User:Happyweekdays/Chinese students in the United States

Chinese international students in the United States are students who have traveled from China in order to take part in an education program in the United States. After India, Chinese students make up the second largest international student community in the United States. According to a report published by the Institute of International Education, colleges and universities in the United States experienced an 11% growth in overall undergraduate student enrollments during 2016, which was largely driven by 60% increase of students from China.

As international students in the United States, Chinese students are more likely to approach education with a worldview and many may have come to the United States in order to break from the Chinese system of learning. Business and management related majors are popular fields of study, with 26.5% of Chinese students reporting that they chose this field because they can more easily find employment upon return to China. Other factors that influenced their choice to study in the United States includes the desire to improve their language ability, to better understand and integrate into Western culture, and to receive a high-quality education. The trend of students seeking to study abroad has been linked to the bleak job market in China and the force of globalization across the world, as Chinese students believe that American credentials can expand their career opportunities. These students expect that a degree from a prestigious college in the United States will give them an edge over others in searching for a job.

Historical Context

Between 1872 and 1875 a group of 120 Chinese students studied in the United States with the permission of the Chinese government, marking the first time the government had done this. Approximately thirty years later the United States would see a dramatic increase of Chinese students seeking education opportunities after the end of the first Sino-Japanese war and the failure of the Boxer Rebellion in 1899. (Wang 1965) By 1951 about 36,000 Chinese students had studied in the US.(Dow 1975) In the late 1970s the government of the People’s Republic of China began to aggressively promote modernization through international scholarly and technological exchanges, which directly increased the US–China educational exchange.(Lampton et al. 1986) After the two countries agreed to exchange students and scholars in 1978, the number of students coming to the US soared. The number of mainland Chinese students in the US increased from nearly zero at the beginning of 1978 to a total of approximately 20,030 in 1988. This figure doubled by 1993 and tripled by 2003 (Institute of International Education 1981–2006), making mainland Chinese students one of the largest groups of international students in the United States. (Orleans 1988; Wan 2001).

Between the years of 1978 and 2008, 1.39 million students and scholars chose to study abroad, with the majority choosing to stay abroad and adjusting their immigrant status. However China has seen an increasing number of students choosing to return to China, prompted by the country's economic reform and steady rise on the world stage. Economic recessions in the United States, difficulties receiving an H-1B visa, and potential issues with immigration policies have caused many Chinese students to show more interest in returning to China. Additional encouragement to return to China are favorable policies issued by the Ministry of Education of China, which allow for returning Chinese students to receive citizenship in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, depending on the level of their degree. This holds an appeal for students, as citizenship in Beijing is considered to be one of the hardest to obtain in China. Furthermore, returned Chinese students are also able to apply for funds and financial aids.

Government Policy

Chinese students are required to obtain a visa prior to entering the United States. According to the U.S. Department of State, the most common visa types issued to Chinese students include F1, M1, J1 :

• F1 Visa : "F" visas are issued to students who are enrolled in either an academic program or English language program and are the most commonly obtained visas in the United States. Under this visa students can obtain part-time jobs on-campus and can also work on optional practical training (OPT) for up to one year after completion of their academic program.
• J1 Visa : J1 visas are granted in cases where students are traveling to the United States to receive necessary practical training that cannot be performed or is not available in their home country.
• M1 Visa: M1 visas are issued to students who are going to attend a non-academic or vocational school.

H-1B visas

H-1B visas are granted to foreign workers in specialty occupations and must be sponsored by an employer in the United States. These visas can be difficult to obtain, which can lead to Chinese students opting to return home after graduation rather than remain in the United States. In April 2017 President Donald Trump signed the “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, stating that the H-1B program should be limited to "only the most skilled and highest-paid applicants", leading to a decrease in the amount of H-1B visas granted to foreign workers. The number of Chinese workers gaining access to H-1B visas dropped between the years of 2011 and 2012 and many skilled foreign workers are returning to their countries of origin rather than remain in the United States, where it can be difficult to rise above the middle-class.

Challenges and Coping Strategies

Research suggests that cultural shock resulting from the desire to start a new life can cause people both mental and physical challenges. As a result, Chinese students suffering from culture shock have no choice but to seek out appropriate solutions to adjust themselves to the new environment. In a 2002 article for College Student Journal, researchers Wen-Chih Tseng and Fred Newton identified four challenges international students commonly face:

1. General living adjustment, such as becoming accustomed to life in America and its food, housing, environment, and transportation
2. Academic adjustment marked by an adjustment to the American university system and the skills needed for success
3. Socio-cultural adjustment, such as cultural norms and behaviors
4. Personal psychological adjustment, such as homesickness, loneliness, or feelings of isolation and lost identity

In this way, successful adjustment to the United States is essential for international students to achieve their educational goals and to nurture a healthy multicultural environment in higher education.

Further studies have shown that having a strong motivation to successfully return home with an advanced degree served as a coping strategy for international students in dealing with academic and adjustment stresses. Spirituality, strong support networks, studying more, and discussing academic hardships with instructors have also been identified as active coping strategies carried out by international students. Furthermore, students were also able to foster a sense of belonging and acceptance as well as stronger social interactions with their host cultures by participating in volunteer activities.