2023: Chinese Students and the Experience of International Doctoral Study in STEM

Chinese Students and the Experience of International Doctoral Study in STEM: Using a Multi-World Model to Understand Challenges and Success
By Yibo Yang, Judith MacCallum
Copyright 2023

This volume examines the diversified and challenging experiences of Chinese international STEM doctoral students at Australian institutes of higher education, exploring how intersections between research, personal life, and social experiences can be negotiated to achieve academic success and personal transformation.

By drawing on a range of qualitative and longitudinal research methods, the book foregrounds student narratives and utilizes a novel three-dimensional multi-world framework as an effective approach for understanding student experiences in a holistic way. It integrates Chinese philosophical perspectives and theories in the fields of educational psychology, international education, and doctoral education to interpret the nuances, complexity, and particularities of the cross-cultural STEM PhD experience, highlighting the importance of the supervisor–mentee relationship and the role of students’ cultural, social, and philosophical values in supporting their successful completion of the PhD degree. The analysis thus provides new insights into the ways in which these experiences vary across students, and might apply in other national contexts, and to non-STEM student cohorts.

Introduction Part 1: The empirical and theoretical landscape 1. The Chinese students and their philosophical values 2. Doing a STEM PhD abroad 3. The conceptual framework & the project Part 2: Congruence/difference and transitions across worlds 4. Congruence matters: Congruent worlds & Smooth transitions 5. Reciprocal respect matters: Different worlds & Smooth transitions 6. Agency matters: Congruent worlds & Border crossings managed 7. Putting conflicts under control: Different worlds & Border crossings managed 8. When it’s really difficult: Different worlds & Border crossings difficult or resisted Part 3: Enhancing cross-cultural PhD education: For a shared future 9. Agentic communication to co-construct success into the future 10. From understanding to a shared future Coda