Post-graduation mobility of international students and the factors influencing it during the pandemic: a study of Chinese students in the Netherlands

Abstract

The introduction of the thesis sets well the ground for the research, showing the relevance and making connections to policy and academic debates. The theory section is also well developed, covering the existing literature in a systematic and cohesive way. Gaps in the existing literature (e.g. boing beyond the binary choice, feeling of belonging, COVID) are highlighted and discussed. From the theoretical framework, a good conceptual model is derived. At the same time, hypotheses 2 and 3 are not very clear and in general do not play a great role in the thesis. Methodologically, the thesis is reasonably solid. The data collection led to a good number of responses collected and the quantitative and qualitative methods are well mixed, each section of the empirical analysis reinforcing the other. Very good choices of quotes from the interviews. Some considerations with respect to social desirability of given answers and the choice of the medium (WeChat) leading to possible bias should have been considered. The formatting and presentation of the data is essential and to the point. Graphs and other visualizations could have given a stronger impact. The conclusions are good and show the ability of Chuyin to both summarise the findings, connect to the literature and societal issus as well as to discuss (some) of the limitations of the thesis. Chuyin demonstrated good level of autonomy and ownership, especially by coming up with the research topic alone and manage very well throughout the trajectory of the thesis.