons and motivation for international education, Russian universities.