University Education: Negotiating Personal Desires with Family Expectations

Higher education has undoubtedly become a globalised and competitive marketplace, where different types of universities vie for domestic and international students alike. But higher education often is also a journey that for each individual carries a different personal allure and meaning that goes beyond just obtaining a qualification. The present research seeks to obtain a deeper understanding of how Thai students assign their own personal meanings and expectations to the pursuit of higher education at university and how they negotiate them in their choice of a particular (type of) university with the demands and pressures from their social and cultural environment. It appears that Thai students’ pursuit of higher education and their university choice go far beyond obtaining a qualification and enabling a career. Instead, they are often forced to negotiate their desire for self-identity development, personal growth and university choice with expectations of family honour, social status and cultural expectations.