Distinguishing Oneself: First-Year International Students’ Pre-College Motivations and Expectations in a Sino-Foreign Joint-Venture University in China

Abstract

China has shown increased engagement in International Higher Education (IHE), an interest motivated by a tremendous demand among both Chinese and international students. Conducted at a full-scale Sino-foreign joint-venture university (JVU) in China, this study seeks to explore the motivation of first-year international students for applying to and attending Sino-foreign JVU in China. A second related question investigates what they expect to experience prior to matriculation. Qualitative data collection and analyses suggest that international students at a Sino-foreign joint-venture university were motivated by a strong desire to distinguish themselves for integrative, international signaling, and instrumental purposes, and expect to change as a result of studying and living in an intercultural environment in China.

Keywords:

• Anti-ought-to self
• future selves
• international education motivation
• internationalization of higher education
• international students
• joint-venture university

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted through the Third Space Lab at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) and was supported by the DKU Humanities Research Center (HRC). We are grateful to the HRC for their generous support. We also thank Aya Lahlou, Chunyuan Sheng, and Hong Pham for their invaluable assistance with data collection.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emmanuelle S. Chiocca

Emmanuelle S. Chiocca is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and International Education and Assistant Director for Additional Languages in the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University, Suzhou, China.

Xin Zhang

Xin Zhang is Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Intercultural Communication and Assistant Director for Chinese as a Second Language in the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University, Suzhou, China.