Bright futures: A comparative study of internal and international mobility of chinese higher education students
Final Report Abstract
Overall, the relevance of the project pertains to the sociology of higher education, network methodology and migration sociology and, not least, to their intersections. The special contribution of the Bielefeld team to the overall project lies in the combination of ego-network data and the network characteristics of students, which enables the analysis of previously untreated topics. This feature opens up a new perspective not only on the decision-making of the students but also the course and success of their studies. The experiences and resources of the family have a special meaning for the students. This aspect becomes even clearer from the additional interviews with the parents. From an international perspective, Bright Futures is a good example of multi-group collaboration across national borders, although this circumstance also brought some problems. Differences in the respective higher education systems and concomitant student experiences made uniform questions difficult. Moreover, the translations into different languages produced slight differences (in meaning) in some of the questions asked. Not only did the datasets of the two sampling groups (Chinese and Native) have to be merged, but also the German, English, and Chinese data. Each of these additional steps produced potential sources of error. Nevertheless, the effort has been worthwhile. The qualitative interviews and the merged datasets allow farreaching comparisons of the life courses and expectations of native and international students in the three countries. Last but not least, comparisons between Chinese students who remained in China and international Chinese students are now possible. The data also allow cross-links between these aspects, migration decisions and conditions significant in selectivity. The cooperation with the International Offices of German universities also add importance to the data collected. The universities who participated in our study can gain deeper insights into the problems of international students and thus improve their services. The responses of the students also illustrate the influence of the role of agents and different institutions in the decision-making and experience of international students.
