Narratives of quitting and quests for teaching reform: an affective event perspective on Chinese doctoral students' intentions to drop out

Chinese international students constitute the largest proportion of overseas students in several English-speaking countries such as the UK and New Zealand. Little research has been done concerning those undertaking doctoral study. This qualitative study explores how Chinese overseas doctoral students become involved in church communities and how some of them convert to Christianity in New Zealand. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine Chinese doctoral students from different social backgrounds. Five of these reported varying degrees of interest in and commitment to Christianity. Their narratives revealed that their conversion was a gradual and complex process as a result of the interplay between habitus, agency and contextual factors. These findings from a New Zealand context provide insights into non-academic experience of Chinese international students, particularly their religious experience.

This study examines Chinese international doctoral students’ academic socialization into TESOL discourses and communities. Rooted in the academic discourse socialization theory, complemented by the notions of Lave and Wenger’s community of practice, and Bourdieu’s capital, habitus, and field, this longitudinal multiple-case study suggest the focal participants’ academic discourse socialization is mediated by their participation in communities of practice, different forms of capital, and habitus in exerting agency. The participants are socialized into academic discourses and communities through their interactions with more experienced colleagues. By participating in the communities of practice, the focal students gain different forms of capital and experience different degrees of competence and memberships. However, due to the inequitable power relations in the TESOL doctoral program field, each participant is socialized to varying levels of central, peripheral, and marginal participation. This study concludes by providing suggestions for action to be taken by university advisors, instructors, and administrators.

In this chapter, I report the key findings concerning Chinese international doctoral students’ choice, motivations and decision making in relation to study abroad. This chapter explores how Chinese doctoral students’ decision to study abroad shapes their self-identity. After the introduction section, I present students’ stories to illustrate how they construct and maintain a robust “choice biography” of self-actualisation. Students’ stories demonstrate that their decision to study in the UK is shaped by different motivations. I conclude that participants’ narratives suggest that they are autonomous, self-determined agents whose decisions to study abroad are lifestyle choices, guided by their different goals of self-actualisation and personal development. The students’ active management of their life trajectories disrupts common understandings of Chinese students as a homogeneous group of “passive” learners.

