scholarly journals False Anticipation and Misfits in a Cross-Cultural Setting: International Scholars Working in Chinese Universities

2020 ◽  
pp. 102831532097603
Author(s):  
Jiexiu Chen ◽  
Junwen Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Cultural Setting ◽  
Depth Interviews

As the rapid development of internationalization in Chinese higher education, the number and scale of international scholars working in China has significantly increased. However, few studies have focused on international scholars’ cross-cultural encounters in the Chinese academic context. Based on 21 in-depth interviews, this article investigates international scholars’ subjective experiences in a cross-cultural setting through Bourdieu’s conceptual lens. After presenting an overview of participants’ major motivations for working in China, we find their vague and idealistic expectations engendered “false anticipation” of their possible career future in China, which left some of them unprepared to experience a sense of misfit when entering the new field of Chinese academia. Moreover, we identify the dual habitus–field disjunctures emerging from participants’ perceptions of misfit in the cross-cultural scenario, namely explicit disjuncture and implicit disjuncture, which reveal the underlying reasons for mismatch between international scholars’ previously generated habitus and the new field of Chinese universities.

scholarly journals An Investigation of the Experiences of Working with Multilingual International Students among Local Students and Faculty Members in Chinese Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6419
Author(s):  
Yawen Han ◽  
Wenxuan Li ◽  
Min Bao ◽  
Xinyu Cao
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Local Students ◽  
Depth Interviews

In recent years, as a response to the internationalization of higher education worldwide, China has begun to enroll international students to study at the tertiary level on an increasingly large scale. While the majority of the programs and courses are open to international students via Chinese as Chinese-medium instruction (CMI), there are also an increasing number of programs and courses delivered through English-medium instruction (EMI). In order to understand higher education multilingual contexts, this qualitative study examines how local students and faculty members make sense of their engagement with international students in three Chinese universities. In the study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 11 academics who worked with international students as project supervisors and 25 Chinese university students regarding their experiences of working with international students. The findings that emerged from the thematic analysis revealed that international students’ learning engagement was profoundly mediated by language barriers, cultural assumptions and the academic conventions in host institutions. The study revealed that Chinese academics are concerned about international students’ learning attitudes, their academic progress and a lack of participation due to their language ability. Local Chinese students also reported a lack of satisfaction in working with international students. Some of the local students felt that some international students may have been enabled to enroll in the academic programs as a result of national and university policies, which has led to a ‘dumbing down’ of the curriculum offered in English. The findings indicate that more needs to be done to promote mutual exchanges and better understanding among international students, Chinese faculty members and local students.

scholarly journals Measurement and Analysis of learning Engagement of South-Asian Students in Chinese Universities 南亚国家来华留学生个体学习性投入的测量与分析

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (S(1)) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Lan Yu ◽  
Shucheng Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Asian Students ◽  
Learning Engagement ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
Four Dimensions

International students’ learning experiences and learning outcomes in intercultural contexts are important topics in higher education internationalization. This study focused on South-Asian students studying at Chinese universities. To assess the participants’ academic engagement during their study at Chinese universities, the Individual South-Asian Student Engagement Questionnaire was developed. Through the use of exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis on a sample of 193 South-Asian students in China, the research confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument. Four dimensions, i.e. learning motivation, learning behaviors, learning strategies and learning outcomes, as well as the interactions between the four dimensions, were suggested to understand the features of South-Asian students’ learning engagement during their studies in Chinese higher education institutions. 国际学生在跨文化情境下的学习体验与收获是高等教育国际化研究领域的重要议题。本研究选取具有区域性、国别化特征的南亚国家来华留学生为研究对象，通过实施来华留学生个体学习性投入调查收集数据，采用统计学分析检验该测量工具的信效度，同时呈现南亚留学生在学习动机、学习行为、学习策略和学业成就四个维度的关键性表征及其互动关系。

University Foundations and Philanthropic Fundraising in Chinese Higher Education: a Promising Trend with Challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-67
Author(s):  
Hongmei Sziegat ◽  
Chengwen Hong
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
Promising Trend ◽  
Fundraising Strategies ◽  
Relevant Reference ◽  
General Guidance

Abstract This study overviews policies and practice of philanthropic fundraising in Chinese universities with a focus on university foundations. It briefly reviews the theoretical dimensions of philanthropic fundraising in higher education from a global perspective and university philanthropic fundraising models as well as their applications in Chinese universities. It shows the important role of university foundations in generating philanthropic revenue in Chinese universities. By identifying challenges and the general trends, it explores strategies for sustainable philanthropic fundraising for Chinese universities, which may provide stakeholders with a helpful and relevant reference to promote philanthropic fundraising of Chinese universities. It also gives a general guidance of philanthropic fundraising strategies for Chinese universities.

Chinese Universities and the Market for Ideas

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
University Presidents ◽  
Graduate Training ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
The World ◽  
Post Graduate Training ◽  
Training Research ◽  
Bright Side

AbstractThis paper examines China’s ongoing revolution in higher education. On the bright side, Chinese higher education has enjoyed four decades of remarkable expansion, as measured by college enrollment, post-graduate training, research capacities and various global rankings. In 2007, China’s higher education has become the largest in the world in terms of student enrollment. Yet, after decades of economic liberalization and marketization, Chinese higher education is one of the few areas that remain monopolized by the state. Despite extraordinary progresses Chinese universities have recently made, they have been repeatedly criticized by many insiders (university presidents, college deans, professors, as well as students and their parents) for the lack of academic freedom. It remains to be seen whether China’s universities can transform themselves from an institution of higher education to a home of liberal learning and innovation.

