Factors influencing the transition from master's to doctoral degree programmes in China
基于2021年全国硕士毕业生调查数据，分析学术型和专业型硕士生攻读博士意愿的影响因素，发现个人背景、研究经历和学术网络等有正向作用。
This study explores the factors influencing master's students’ decisions to pursue doctoral degrees and the differences between academic and professional master's students regarding their intention to pursue doctoral education. The study is based on data from the 2021 National Master Graduates Student Feedback Survey, a survey of Chinese master's students. The survey included 69,387 academic and 52,896 full-time professional master's students across academic disciplines and institutions in Mainland China. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were applied. The results show that factors related to individual background (i.e. gender and parental educational level), institutional background (i.e. research university), intrinsic motivation for pursuing a master's degree (i.e. interest in disciplinary knowledge), active research experience (e.g. publication), and academic networking experiences positively affect the decision to pursue doctoral degrees among both academic and professional master's students. In particular, this study emphasises the importance of positive research experiences during the master's programme in encouraging students’ transition to doctoral studies.