Preferences of International Students in Gaining New Zealand Qualification

Exploring the preferences of international students in gaining New Zealand students based
qualification
Research project

Executive summary
New Zealand is considered as one of the promising and highly diversified educational system
which has gained immense recognition and popularity across the whole world. It had been
hereby discussed how the universities of the country had been constantly trying to improve
their educational services and courses so that the international students along with the local
students can be benefited and better career opportunities can be made available to them.
Especially, the students belonging to underdeveloped or developing countries tend to express
more interest towards getting associated with the universities of the developed countries with
a belief that they can be able to get better education facilities there. This project explored the
way in which NZ based courses and qualifications attract the international students which
thereby influenced the revenue and reputation of the universities of the country. Mixed
approach had been undertaken to collect both qualitative and quantitative data regarding the
matter. 15 respondents were chosen as samples to conduct the surveys and interviews which
highlighted the effective strategies and amenities provided to the foreign students by the NZ
universities.
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Table of Contents
Executive summary....................................................................................................................1
1: Introduction to the Research report:.......................................................................................3
1.1: Purpose of the research report:........................................................................................3
1.2: Main messages to convey through this research report:..................................................3
1.3: Research questions..........................................................................................................4
1.4: Approaches to conduct the study:...................................................................................4
2: Background to the issue/problem:..........................................................................................4
2.1: Literature review:................................................................................................................5
3: Research methodology:..........................................................................................................6
3.1: Research Onion:..............................................................................................................6
3.2: Research philosophy:......................................................................................................6
3.3: Research approach:..........................................................................................................6
3.4: Research strategy:............................................................................................................7
3.5: Research design:..............................................................................................................7
3.6: Data collection types and methods:.................................................................................7
3.7: Sampling technique:........................................................................................................8
3.8: Limitations to the methods selection:..............................................................................8
3.9: Strengths of the methods selected:..................................................................................9
4: Data analysis:.........................................................................................................................9
4.1: Quantitative primary data analysis:.................................................................................9
4.2: Qualitative primary data analysis:.................................................................................15
5: Ethical considerations:.........................................................................................................16
6: Discussion:...........................................................................................................................16
6.1: Limitations of the study:................................................................................................17
6.2: Delimitations of the study:............................................................................................17
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References:...............................................................................................................................18
Appendix: (Quantitative questionnaire)...................................................................................19
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1: Introduction to the Research report:
Education system had undergone huge transformations and changes in the past few decades
across the whole world. The students from different countries had been given several
opportunities and benefits in order to excel in their own academic and career portfolios so as
to enjoy better prospects in the future. New Zealand is also one such country in the world that
has been offering huge prospects and proficient educational opportunities for the local as well
as international students (Taylor, 2017). This particular research report is based on evaluating
the factors and aspects which influence the international students to seek admission in the
universities of New Zealand so that they can be able to acquire the qualifications of the local
students.
1.1: Purpose of the research report:
The fundamental purpose or aim of this research report is to acknowledge the growing
preference of the international students towards obtaining New Zealand based student
qualification.
In order to achieve this purpose, the following objectives had been taken into consideration:
 To understand the benefits offered by the New Zealand universities
 To identify the positive and negative factors attracting the international students
towards New Zealand based education process
 To explore the reasons behind international students choosing New Zealand
universities for their further studies
 To analyse critically the perceptions of the international students interested towards
seeking the educational qualification of New Zealand students
 To recommend different strategies which can be implemented for mitigating the
existing challenges faced by the international students in NZ
1.2: Main messages to convey through this research report:
The targeted audience of this report were the international students, teachers and professors
of the universities of New Zealand. The future researchers willing to conduct analysis on this
topic had also been targeted for this research report. The researcher associated with the
investigation process had chosen this topic in order to make the targeted audience aware of
the benefits and facilities that are being provided by the New Zealand universities are
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attracting maximum potential international students to get admitted in the same. A fair
understanding of the legal educational policies followed by the universities and the quality
learning requirements had been provided through the help of this research project.
1.3: Research questions
Primary questions
 What are the perspectives of international students that make them interested in an
educational system of New Zealand?
Secondary questions What are the prime preferences of the students across the globe? How is education system of New Zealand providing advantages to the international
students? What factors are responsible to attract international students for studying in New
Zealand? What recommendation can be provided about the appropriate strategies that can be
implemented in order to mitigate the existing problems and challenges faced by the
foreign students in New Zealand?
1.4: Approaches to conduct the study:
The researcher had adopted the inductive research approach for conducting the overall
research analysis. Through the selection of the inductive approach, it had been possible for
the researcher to explore new phenomenon and aspects related to the research topic. It had
helped in analysing the perceptions and opinions of the chosen respondents regarding why
the international students feel so much interested to get associated with the universities of
New Zealand to enjoy their offered educational facilities.
2: Background to the issue/problem:
The universities of NZ have been constantly attracting a large number of international
students so that they can be able to pursue a better course for a very bright career in the
future. It has been observed that the most of the international students are joining the NZ
universities in order to pursue MBA which is a specialised course offered by them. Besides,
different other courses are also offered by the universities such as Accounting, Agricultural
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