Browsing by Author "Yu, Eustacia Quan"

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    The Impact of Expectations on Chinese Students’ Transition to a Canadian University
    (2020-07-07) Yu, Eustacia Quan; Groen, Janet Elizabeth; Boz, Umit; Roy, Sylvie; Sewell, Douglas; Shore, Sue
    The purpose of this study is to research the impact of expectations held by Chinese students themselves and by third persons, such as their parents, instructors, and peers, on Chinese students’ holistic experiences during their transition into a Canadian university. This important transitional period provides participants with opportunities for more diverse experiences as they navigate the three-fold transition: moving from China to a linguistically and culturally different country like Canada, going through a major life change from high school to university, and from adolescence to adulthood, a dynamic period of both physical and psychological development. This study used narrative inquiry as the research methodology to highlight students’ own invoices through the exploration of two sides of the expectations and how these expectations in turn shape their holistic experiences in a Canadian university. The research utilized the theories of transition and intercultural adaptation as frameworks to examine how all the internal and external factors in both their home and host countries contribute to Chinese students’ transition. Key findings from this study revealed that, shaped by their own expectations and those held by third persons, these Chinese students encountered both challenges and opportunities for development in their transition to the Canadian university. Much as they share commonalities, these students are not a monolithic group; rather they each have their unique personality, expectations, and aspirations. Remaining open to new ideas, lifestyles, and ideologies while maintaining inherited values of effort and self-determination, these participants have taken up transcultural identities that offer them the affordance to explore and function comfortably in different worlds. This study also sheds light on how the entire higher education practice can work together to make joint efforts for international students’ success by involving them both socially and academically instead of viewing them through a deficit lens.