Building Cultural Bridges and Supporting Prospective Chinese International Students at U.S. Universities

Abstract

A growing trend among colleges in the U.S. particularly public universities, is their increased recruitment and enrollment of international students, particularly from China. This trend reflects both an inherent recognition of the value of promoting multiculturalism and cultural globalization, along with an effort to generate more revenue and to compensate for the budget shortfalls. In either case, the growing presence of Chinese students at U.S. universities also represents an increasingly common site of transnational intersection between U.S. and Chinese societies. To better illuminate one aspect of this multilevel social dynamic, this paper focuses on the motivations, expectations, and concerns of students in China who are interested in coming to the U.S. to study.

Using interview data from focus groups conducted in Beijing and Shanghai, I examine their motivations for wanting to leave China and study in the U.S., expectations and challenges they anticipate in adjusting to U.S. society and interacting with Americans, how they plan to apply their newfound academic knowledge and transnational experiences in their careers, and some possible ways that U.S. college students and administrative programs can support these international Chinese students. Overall, the Chinese students were clearly knowledgeable about what opportunities exist for them inside China and outside of China and realistic about the plusses and minuses of each. They were also very excited but also anxious about the possibility of studying in the U.S. and the rewards and challenges that are involved here as well.