To Stay Or Return? An Analysis Of Migration Intentions Of Postgraduate Students From Mainland China In Australia

As a multicultural nation,Australia has attracted people from all over the world to immigrate.The proportion of Chinese migrants has increased gradually,playing a more important role in recent decades.Now China has become Australia's second largest source country of migrants.In 1990s,Australia's skilled immigration policy started to favour international students,allowing students to apply for permanent residence within six months of completing the study.Over the past 20 years,immigration policies have been constantly changing,and points required to apply for PR have been increasing.Recently,Australian government tightened immigration policy for international students has become tightening.In addition to immigration policy,the interaction of personal factors and macro environmental factors also affect the migration intentions of Chinese students.In this case,how the migration tendency of Chinese students in Australia is affected is an urgent issue to be discussed.Based on the previous theoretical models and empirical studies,this study adopted multilevel models to guide the current research.Specifically,this study uses a detailed questionnaire and in-depth interview,to investigate migration intentions of Chinese postgraduate students studying in Australia and concerning factors.The findings show that on the micro personal level,factors including "college location","whether the major is in PR Skilled Occupation List,"number of relatives in Australia","ITELS test score","the current living place of the spouse and the de facto partner" as well as "parents' attitudes towards immigration" are significantly important to influence students' choices.The role of family is greatly highlighted.On the macro level,Australian social environment makes significant influence on decisions to immigrate,while China's natural environment and Australian immigration policy are considered to be push factors driving students to go back home.Through interviews,it is further proved that with the rise of China,Australia's economic advantages are weakening in swaying students' immigration decisions,while "China Opportunity" appears to exert more leverage,appealing more students to return home for development.Besides,the role of personal development and family associations is increasingly prominent.Under the influence of these factors,students'migration tendencies show vacillation and change,and they tend to change their strategies to achieve their migration goals through new roundabouts.