Mitigating Transitional Challenges of Chinese Students in U.S. Higher Education

Abstract

<p>The number of Chinese international students enrolled in U.S. higher education has significantly grown over the past two decades. In 2015, Chinese international students accounted for the largest group of international students from any one single country. Previous research acknowledges Chinese students encountering significant difficulties in U.S. education institutions. However, research specifically targeting the Chinese demographic within U.S. higher education institutions has not been extensively explored toward mitigation. This study tracks Chinese international students’ transition to the United States, while primarily focusing on student-perspective of their preparation in China, acclimation experience in the U.S., and response to environmental change.</p>

Expériences d’étudiantes et étudiants internationaux chinois dans les universités avant et pendant la COVID-19 : frontières et racisme ordinaire vis-à-vis une « majorité fragile » québécoise

“…Les études au Canada sur les expériences des étudiantes et étudiants chinois s'alignent largement avec celles observées dans d'autres pays occidentaux. Ces recherches mettent en exergue que les étudiantes et étudiants chinois sont confrontés à une myriade de défis académiques et de discriminations lorsqu'ils s'adaptent aux nouveaux systèmes éducatifs à l'étranger (Liu et al, 2016;Lu et Han, 2010;Wu, 2015). En Amérique du Nord, les obstacles linguistiques liés à l'anglais semblent constituer le principal défi pour les étudiantes et étudiants internationaux chinois (Ge et al, 2019).…”

Portraying the ‘Chinese international students’: a review of English-language and Chinese-language literature on Chinese international students (2015–2020)

“…Such discursive work rendered by the researchers (e.g. Kuang [旷] & Qi, 2016 ; Liu & Vogel, 2016 ; Louie & Qin, 2019 ; Montalbano et al, 2016 ; Sun et al, 2020 ; Tao [陶] & Liu, 2016 ) could unwittingly create a false impression that the Chinese international students are only valuable because of their economic and instrumental contributions. This resonates with Castiello-Gutiérrez and Li’s ( 2020 , p. 2) commentary on international students’ experiences in the US: those who were fighting with and for us sometimes used language that unconsciously embraced a nationalistic perspective; …Such language is often taken for granted, but for us, it can be hurtful.…”

“…In both bodies of literature reviewed (N = 38: 4 Chinese-language and 34 English-language, see Table 2 and Appendix 2 in supplementary materials), a small number of studies continue to portray the Chinese international students as a homogeneous, deficient pedagogic group (e.g. Liu, 2016 ; Liu & Vogel, 2016 ). The Chinese international students are suggested to be experiencing a ‘vicious circle’ that prevented them from integrating with the local society (Ma, 2017 , 2020 ).…”

Currere Toward a Cultural Hybridity Curriculum in a Post-Truth Era: Asians' Experiences in American Education

“…The growing number of Asians choosing the U.S. for their higher education pursuit has complicated the educational experiences of this increasing body of students. Literature has reported struggles and challenges that Asian students face during their process of integrating themselves into the American educational way of life both on and off American campuses (e.g., Lin & Scherz, 2014;Liu & Vogel, 2016;Zhang, 2016). Additionally, postcolonial theory has been applied in several disciplines, but the theory has not yet been used extensively for educational critique (Burney, 2012).…”