Internationalization of Higher Education: The influencing factors in the Decision Making Process of International Students at UFPI

Abstract

The Internationalization aspects of a Higher Education Institution can be evidenced through the decision-making process and the factors that attract (pull) students to a certain Federal Higher Education Institution and the factors that compel (push) students to leave their home countries (or provenance) according to educational aspirations. This study, in this sense, sought to verify which factors influenced former international students from the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI) linked to the Students-Graduate Agreement Program (PEC-G), also describing their impressions regarding the experience at UFPI. Data were collected through individual interviews and qualitatively interpreted through content analysis. The documentary analysis of the Institutional Development Plan (PDI) of UFPI was also used for the period between 2015 and 2019. The study of the decision-making process elucidated new notions regarding the impact of five factors (Effect of Country of Provenance, Effect of Host Country, Effect Institution of Destination, Image of the City, and Personal Reasons) in the choice of international students at UFPI, thus contributing to a better understanding: of the institutionalization of activities related to internationalization, of the internationalization background that influence the decision-making process, and of the expectations of international students from UFPI.