Migration aspiration and desire of international students: Chinese international students under strain amid geopolitical tension and the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Confronted with restrictive visa policies, deteriorating US–China relations and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese international students in the United States face unprecedented uncertainty in their immigration prospects. Their unique intersectional identities as temporary immigrants, prospective permanent immigrants and emerging adults modulate their migration aspirations and desires within this exceptional social context. We interviewed and surveyed a group of Chinese international students in a major American university at various stages of their stay in the United States. Using the migration aspiration and desire framework, we explore how they cope with the challenges and plan for immigration upon graduation. Our findings suggest that under the unique temporal junction of the geopolitical tension and a global public health crisis unprecedented in their lifetime, the becoming process associated with their particular identity as in-between migrants and the assemblage of various actors throughout the process help recalibrate their initial aspirations at personal and collective levels and reshape their migration desires. Although it has frustrated their migration motivations and plans, it has also endowed them with perspectives and the capacity to develop effective coping mechanisms and remain resilient.

Language, Identity, and Well-being: Counseling Considerations for Chinese International Students

“…In the uncertain climate of U.S. visa policies, shifting U.S.-China relations, and the global health crisis due to COVID-19, international students' aspirations and identity as temporary immigrants are significantly impacted. Chinese international undergraduate students have exhibited a heightened sense of national identity and increased patriotism in the U.S. [12].…”

International Student Migration to the GCC States: A Comparative Study

“…In addition, scholars have developed an aspiration and desire model to explain student mobility (Carling & Collins, 2018;Huang & Ren, 2023;Wu & Hou, 2023). Nestled within the intersection of non-economic and economic factors lies the discourse on aspiration and desire, extensively utilised terms in migration scholarship yet devoid of a proper theoretical framework in the realm of international student mobility.…”

“…In contrast, a focus on aspiration and desire sheds light on the personal, psychological and social factors and their relations to the opportunity migration may accrue (Carling & Collins, 2018). Scholarly discussions regard aspiration not as a rigid mechanism of motivation but rather as a dynamic process responsive to each individual's unique circumstances (Huang & Ren, 2023;Wu & Hou, 2023). Wu and Hou have introduced a conceptual framework of 'aspirations on the go' to capture the contradiction between the aspirations before migrating and the realities experienced in the host country.…”