Sociocultural Adaptation and Program Management Strategies for International Doctoral Students of the “Confucius China Studies Program”

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the sociocultural adaptation status for international doctoral students of the “Confucius China Studies Program” (CCSP), as well as obtain suggestions from those students to the management of the program. This qualitative study applied an instrumental case study at a research site university in Beijing. Through distributing questionnaires to international students who participated in the program, as well as conducting one-to-one interviews with seven international students and two program management teachers, this study found that the sociocultural adaptation status of the international students of CCSP was generally high. The sociocultural adaptation status for doctoral students of the CCSP was analyzed from five aspects including interpersonal communication, academic performance, personal interest and social participation, environmental adaptation, and language proficiency. The interviewed international students proposed three suggestions to the management of the CCSP, including holding exchange and sharing activities for international doctoral students of the CCSP, compiling CCSP manual for international students of the program, and the establishment of a student writing center. This study also provides implications to administrators of the CCSP, international doctoral students, and policy-makers of this issue.