Addressing the Challenges of Advising Chinese

International Students

Lisa Harris, Illinois Institute of Technology Sarah Meaney, Miami University

Meagan Hagerty, University of Minnesota

Presentation Overview

● Who are our Chinese international students?

● What challenges do they face?

● How can you best prepare for your appointments?

● How can you maximize your 1:1 time with these students?

Chinese Enrollment in U.S. Universities

International Student Enrollment in U.S.

Top Places of Origin

U.S. Destinations

Understanding Your Chinese Students

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Cultural Dimensions Individualism

Power Distance

Time Orientation

Masculinity vs.

Femininity

Uncertainty Avoidance

Individualism

Collectivism & Academic Honesty

• Harmony

• Face

• Guanxi

Power Distance

Hofstede Cultural Comparison

Higher Education Comparison

The Gao Kao

Discussion

• Was any of this new information for you?

• What strikes you?

Challenges Students May Face

Acculturation Stress

● Culture shock ○ Time zones, food, climate

○ Language confidence

● Cultural Isolation ○ Culturally alike roommates

○ Daily communication with

loved ones

o Uninvolved on campus

Language Stress

• What is it like to constantly speak in a foreign language? o Redundancia

• Comprehension difficulty due to: o Homonyms

o Homophones

o Slang

o Idioms

The Advising Appointment

Plan Ahead

● Set up your spreadsheet/intake form

● Make students feel welcome ○ Pronounce names as correctly as possible

○ Map of China

First Name (Given

Name)

Last Name (Family

Name)

Pronunciation English nickname

Wenchang Lu When-chahng Winnie

Bixi Shao Bee-she

Xiaoyun Li Shee-ah-oh-yoon Summer*

Be Aware of Your Role

● Knowledgeable about institutional considerations

• Help them navigate campus

How to Advise

vs.

Developmental advising

Prescriptive advising

What You Can Do

● Break down power distance

● Avoid prescriptive advising

● Initiate conversations about culture

● Treat every conversation as a learning opportunity for you

● Develop your own cultural competence

Group Discussion

● What issues have you experienced?

● What strategies have you found helpful when working with this population of students?

● What other ideas do you have for how we can improve our work with students?

Questions?

References Bartlett, T. & Fischer, K. (2011, November 3). The China conundrum: American colleges find the Chinese-student boom a tricky fit.

The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/The-China-Conundrum/129628/

Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling,

VA: Stylus.

Brandenberg, U. & Zhu, J. (2007). Higher education in China. Retreived from: http://www.che.de/downloads/Higher_Education_in_China_AP97.pdf

Fallows, D. (2011). Dreaming in Chinese: mandarin lessons in life, love, and language [Pbk. Ed] New York, NY: Walker & Company.

›Fischer, K. (2012, June 14). Many foreign students are friendless in the U.S., study finds. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Many-Foreign-Students-Find/132275/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Fischer, K. (2013). A freshman year, far from home. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/A-Freshman-Year-Far-From-Home/141303/

›Hagerty, M. L., & Meaney, S. (2012, October). Making a home abroad: Working with Chinese international students. The Talking Stick, March/April 2013. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5chiuhPAXBebkdWRmQxSHRGd1E/edit?pli=1

Hofstede, G. (2001). Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Hoftsede’s Cultural Survey: http://geert-hofstede.com/cultural-survey.html

Hammer, Mitchell R., (2012) . Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory, Interpretative Guide and Facilitator’s Manual.

Institute of International Education. (2013). Top 25 Places of Origin of International Students, 201/11-2012/13. Open Doors Report on

International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/opendoors

References Continued ›Lewis, P. (2012, October 25). In Asia, future appears bright for liberal arts education. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from

http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/in-asia-future-appears-bright-for-liberal-arts-education/30840?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

Lin, S. & Betz, N. (2009). Factors related to the social self-efficacy of Chinese international students, The Counseling Pyschologist, 37, pp. 451-471.

›Marcus, F. (2012, July). Understanding & pronouncing Chinese names [PowerPoint slides]. Presented at the Office of Residence Life Fall Training, Oxford, OH.

›McMurtrie, B. (2012). China continues to drive foreign-student growth in the United States. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/China-Continues-to-Drive/135700/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Min, W. (2004) Chinese higher education: The legacy of the past and the context of the future. In Philip G Altbach & Toru Umakoshi (Eds). Asian universities: Historical perspectives and contemporary challenges. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Pang, H. Cross cultural adaptation of Chinese students in the U.S. Tsinghua University.

››Qian, N. (2002). Chinese students encounter America. Rockhill, SC: University of Washington Press.

Redden, E. (2012, May 31). What Chinese students want. InsideHigherEd.com. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/31/new-survey-chinese-students-motivations-picking-colleges

Redundancia. N.d. Training tool. Retrieved from http://www.culturaldetective.com/red.html

Welch, A. & Cai, H. (2011). Internationalisation of China’s higher education system. In Ryan, J. (Ed.) (2011). China's higher education reform and internationalisation. New York, NY: Routledge.

Yang, R. (2011). Chinese ways of thinking in the transformation of China’s higher education system. In Ryan, J. (Ed.) (2011). China's higher education reform and internationalisation. New York, NY: Routledge.

Thank You!

• Lisa Harris: lharris5@stuart.iit.edu

• Sarah Meaney: meaneys@miamioh.edu

• Meagan Hagerty: mhagerty@umn.edu