Aim/Purpose: International PhD students suffer a lot of stress. However, many studies about international students focus on identifying the stressors these students experience rather than the stress-coping strategies, and those that explore international students’ coping behaviour often report maladjustments. Background: This study intended to fill the research gap by examining the strategies that Chinese students employed to psychologically adjust to their PhD study. Methodology: Narrative inquiry method was employed to give voice to the research participants. Six Chinese doctoral students in social sciences in Australian universities were purposefully sampled and interviewed three times during their candidature in order to gain an in-depth understanding of their lived experiences of stress-coping. Contribution: This paper provides positive stress-coping strategies used by six Chinese doctoral students, which can be used by international doctoral students or those who work with doctoral students from abroad to improve their psychological well-beings. Findings: These Chinese PhD students adopted positive stress-coping strategies of regulating their emotions and retaining their motivation. They adopted illusory and interpretive forms of secondary control by reframing realities to obtain psychological peace when faced with stress. The ways that Chinese PhD students handled stress suggest that the Chinese moral education and the characteristic motivation for learning attributed them with positive personal characteristics to battle the adverse conditions. Recommendations for Practitioners: Institutions/departments can initiate support groups for PhD students from the same disciplines where students can express their stress, seek assistance from senior doctoral students and exchange their strategies. Institutions/departments can also support international doctoral candidates by taking a more flexible approach to policies and procedures concerning doctoral students taking leave both in terms of when it is taken and the duration. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can focus on international doctoral students’ positive stress-coping experiences as well as negative experiences to present a balanced picture of the doctoral journey. Impact on Society: The findings from this research on doctoral students’ stress-coping can equip doctoral students with strategies to handle their psychological challenges, which in turn may enhance their overseas doctoral experiences, reduce the dropout rates, and raise awareness of supervisors and institutions about doctoral students’ psychological well-beings. Future Research: Future research can examine the stress-coping experiences of other international doctoral students, focusing not only from the individual psychological angle but from the academic and social perspectives.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use narrative inquiry to discover and understand how Chinese students leverage their strengths and multiple identities in socializing to American higher education and their profession. Chinese students engage with American academic culture while embracing their multiple identities. I will explore the cultural strengths they use to socialize and develop their personal, social, cultural, and professional identities in their doctoral educational experience. Background: Chinese international doctoral students encounter a unique socialization experience during their doctoral studies because they lack meaningful cross-cultural support. Likewise, it is problematic that Chinese students are often viewed as a homogeneous group and much prior research has emphasized the traditional deficit perspective in explaining how Chinese students must adjust and assimilate to the university environment. Methodology: This qualitative research uses narrative inquiry to study Chinese international doctoral students’ socialization experiences while retaining their authentic voices. Narrative inquiry allows for a more nuanced understanding of the experiences of Chinese students compared to the perceptions imposed by other stakeholders. The narrative methodology provides diverse ways to understand Chinese student interactions within American culture, place, and context. This study applies the three-dimensional approach to retell participants’ stories. The three-dimensional approach is more holistic and provides a broad lens to learn about the interactions, past, present, and future experiences of individuals through time and space. Contribution: This research shifts the narrative from the deficit view to a strength-based perspective as to how Chinese international doctoral students can rely on their cultural values and multiple identities as strengths to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. Findings: Findings related to the literature in two important ways. First, findings support how the six cultural strengths of Yosso’s community cultural wealth apply to Chinese international doctoral students. Chinese students’ stories align with these strengths and through these strengths, they explore and develop their personal, social, cultural, and professional identity. Second, Chinese students’ stories as a counternarrative challenged and contradicted the essentialist view and misconception that Chinese students are a homogenous group personally, socially, culturally, or academically. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings from this study offer insight for practitioners into what institutions and departments might do to support Chinese international doctoral students in their socialization journey. It is vital to support the whole student through understanding their multiple identities. Recommendation for Researchers: Chinese students and other diverse learners may benefit from peer and faculty mentors in different ways. Therefore, understanding the unique cross-cultural socialization needs and strength-based perspective will help tailor social activities and inclusive learning environments. Impact on Society: The current political, economic, and social relationships between the U.S. and China make it vital for American institutions to consider Chinese international doctoral students’ cross-cultural socialization journey. Future Research: Though it is hoped that this study is transferable, specific issues of how it can be generalized to other Chinese international doctoral students in other areas of the U.S. are beyond the scope of this study. Future research might explore how Chinese International doctoral students’ socialization experiences differ depending on where they study in the U.S.

This article aims to explore the perspectives and experiences of Chinese international doctoral students in social science and humanities disciplines at U.S. institutions. Unlike doctoral students in STEM, these students have diverse and fewer guidance-development pathways. Grounded on self-formation theory and language socialization theory, this study initially focuses on the role of self-agency in their doctoral growth pathway. It also delves into their socialization experiences through interaction with faculty, peers, and programs. Employing semi-structured interviews guided by the constructivist grounded theory methodology, the findings reveal that Chinese doctoral students proactively lead their doctoral studies to reach their goals by seeking resources and interacting with others. Their experiences are significantly influenced by a combination of internal factors, such as their agency and goals, and external factors, such as program settings, resources, and interaction with others. This study offers both research and practical implications for student advisors, faculty members, student affairs professionals, and U.S. institutions. 本文旨在探讨在美国高校攻读社科和人文学科的中国博士生的经历，以及他们对于博士学习和博士项目的感悟。不同与STEM（科学，技术，工程和数学）领域的博士生，攻读社科和人文学科的博士生更加依靠自我探索来找到适合自己的发展路径，他们的发展路径也更具多样化。基于自我形成理论和语言社会化理论，本研究首先聚焦于自我能动性在他们博士成长路径中的作用。除此之外，研究还深入探讨了他们如何通过与教师，同学的互动，以及在博士项目，系所和学校的主动参与，获得社会化经验。通过采用以建构主义扎根理论方法为指导的半结构化访谈，研究结果表明，中国博士生通过积极寻求资源和与他人的互动，主动引导自己的博士学习，以实现个人目标。他们的经历受到内在因素（如能动性和目标）以及外在因素（如项目设置，学校资源和他人互动）的影响。本研究为学生导师，教师，学生事务管理人员 和美国高校提供了研究和实践方面的启示。

