Australia v. USA: Indian Engineering Students Pursuing Graduate Degrees Abroad, an Analysis of

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Dissertations Theses and Dissertations
2011
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Louis Berends
Loyola University Chicago
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Analysis of Factors Influencing the Choice and Location of Institution" (2011). Dissertations. 154.
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Copyright © 2011 Louis Berends
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

AUSTRALIA V. USA: INDIAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS PURSUING
GRADUATE DEGREES ABROAD, AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING
THE CHOICE AND LOCATION OF INSTITUTION

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

PROGRAM IN CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL POLICY STUDIES

BY
LOUIS MICHAEL BERENDS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MAY 2011
Copyright by Louis Michael Berends, 2011
All rights reserved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank all of the people who made this dissertation possible, most
notably my dissertation advisor, Noah W. Sobe. Noah’s guidance throughout the
dissertation process has been invaluable. His constant insight and critique were done so
with thoughtful consideration and grace – for this I will be forever grateful. Thank you
also to Erwin H. Epstein for his motivational lectures, thoughts, and conversations over
the last seven years while in the Cultural and Educational Policy Studies program. I am
especially grateful to Erwin for his never ending intellectual insight on the history of the
field of Comparative Education and his unwavering commitment to his students as seen
through his advisor role with CIEGSA (Comparative and International Education
Graduate Student Association). Last, and certainly not least, I would like to thank Terry
E. Williams for his genuine compassion and interest in my research endeavors. His kind
spirited nature pervades his pedagogic style, which is apparent in and outside of the
classroom. I will forever remember Terry and I’s conversations related to cultural
immersion while in Rome, Italy in the summer of 2006. A special thank you also to
Dave, Kendra, Kim, Liz, Maria, Melissa, Shelley, and Ted for their support throughout
my time at Loyola – without their encouragement and commiseration I would not have
been able to finish my Ph.D. Thank you lastly to Loyola’s School of Education and
Graduate School for funding my graduate assistantship and all the wonderful faculty,
staff and resources they have provided throughout my graduate studies at the Water
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Tower and Lake Shore campuses. I am proud to be associated with Loyola University
Chicago.
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For my wife, Andrea
Global changes are unprecedented, drastic and unpredictable.
All education will have to become global in the future.
—Josef A. Mestenhauser
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF FIGURES xv

ABSTRACT xvi

CHAPTER ONE: STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 1
Comparative Education Context 2
Conceptual Framework 3
International Higher Education 4
Indian Students in Australian Higher Education 6
Indian Students in U.S. Higher Education 9
Global Market Share of International Students and Fiscal Considerations 9

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 13
General Background 13
Global Higher Education 15
International School Choice 16
Reputation and Rankings 21
“Quality” of Education 23
Work-related Opportunities 27
Financial-related Literature 31
Family-impact Literature 33
Summary of Literature Review 35

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 37
Introduction 37
Research Methodology 38
Research Design 40
Creating the Instrument 41
Online Survey Design 42
Pilot Survey 43
Narrowing Decision-making Variables 45
Likert Scale Questions in Online Survey 46
Interview Protocol 47
Data Analysis – Phase II 48
Data Analysis – Phase III (Interviews) 50
Data Analysis – Phase IV (Statistical Analysis of Survey Data) 50
Data Analysis – Phase V (Analysis of Interview Data) 52

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CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS: ONLINE SURVEY 54
Introduction 54
Level and Field of Study 55
Age of Study Participants 58
Gender of Study Participants 59
University Comparisons 60
Methodology of Online Survey 62
University Responses and Decision-making Factors 63
Gender Responses and Decision-making Factors 75
Likert Scale Questions 80
University Responses to Likert Scale Questions 81
Gender Responses to Likert Scale Questions 83
Mann-Whitney Statistical Analyses 84
Kruskal-Wallace Statistical Analyses 88
Summary of Statistical Tests and Analyses 92
Summary of Quantitative Findings 93

CHAPTER FIVE: DATA ANALYSIS: INTERVIEWS 97
Introduction 97
U.S.-based Reponses to Open-ended Survey Questions 98
Australia-based Reponses to Open-ended Survey Questions 104
Section I of the Online Survey (None of the Above Selections) 108
Section II of the Online Survey 110
U.S.-based Interviews 111
Interview I. U.S.-based, Rankings (Overall) 112
Interview II. U.S.-based, Rankings (Department) 114
Interview III. U.S.-based, Work-related Opportunities 116
Interview IV. U.S.-based, Work-related Opportunities 117
Interview V. U.S.-based, Work-related Opportunities and Field of Study 119
Interview VI. U.S.-based, Field of Study 120
Interview VII. U.S.-based, Family 121
Interview VIII. U.S.-based, Family 123
Interview IX. U.S.-based, Quality of Education 124
Interview X. U.S.-based, Quality of Life 126
Australia-based Interviews 128
Interview I. Australia-based, Field of Study 128
Interview II. Australia-based, Field of Study 129
Interview III. Australia-based, Rankings 130
Interview IV. Australia-based, Rankings (Department) 133
Interview V. Australia-based, Money 134
Interview VI. Australia-based, Money 135
Interview VII. Australia-based, Friends and Reputation of Department 138
Interview VIII. Australia-based, Friends 139
Interview IX. Australia-based, Family 140
Interview X. Australia-based, Family 142
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Summary of Interviews 144

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 146
Summary 146
Findings Related to the Literature 149
Findings Related to Reputation 150
Findings Related to Work-related Opportunities 151
Findings Related to Increased Financial Income 153
Findings Related to Gender 155
Findings Related to University 156
Model of Decision-making 157
Significant Contributions of the Study 162
Limitations 164
Promising Directions for Future Research 166
Concluding Remarks 168

APPENDIX A: ONLINE SURVEY 170

APPENDIX B: INTEVIEW PROTOCOL 179

APPENDIX C: DIAGRAM OF RESEARCH METHODS 181

APPENDIX D: LIKERT SCALE UNIVERSITY RESPONSES 187
APPENDIX E: LIKERT SCALE GENDER RESPONSES 203
APPENDIX F: MANN-WHITNEY TEST LIKERT SCALE RESPONSES
BY GENDER 219

APPENDIX G: KRUSKAL-WALLIS TEST LIKERT SCALE RESPONSES
BY UNIVERSITY 228

BIBLIOGRAPHY 237

VITA 261

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