Fostering Positive Cross-Cultural Student Experiences in Transnational Education

Hannah Wilkinson, Madeline Hermawan & Jessica MurrayThe University of Western Australia, Business School Student Services &

Experience

Abstract

Recent years have seen a global precedence of ‘student experience’ as being the heart of Higher Education. Simultaneously, there has been an exponential rise in numbers of international, particularly Asian, students at Western tertiary institutions. These trends converge in an influx of literature identifying the challenges faced by Asian international students transitioning into Western universities and their associated student experiences. However, proposed solutions tend to focus on educating Asian students about Western teaching and learning, but rarely address the potential development of existing domestic students, particularly the degree to which they may contribute towards social and academic integration. In response, this paper propounds a dialogic, collaborative process where an Australian University’s domestic students and staff attempt to attain an authentic understanding of the Chinese student experience and focuses on the benefits of cross-cultural understanding at all levels of the student lifecycle – together with, and for, their transnational peers.

Background

There has been a recent worldwide surge of interest in ‘student experience’ in Higher Education (HE), which could explained as “the totality of a student’s interaction with the institution” (Staddon and Standish 2012; Temple et al. 2014). Despite uncertainty surrounding the term’s definition, its growing prominence reflects a growing tendency to posit students as the heart of the education system, to emphasise students’ own perceptions and experiences of their learning.1 Alf Lizzio and Keithia Wilson underscore what is both a reason for and benefit of this emphasis: “If we want to understand and evaluate our learning environments we need to authentically understand how students experience them” (2013). This begs the question: how do we truly design curricula and extra-curricular student experiences that meet the actual needs of all students, rather than just the perceived and often inauthentic views of staff on what students need and want? Our emerging initiative aims to explore this idea, focusing on the vital role of domestic students towards social and academic integration for Chinese transnational students.

Context

Internationalisation has become a high priority for Australian institutions, not least for its financial imperative, but to compete in an expanding global higher education market, facilitating business education with an Asian/global focus (in alignment with Julia Gillard’s

1 This is reflected in policies of Australian universities (e.g. Core Principle 1 of James Cook University’s Learning, Teaching and Assessment Policy is “Students are at the heart of our University”). Likewise, Melbourne University recognises students as central to university life (Nine Principles Guiding T&L).

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Australia in the Asian Century White Paper in 2012), creating research and professional networks with reputable institutions abroad, and ultimately to propel the national and international reputation of institutions and the success, achievement, and graduate employment prospects of their students.

As such, there has been an exponential rise in numbers of Asian international students studying at Western institutions (Guo 2010), resulting in an influx of literature concerning the challenges faced by Asian students transitioning to Western universities (Andrade 2007; Hodkinson and Poropat 2014; Holmes 2004; Ramburuth and McCormick 2001; Wu 2015). As a specific subset of this, there is also a current focus in the literature on difficulties confronted by Chinese international students at Australian universities (Henderson and Whitelaw 2013; Ramburuth and McCormick 2001; Wang et al. 2011). These trends bring along key challenges to universities and complicate proactive management and facilitation of positive student engagement. Critical issues include discrepancies between Asian and Western teaching and learning (T&L) styles, communication and English language barriers, disparate student expectations towards HE, administrative processes and infrastructures to properly support changing and diverse student demographics, and preparing graduates for an increasingly competitive global job market.

Conventionally, ‘the Chinese learner’ and ‘the Western learner’ are presented as binaries: the rote learner versus the interactive learner, the silent learner versus the participatory learner (Hodkinson and Poropat 2014). While certain authors emphasise the need to look beyond reductive stereotypes (Wu 2015), there is nevertheless an apparent tendency to assume the superiority of Western T&L. Indeed, solutions the literature proposes to support integration include preparing Chinese students in advance of their studies at their host institution (Andrade 2007; Henderson and Whitelaw 2013; Wang et al. 2011); improving Chinese students’ communication skills (Andrade 2007; Henderson and Whitelaw 2013; Holmes 2004; Martins 2015); and educating Chinese students about diverse teaching practices, such as Western concepts of academic integrity (Henderson and Whitelaw 2013; Holmes 2004; Martins 2015).