There has been a surge in the number of individuals from China undertaking their doctoral studies in Malaysia. However, it is complicated to cultivate international doctoral students in an intercultural environment. Current research has been widely conducted to explore the experiences and qualities of international doctoral learning, but there is little attention paid to the transformation of the intercultural academic identity of the students. This study takes a perspective of acculturation theory to examine how Chinese international doctoral students reconstruct their academic identity in a new environment in Malaysia to complete their research goals. A qualitative semi-structured interview method was adopted to gain an in-depth perception, and 8 Chinese doctoral students in a Malaysian research-intensive university were interviewed. Themes are analyzed by using the software ATLAS.ti 24, and intercultural communication competence (ICC), intercultural supervision, and learning community influence the academic identity construction. Moreover, ICC is the core element, from which other relevant factors can play a more effective role in intercultural academic identity transformation. This research forms a model of how international doctoral students’ academic identity can be functionally constructed. Furthermore, it has implications for international students to improve their overall learning experiences and ultimately complete their PhD successfully.

This study aims to explore the impact of research pressure on depression tendency among Chinese doctoral students and analyze the mediating effect of familial financial support in this relationship. Based on the ecological systems theory, this study employs a mediating effect model and OLS regression model for empirical analysis. Through an online questionnaire, 2815 valid data from Chinese doctoral students were successfully collected. The study finds that research pressure has a significant positive impact on depression tendency among doctoral students (t = 18.347, p < 0.01). Married doctoral students show relatively lower depression tendency, indicating a negative impact of marital status on depression tendency (t = 12.579, p < 0.01). In terms of gender, female doctoral students are more prone to depression compared to their male counterparts (t = -2.921, p < 0.01). Additionally, as the doctoral year progresses, depression tendency also tends to increase (t = 3.690, p < 0.01). Importantly, familial financial support is proven to be a significant mediator between research pressure and depression tendency, explaining 32.116% of the relationship. This study not only provides a multi-dimensional perspective for understanding the mental health issues of doctoral students but also offers a scientific basis for universities and related educational departments to formulate more precise mental health intervention strategies.

International doctoral students are key actors in globalized knowledge society. While the value of international doctorates lies in the ability to develop and leverage knowledge across borders and cultures, such competencies can be acquired only when students successfully integrate into the host systems or universities in their international mobility experiences. However, international doctoral students encounter multiple challenges in integration, highlighting a mismatch between their expectations and the practices at the host universities. This article unpacks this mismatch and its causes from an institutional logics’ perspective through interviews with ten Chinese doctoral students and four Finnish supervisors. We found that Chinese students’ expectations of doctoral education were largely influenced by the institutional logics of profession, bureaucratic state, and family, whereas the contexts of Finnish universities were mainly informed by the logics of profession, democratic state, and corporation. The disparity in logic constellations led to the students’ confusion about their role and relations with supervisors. Further, this study shows that reciprocal learning in intercultural supervision can mitigate logics conflicts and create opportunities for innovations in doctoral education in the host university. We call for more efforts to reconcile the logics conflicts that that affect students’ integration, as this could foster organizational innovation.

This investigation focuses on Chinese doctoral students’ career expectations, and examines how the students’ career expectations changed over time under the influence of doctoral training based on survey data of 1467 doctoral students from 8 Chinese universities. Doctoral students’ evaluations of doctoral training were identified. The examination indicates that more than half of doctoral students expect a non-academic profession, and more than 70% of students did not alter their professional expectations radically over time. Logistic regression model results indicate that doctoral students’ career expectations and their changes over time were influenced by doctoral training in their university environment, students’ relationships with supervisors, and students’ experiences of collaboration with non-academic organizations. Doctoral students are dissatisfied with doctoral training that does not encourage and prepare them for diverse career paths. We conclude that in the present environment, the goal of doctoral training should not only be the reproduction of “academic successors” but also be the cultivation of “versatile experts.”

