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Sustaining Student Engagement in Chinese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study of Social Support and Motivation

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https://doi.org/10.54963/jqre.i46.2276
Zhang, S., Anuar Bin Ahmad, & Jamsari Bin Alias. (2026). Sustaining Student Engagement in Chinese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study of Social Support and Motivation. Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, (46), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.54963/jqre.i46.2276
Issue 46 (2026): in progress
Copyright (c) 2026 Shu Zhang, Anuar Bin Ahmad, Jamsari Bin Alias
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Authors

  • Shu Zhang

    Faculty of Education, National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
  • Anuar Bin Ahmad

    Faculty of Education, National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
  • Jamsari Bin Alias

    Citra University Study Center, National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
    IsIam Hadhari Institute, National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia

Received: 10 January 2026; Revised: 26 January 2026; Accepted: 10 February 2026; Published: 4 March 2026

Sustainable learning participation has emerged as a key issue in higher education, especially in situations where academic pressure and the speed of change in education are high. This paper looks at the role of social support and motivation in maintaining student engagement in the long run amongst Chinese university students. This research is designed to examine the effect of social support processes and motivation processes on maintaining long-term learning engagement in postsecondary education. The semi-structured interviews took place with 25 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Chinese public universities. NVivo-assisted thematic analysis was used in analyzing data through an interpretivist paradigm. The concept of sustainable engagement that will be used in this research is the ability of students to be able to recover and re-engage when they are disengaged, as opposed to being continuously motivated. The experience of sustainable learning is dynamic and thus cycles of disengagement and recovery, and not constant motivation. Relational support provided by family, peers, teachers, and institutions plays the role of psychological and structural infrastructure, which helps in sustaining persistence and re-engagement. Intrinsic interest, future orientation, self-efficacy, and perceived meaning are motivation factors that are very important resources that promote engagement in the long run. This research will add to the body of literature on engagement by offering a conceptualization of sustainable engagement as a process of recovery and illustrating a reciprocal interaction between social support and motivation in the formation of long-term engagement. The results serve as qualitative information to teachers and schools that would want to create enabling learning conditions that support persistence and student wellness.

Keywords:

Sustainable Learning Engagement Social Support Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation Higher Education Chinese University Students

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