Vietnamese students’ expectancy, value, and cost of studying in situ

Research on the expectations, values, and costs of studying in situ has been scarce. This study delves into Vietnamese students’ expectations for their studies, values, costs, and coping strategies to sustain their education. It extends the expectancy-value theory by conceptualizing expectancy as a collective, intersubjectively negotiated process. By employing an exploratory qualitative research design, the researchers combined purposive and theoretical sampling and conducted in-depth interviews with 25 students in 18 programmes at 12 universities in Vietnam. The empirical materials were analyzed using thematic analysis with technical assistance from ChatGPT 5. The study’s findings show that students’ decision-making processes are negotiated socially and academically. The negotiated and mediated intersubjectivity among students, parents, and universities is shaped by materialities and their engagement in broader socio-economic transformations in the Global South. These findings suggest that universities and policymakers should strengthen institutional trust, involve family engagement, and provide student support systems to foster students’ participation in domestic higher education. By foregrounding the experiences of domestic students in Vietnam, this study contributes a Global South perspective to the literature on university students’ motivation to study at home and on education-related immobilities. In doing so, it challenges mobility-centred narratives by demonstrating that educational participation in home countries is equally shaped by complex social, institutional, and cultural processes.