This study explored how ethnic-minority students in southwest China navigated changing motivations and mobility trajectories while pursuing music careers. It addressed two research questions: (a) how Yi, Mongolian, and Tibetan music students from remote mountainous regions developed and transformed their motivations across three stages: high school, the second year of university, and the year of graduation; and (b) what factors shaped these changing motivations and influenced graduates’ mobility trajectories, particularly decisions to remain in cities or return to their hometowns when entering the music profession.Using a longitudinal qualitative case-study design, we followed ten students (seven Yi, two Mongolian, one Tibetan; three female) for more than five years. Data were gathered in three waves (i.e., high school in 2020, sophomore year in 2022, and final year in 2025) through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts, observational fieldnotes, and video records were analyzed with NVivo 14 (QSR International) using combined inductive and deductive strategies (Thomas, 2006; Patton, 2002). Deductive coding drew on motivation theory and research on mobility to identify instances aligned with the conceptual framework, and inductive analysis allowed unanticipated themes to surface.Findings suggested that, in high school, participants, supported by policy, family, and local teachers, primarily construed music as a pragmatic pathway to higher education. During university, under the influence of mentors, peers, and a more inclusive campus atmosphere, many reoriented toward intrinsic engagement and enjoyment. As graduation neared, motivations shifted back toward pragmatics, and many intended to return hometown for employment. The findings further indicated that push and pull dynamics shaped and often constrained music graduates’ choices. Urban push factors included intense competition and standardized expectations for cultural capital. Hometown pull factors included family expectations, preferential local hiring, and a strengthened sense of belonging. Together with policy channeling, such as targeted scholarships with service obligations, these forces meant that many ethnic-minority students struggled to secure and sustain employment in cities after graduation and instead returned to their home regions for work. Building on these findings, we propose a Motivational-Mobility Nexus (MMN) that links evolving motivations to post-graduation mobility decisions and underscores how minority music educators’ career pathways co-develop through the interplay of purpose and structural context.From an educational-equity perspective, the results suggest that widening access requires reducing structural barriers that privilege standardized forms of cultural capital and revisiting service-bonded scholarships that constrain graduates’ options. Policies that strengthen culturally responsive mentoring, recognize locally situated expertise, and broaden definitions of merit may expand graduates’ genuine opportunities for mobility.