Aim/Purpose: This narrative inquiry study uses a strength-based approach to study the cross-cultural socialization journey of Chinese international doctoral students at a U.S. Land Grant university. Historically, we thought of socialization as an institutional or group-defined process, but “journey” taps into a rich narrative tradition about individuals, how they relate to others, and the identities that they carry and develop. Background: To date, research has employed a deficit perspective to study how Chinese students must adapt to their new environment. Instead, my original contribution is using narrative inquiry study to explore cross-cultural socialization and mentoring practices that are consonant with the cultural capital that Chinese international doctoral students bring with them. Methodology: This qualitative research uses narrative inquiry to capture and understand the experiences of three Chinese international doctoral students at a Land Grant institute in the U.S. Contribution: This study will be especially important for administrators and faculty striving to create more diverse, supportive, and inclusive academic environments to enhance Chinese international doctoral students’ experiences in the U.S. Moreover, this study fills a gap in existing research by using a strength-based lens to provide valuable practical insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to support the unique cross-cultural socialization of Chinese international doctoral students. Findings: Using multiple conversational interviews, artifacts, and vignettes, the study sought to understand the doctoral experience of Chinese international students’ experience at an American Land Grant University. The findings suggest that Chinese international doctoral students use cultural capital (aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistance) as leverage in this cross-cultural socialization process. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings from this study offer insights for practitioners into what institutions and departments might do to support Chinese international doctoral students in their socialization journey. It is vital to support the whole student through understanding their different forms of capital. Recommendation for Researchers: Future researchers may want to further explore how students experience this process. An important question for future researchers to consider is: do Chinese international doctoral students benefit from multilingual discourse with their peers and from a multi-lingual command of the literature? Also, does the ability to read scholarly publications in both Chinese and English bridge a gap and strengthen professional identity development? Impact on Society: Significant impact on society includes improved opportunities for cross-cultural learning, international partnerships, and support for positive socialization experiences where diverse students may use their cultural capital as strengths and express new ideas. Moreover, there is also an economic benefit for the institutions and communities that rely on international students’ economic contributions. Future Research: Future research may want to explore how students perceive and experience multilingualism as a benefit in their education; for example, does the ability to read scholarly publications in both Chinese and English bridge a gap and strengthen professional identity development?

Linking adverbials in academic writing on applied linguistics by Chinese doctoral students

An investigation of push and pull motivations of Chinese tourism doctoral students studying overseas

To gain an in-depth understanding of the causes of the often implicit misunderstandings between Western supervisors and their Chinese doctoral students, we examined my lived experiences as a Chinese international doctoral student under the supervision of my Australian supervisors. Our data revealed how misunderstandings arose and evolved from mismatched assumptions that are rooted in the home and host cultures. We found that I was able to gain new insight in three key ways: developing self-confidence in driving my own research; re-conceptualising ‘critical thinking’; and re-evaluating my own gendered social construction as an independent researcher. We reconsidered the possible roles of misunderstandings as catalysts for positive development of independent judgment.

The research creativity of doctoral students is not solely fueled by their intrinsic motivation, but also thrives in an environment that offers challenging research opportunities, substantial support, and feedback from significant others. Based on the job demands-resources model, this study aims to explore the impact of challenge research stressors on the research creativity of Chinese doctoral students. A mediated moderation model was constructed to examine the mediating effect of achievement motivation and the moderating effect of supervisor developmental feedback on the relationship between challenge research stressors and research creativity. A total of 538 valid questionnaires were collected from doctoral students using convenience sampling and snowball sampling. The questionnaires included the Challenge Research Stressors Scale, the Research Creativity Scale, the Achievement Motivation Scale, and the Supervisor Developmental Feedback Scale. Regression analyses, bootstrap testing, and simple slope analyses were used to estimate the various relationships. The findings indicated that challenge research stressors had a positive effect on doctoral students' research creativity. Supervisor developmental feedback positively moderated the impact of challenge research stressors on the achievement motivation and research creativity of doctoral students. Achievement motivation partially mediated the influence of challenge research stressors on doctoral students' research creativity, and further fully mediated the interaction effect of challenge research stressors and supervisor developmental feedback on doctoral students' research creativity. These findings contribute not only to our understanding of the mechanisms and boundary conditions through which challenge research stressors impact the research creativity of doctoral students, but also provide valuable insights into how to stimulate and maintain their research creativity.