These solutions overwhelmingly focus on teaching Chinese students to adapt to Western T&L. This is problematic for a number of reasons, not least because it glosses over the roles and responsibilities that domestic students and staff can play in engaging with more inclusive T&L processes. It ignores their agency and potential to actively educate themselves and collaboratively engage with transnational students to facilitate smooth transition and integration. To highlight the domestic student experience may appear in its own right to reinforce notions of Western supremacy. The more we discover and analyse our own perspective, and those specific to Australian HE, the better we can self-reflect, identify possible barriers and design appropriately for incoming students. We can also leverage off negative experiences – to be transparent, vocal, and proactive in our commitment to cross-cultural understanding. As Phiona Stanley argues, Western institutions must learn about Chinese education practices to understand fully the needs and desires of Chinese international learners (2013). This learning can in turn increases domestic students’ cross-cultural competency and improve Chinese students’ experiences at their host universities.

Finally, it is worth noting that friendships and social factors are noted as helping to ease international students’ transition to and integration at their host universities (Menzies and Baron 2014). In short, overcoming cross-cultural barriers must be a two-way, dialogic process: an unbiased attempt by both sides to understand and adapt to the other’s culture.

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International Articulation Agreements at UWABS

The University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Business School (UWABS) has recently developed numerous partnerships with Chinese universities, the majority of which are “2+2” articulation models at the undergraduate level. This entails that Chinese students will study their first two years at their home institution, for which they are granted one year’s credit at UWA, and subsequently articulate into the Bachelor of Commerce for their final two years. Students receive both undergraduate degrees, thus graduating with a significant competitive advantage over their peers both domestically and internationally. However, with such a rapid and exponential influx of international students (primarily Chinese) comes a great deal of challenges for all processes and services at the university.

Collaborative Articulation Partnerships (CAPs) between universities grant credentials from both participating institutions, premised upon a bilateral recognition of learning that can give both employment and employability advantages in the student’s home nation or internationally (Calway and Kwansah-Aidoo 2011).  However, the implementation of such programs raises challenges in ensuring that students transitioning across cultures are adequately prepared for study in foreign institutions at all stages of the student lifecycle – from pre-articulation, orientation, transition, through to matriculation and beyond into graduate employment, which may also entail returning to their home country.

UWABS has pre-emptively begun a number of initiatives to facilitate the positive transition and orientation of articulating students with an immediate priority on the pre-articulation period. We will experience the start of a significant influx of Chinese students as of mid-year 2016, markedly changing the demographic and dynamic of the student cohort in the long-term, particularly as the commencing students articulate into the second year (and second semester) of the Bachelor of Commerce.

Throughout varied education and engagement strategies underway (including learning technologies, English language development, student support services, orientation planning, transition workshops, and so forth), the UWABS Student Experience team held consultation sessions with multiple stakeholders, including a small cohort of ‘pre-agreement’ articulating students from one of our Chinese partner institutions, as well as domestic students, ‘traditional’ international students, professional and academic staff, Chinese institutions, and the Education agents through which we operate. For all groups, it was evident that social integration between domestic and international students is a salient motivation, priority, and objective of articulation programs. Failure to facilitate this could result in two distinct, segregated cohorts, and in turn compromise the entire student experience, and our high stake agreements.

The Project

In December 2015, UWABS was successful in a bid to the UWA Futures Fund – a platform within the UWA Centre of Education Futures (CEF) premised upon innovative technology and T&L practices to further student learning and opportunities within the global community. The Futures Fund will support a Student Experience Immersion Tour to China, with the aim of collecting domestic and international perspectives on cross-cultural student experiences. After a number of pre-departure sessions on Chinese language and culture, leadership and mentorship, a small group of current undergraduate UWABS students accompanied by

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Student Experience staff will visit a partner Chinese institution in April 2016 for one week. The students will be exposed to the vastly different culture, language, and T&L styles of China, share knowledge and begin friendships with their future articulating peers, and form important networks for their future careers. The tour will include immersive university experiences (as authentic as possible, with the understanding that we will be catered to as guests) and industry visits with a focus on Asian business etiquette and relations. We will award credit and formally acknowledge the program on the students’ academic transcripts, giving them a competitive edge for their future careers.

