Choosing a UK university: interpersonal influences for African students
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This paper explores the use of interpersonal sources in the evaluation of alternatives\nstage of the decision-making process for prospective UK international higher education\nstudents from Africa. The objectives of the study were to identify the main sources from\nwhich they obtain information about UK higher education, assess the importance of\ninformation obtained from interpersonal sources in the decision-making process,\nidentify the interpersonal sources that are most influential at the evaluation of\nalternatives stage of the process and explain the ways in which those sources influence\ntheir decisions about which university to choose.\nThe mixed methods strategy employed by the study used data collected through archival\nresearch, survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews to provide answers to the\nresearch questions.\nThe study identified the main interpersonal sources from which prospective African\nstudents obtain information about UK higher education as agents, parents, family\nmembers, friends, university staff, career tutors, teachers/tutors, current/previous\nstudents & employers, and found that information obtained from interpersonal sources\nare more important than information from other sources. Agents & parents were\nidentified as the most influential interpersonal sources in the evaluation of alternatives\niv\nstage of the decision-making process and the study explains some of the ways in which\nthey influence the decisions of prospective African students.\nThe study builds on existing knowledge in the subject area by highlighting significant\ndifferences in the way that African students approach the decision-making process\ncompared to their counterparts from other regions. The identification of the main ways\nin which agents, parents, friends and family members influence the decisions of\nprospective African students about UK higher education is a significant contribution to\nknowledge. It provides UK higher education institutions with valuable insights that\nshould enable them to devise marketing strategies that will improve the effectiveness of\ntheir student recruitment activities in the region.
Author: Richard R. Bakare
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2783472054