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Youths’ Reasoning About Higher Education in Macao

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The Psychology of Asian Learners

Abstract

Statistics still show an upward trend for Macao students registering at higher education institutions. However, when higher education is not necessary for job-hunting, what makes Macao youth still desire higher education? The current, discovery-oriented qualitative study explored the perceptions about and reasons for higher education amongst a group of Chinese youth in Macao. Six focus group interviews were conducted with participants at a local university, and the transcripts analysed through in-depth thematic analysis. Themes corresponding to social networking, normative reasoning and career prospects emerged, and the findings suggest that youths might not perceive higher education as a way of knowledge acquisition, but rather see university life as an opportunity to expand guanxi in their planning for their future careers. The outcomes have implications for future research exploring social goals and social–cultural values of tertiary education amongst Chinese youth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau SAR, P.R. China

    Gertina J. van Schalkwyk

  2. University of Macau, Macau SAR, P.R. China

    Kyoma K. M. Hoi

Authors
  1. Gertina J. van Schalkwyk
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  2. Kyoma K. M. Hoi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gertina J. van Schalkwyk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Ronnel B. King

  2. Department of Psychology Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China

    Allan B. I. Bernardo

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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van Schalkwyk, G.J., Hoi, K.K.M. (2016). Youths’ Reasoning About Higher Education in Macao. In: King, R., Bernardo, A. (eds) The Psychology of Asian Learners. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-576-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-576-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-287-575-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-576-1

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