China is an important and interesting case to examine for interregional migration research. The interregional migration of higher education institution graduates is high on the policy agenda because of concerns about brain drain from Central China to the Eastern coastal regions. For several decades specific policies have been enacted to retain graduates in the inland regions. Whilst the academic literature on migration is predominantly based on Western theoretical approaches, premised on a market-oriented context, Chinese higher education is still closely regulated by ‘state-prescribed admission policies, quota and assignment systems’ after China’s 1978 reform and opening up campaign. For this reason, the characteristics of graduate migration within China are likely to diverge from patterns observed in previous research based in Western countries. A priori, therefore, it is unclear how well the established theoretical canon fits the case of China.

This mixed methods research has been designed and applied to understand the direction and drivers of the migration intentions/aspirations of prospective graduates in Central China. By combining a substantial survey (n=975) of final year undergraduates with structured interviews, this research has found that a chronological perspective on investigating potential migrants’ decision-making process is important in the migration research field. Life experiences play an important role in the value shaping process of graduates, which forms the inner reasons for how students value different factors in the migration decision-making process. Also, the influence of latent factors (in this research, cultural and social aspects) has constrained or reinforced graduates’ migration aspirations. Some elements of the special Chinese context, such as the education system and economic geography, were also found to be important for Chinese graduates in multiple aspects. This research offers a new perspective on interregional migration research and reveals gaps that further investigation could help to fill.