Paths to successful transitions into English-medium business master’s programmes: a configurational analysis using the ROAD-MAPPING framework

This study aims to investigate how students from non-English-medium undergraduate backgrounds successfully transition into English-medium business master’s programmes. It addresses a gap in the international business education literature by examining how multiple interrelated factors combine to shape these transitions, moving beyond linear, variable-centred approaches. Integrating the ROAD-MAPPING framework with crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA), this study analysed data from 35 Chinese business pre-master's students who had completed a pre-sessional English programme at a Sino-British joint venture university. Six conditions derived from the framework were examined: Roles of English in relation to Other languages, Academic Discipline, (Language) Management, Agents, Practices and Processes, and Internationalisation and Glocalisation. The analysis identifies Practices and Processes (active pedagogical engagement) as a necessary condition for a successful short-term academic transition. Furthermore, the results reveal three sufficient configurations, reflecting different combinations of academic readiness, language confidence, institutional support and learner agency. By operationalising ROAD-MAPPING within a configurational method, this study provides a holistic understanding of transition to English-medium business master’s programmes as a multidimensional learning process. It illustrates how the framework can be extended from a descriptive heuristic to a diagnostic-analytical approach and offers data-driven insights into learner adaptation in internationalised business education.