Data Analysis and Study on Relationship between Adjustment of Hierarchical Structure of Higher Education and Economic Growth

2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 2313-2316
Author(s):  
Jin Lian He
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Reform And Opening Up ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Current Stage

Since the reform and opening-up policy was implemented, Chinese higher education has experienced the process of recovery, adjustment, and rapid development; currently, the higher education has been popularized and the scale of Chinese higher education has been listed at the forefront in the world. However, compared to developed countries, there still exists great difference, and the “difficult employment” and “difficult recruitment” are good reflection. While the higher education is continuously enhanced, the structure of higher education is also continuously adjusted. At the initial stage of reform and opening-up, Chinese institutions of higher education mainly recruit undergraduate students; however, at current stage, the enrollment proportion is same; the postgraduate enrollment scale is also expanded; Chinese higher education has entered into transformation period.

scholarly journals Role Change of Postgraduates in China's Education System

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoyang Lu ◽  
Zhiping Zhang ◽  
Danping Jiang ◽  
Yanyan Jing ◽  
Yameng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Learning Method ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Role Change ◽  
Changing Role

With the rapid development of Chinese higher education, postgraduate education has gradually gained public attention. As senior professional and technical talents, postgraduates are the main force of the country's cutting edge technological development. Compared to undergraduates, the study objectives of postgraduates have changed considerably, it is thus important that the learning method should also change correspondingly. Higher postgraduate education should therefore guide postgraduates to change their roles successfully. This study elaborates on why and how postgraduates can change their role, what postgraduates should do, future opportunities, and so on. The result of the study has great significance for the changing role of postgraduates in China's educational system.

scholarly journals Discursive Marketisation Through Positive Evaluation: A Diachronic Analysis of About Us Texts of Top-Tier Chinese Universities Over the Past Two Decades

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihua Xu ◽  
Chaoqun Xie ◽  
Jun Lei
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Chinese Universities ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The Past ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Promotional Strategies

This study explored the marketisation process of top-tier Chinese universities by scrutinising their self-promotional strategies over the past two decades. Drawing on Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal framework, we identified all attitudinal markers in the About Us texts posted by 35 top-tier Chinese universities on their official websites at two time-points: the turn of the century and the year of 2021. The 35 universities were drawn from China’s “Double First Class” Initiative that prioritises the development of a select group of elite universities in China. Close textual analyses focussing on the attitudinal markers with reference to their contexts were conducted to identify the themes evaluated in the About Us texts; Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were run to quantitatively compare the relative frequencies of the attitudinal markers between the two phases, which was then supplemented by diachronic qualitative comparisons on the fine-grained linguistic features surrounding the markers. The study identified seven major themes positively appraised by the universities at both time-points. It also revealed diachronic differences in the use of attitudinal markers, reflecting a mediated change of promotional strategies over the past 20 years or so in the Chinese higher education context. These findings point to the influence of market, government, and tradition on Chinese top-tier universities’ promoting strategies and the role of social cognition in shaping student choice. They also suggest the emergence of a higher education system with Chinese characteristics that features a reconciliation of market and government forces.

‘I Don’t Want to Completely Lose Myself’: Social Mobility as Movement Across Classed, Ethnicised, and Gendered Spaces

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042199237
Author(s):  
Berenice Scandone
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Gendered Spaces ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Participation In Higher Education ◽  
Gendered Expectations ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article explores how subjective experiences of social mobility are informed by dimensions of identity other than class (e.g. ethnicity, gender). Drawing on in-depth interviews with British-born young women of Bangladeshi Muslim, working class origins in higher education, I critically interrogate their articulations of class positioning and trajectory and the interplay between participation in education and employment and gendered identities. Findings evidence the multifarious and value-ridden character of class signifiers, the relational nature of class positioning and the entrenchment of middle-classness and Whiteness, and testify to the compounding tensions experienced by upwardly mobile individuals of minority ethnic origins. The pursuit of upward mobility through participation in higher education and employment is also shown to entail shifts in gendered expectations and strains in performing valued gendered identities. Ultimately, I argue that social mobility processes are better understood as involving a movement across material and symbolic spaces where markers, dispositions, and practices linked to individuals’ class, ethnicity, religion, and gender acquire differential value. This intersectional lens enables a complex and nuanced picture to emerge, which foregrounds multiple tensions, displacements, and resulting inequalities in experiences and outcomes.

Challenges to English-medium instruction (EMI) for international students in China: A learners' perspective

English Today ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Jun He ◽  
Shiao-Yun Chiang
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
International Education ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Chinese Higher Education ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Education In China

According to the Institute of International Education, China has become a major receiving country of international students, like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The rapid development of international education in China evidences a major progress in the infrastructure of Chinese higher education. While internationalization creates unprecedented opportunities for the knowledge economy in China, it simultaneously poses unparalleled challenges for Chinese higher education (An & Chiang, 2015) and one of these challenges is the medium of instruction (MOI). While English has been widely taught in China since 1978 (McArthur, 2005), it was not until the turn of the century that English was endorsed as the medium of instruction for the so-called Chinese-English bilingual education.

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