The “Invisible Majority”?: Sampling the Chinese International Students’ Experiences

With the internationalization of Higher Education in Canada, universities have been striving to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for international students. However, sometimes their efforts fall short due to a lack of deep understanding of the international student body. This talk focuses on one particular international student group – students from mainland China – and aims to uncover some of the crucial reasons behind the widely reported self-segregation of Chinese students (Cheng & Erben, 2011). It sets to understand why many students from mainland China feel turned off by cross-national communications with students from the host nation (Dewan, 2008). Various frameworks will be used to understand the phenomenon, including host nation hospitality, social identity theory, and the impact of colonial mentality and Chinese nationalism. The goal of the talk is to shed light on strategies educators may employ to help mitigate the self-segregation pattern among Chinese international students and encourage more inclusive learning environments and communities.

☛ please register here

Vicki Zhang
University of Toronto
Statistical Sciences

Thu, Nov 21, 2019
04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto
200 Larkin