International student mobility in Uzbekistan : outbound students' motivations

Abstract

Since the motivations of Uzbek students to study degree-awarding programs abroad have not been explored yet, this proposed research aims to investigate those principal reasons of students from Uzbekistan for seeking education internationally. The study implements a reformed framework chiefly grounded on the conventional push-pull factors model in order to better discover the authentic features inherent in the motivations and reasons of Uzbek students for studying abroad. The foci are Uzbek students’ explanations of why they choose to study outside their home country and to what extent they are linked with the state of the post-secondary education in Uzbekistan. The results of this qualitative study proved that Uzbek students studying abroad are motivated by a wide range of factors. Meaningful discussions on the state of Uzbek HE also helped detect the problematic areas that require critical solutions and fruitful improvements.