Although the tour is the highlight of the project, the most important and valuable component lies in the reflection, feedback, and dissemination of outcomes on return from China to the wider student cohort and staff over the course of the year. Students will submit reflective journals and a final research project on transnational education and cross-cultural integration. In conjunction with feedback, UWABS will hold a seminar/expo to disseminate our findings to the wider university community, thus informing the broader internationalisation and engagement strategies for UWABS and UWA. Developing domestic student mentors will support transition and orientation for articulating students (they will be required to engage with Semester 2 Orientation and mentorship beyond), and are notable leaders and examples for their peers. We recognise that there will be unexpected, enriching experiences for both students and staff on which we can leverage to create long-term success.

Project Aims

Ease the transition of Chinese students into their studies at UWA through the development of student mentors which in turn should result in higher engagement and participation than what would otherwise be achieved;

Promote an understanding of how best to support articulating students at all levels of the student lifecycle (particularly pre-articulation, orientation, and transition);

Facilitate cross-cultural competencies for domestic and international students, celebrating diversity and improving overall student experience at UWABS for the long-term; and

Create international business links and networks for students.

Risks and Constraints

As a new initiative, UWABS faces a number of risks and constraints. Given the travel component, we are financially restricted to take only a small group of students for a relatively short period (one week). In turn, this restricts the number of student mentors for articulating students, reduces our scope for feedback collation (small sample for analysis), and reduces the amount of student leaders for dissemination purposes. Time constraints and the hospitality of Chinese institutions may result in some inauthentic T&L experiences. In addition, we may be constrained by working via education agents, particularly in terms of gaining access and collating honest feedback from Chinese students to inform our study and fostering friendships between cohorts. Depending on the success of the project, we hope to achieve sustainability in future through avenues such as Faculty and/or University investment and external sponsorship.

Questions

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How can the efficacy of this study be measured against other aspects of the broader student experience, particularly those we cannot control (i.e. academic delivery, administrative processes, IT, etc.)?

Is in-context learning always more effective than methods of dissemination? If so, why, and how can we improve towards better methods of dissemination?

As the China Immersion trip takes place in April 2016, what did the project team learn since submitting this paper?

References

Andrade, M. (2007.) International student persistence: Integration or cultural integrity?. J. College Student Retention, 8(1), 57-81.

Calway, B. A., & Kwansah-Aidoo, K. (2011). Collaborative articulation programs: giving graduates a global advantage. Paper presented at the Bridging Cultures, Promoting Diversity: Higher Education in Search of an Equilibrium, Warsaw, Poland.  

Guo, F. (2010). Demographic Structure and International Student Mobility: An Investigation of Chinese Students in Australia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 19(1), 143-156.

Henderson, F., & Whitelaw, P. A. (2013). Intercultural awareness and the global economy: Chinese students and academic literacy - a lesson larger than just paraphrasing. Development and Learning in Organizations, 27(5), 7-10.

Hodkinson, C. S., & Poropat, A. E. (2014). Chinese students' participation: the effect of cultural factors. Education + Training, 56(5), 430-446.

Holmes, P. (2004). Negotiating differences in learning and intercultural communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 67(3), 294-307.

James Cook University. (2015). Learning, Teaching and Assessment Policy: Cairns, Queensland: Author.

Martins, A. C. Z. A. B. (2015). Moving Between Academic Systems: Chinese Students and the Educational Challenges Within Western Universities. (Master of Education), Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.   

Menzies, J. L., & Baron, R. (2014). International postgraduate student transition experiences: the importance of student societies and friends. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(1), 84-94.

Ramburuth, P., & McCormick, J. (2001). Learning diversity in higher education: A comparative study of Asian international and Australian students. Higher Education, 42, 333-350.

Staddon, E., & Standish, P. (2012). Improving the Student Experience. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 46(4), 631-648.   

Stanley, P. (2013). Lessons from China: Understanding what Chinese students want. English Australia Journal, 28(2), 38-52.

Temple, P., Callender, C., Grove, L., & Kersh, N. (2014). Managing the student experience in a shifting higher education landscape. Higher Education Academy.

University of Melbourne. (2007). Nine Principles Guiding Teaching and Learning: Melbourne, Victoria: Author.

Wang, Q., et al. (2011). Chinese students' satisfaction of the study abroad experience. International Journal of Education Management, 25(3), 265-277.

Wu, Q. (2015). Re-examining the "Chinese learner": a case study of mainland Chinese students' learning experiences at British Universities. Higher Education, 70, 753-766.

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