Motivations for pursuing a master’s degree and changing expectations of its returns: mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong

In recent years, there has been a rapid expansion of master’s education worldwide. Using a mixed methods research design, this paper explores the factor structure of students’ motivation for pursuing a master’s degree and their changing expectations of its returns, with a focus on mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong. We first distributed an online survey to students enrolled in various kinds of coursework-based master’s programmes; we collected 302 responses. The survey data were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis from which four factors emerged: positional advantage, educational pursuit, intrinsic motivation, and career progression. Twenty-six interviewees participated in follow-up, semi-structured interviews. The content analysis of the interview data corroborated and supplemented the interpretations of the exploratory factor analysis. The declining expectations of economic returns upon graduation suggest that master’s degrees were not necessarily viewed as guaranteeing career progression. Furthermore, students’ changing expectations of non-monetary returns, including social benefits and self-growth as viewed retrospectively, contributed to students’ overall satisfaction level on master’s education. The study has implications for understanding and responding to the increasing demand for master’s education and rethinking the value of master’s education.