Rose Quan

The transition experiences of direct entrants from overseas higher education partners into UK universities

This two-year study was conducted to explore the experience of international direct-entry students making the transition from overseas higher education partners to a UK University. Using mainly qualitative data from forum discussion, focus-group interviews and face-to-face interviews with students and staff, we document how international direct-entry students cope with academic and social anxieties during their transition. The findings reveal that there are some similarities, such as language issues, which are experienced by most international students. However, this study has highlighted a distinguishing factor for direct-entry students which relates to the use of intra-networks to overcome their social anxieties. The exploratory analysis also indicates that international students entering directly into an academic programme at a later study stage face a steep learning curve and require additional support to adapt quickly to a UK educational system.

Examining Chinese postgraduate students’ academic adjustment in the UK higher education sector: a process-based stage model

ABSTRACT The current theories relating to international student transition have largely tended to concentrate on what is to be adapted. This research contributes to the pedagogic literature examining how the transition is made by international postgraduate students. Using data from 20 qualitative in-depth interviews in conjunction with observations of teaching sessions and the researchers’ field notes, we discovered a process-based stage model which identifies a step-by-step approach at a micro-level of academic transition. Our findings extended the prior stage modes to incorporate students’ pre-arrival experience and claim that the pre-departure stage plays a crucial role on Chinese students’ later academic adjustment in the UK. The finding of our four-stage-model helps not only higher education institutions increasing sensitivity to the design of study programmes and induction provision but provides practical implications for recruitment agents that attempt to engage students’ pre-arrival preparations in terms of enhancing their marketing strategy in the long term.

International staff mobility in higher education: To what extent could an intra-European entrepreneurial approach be applied to Sino-CEE initiatives?

International staff mobility is promoted in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and China. Combining theory in strategic entrepreneurship and cultural difference, this study investigates the implementation of staff mobility in a cross-cultural context. A unique, two-phase research methodology was devised: Insider Action Research was used to implement an exchange within the EHEA, followed by in-depth interviews with Chinese academics. Results showed entrepreneurial individuals and entrepreneurial intensity determine the strategy used to implement an exchange. Evidence of paradoxical behaviour in China and significant cultural differences within the EHEA is presented as a starting point for Sino-CEE mobility strategy development.

Educational mobility in transition: what can China and the UK learn from each other?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in international student mobility (SM) in two contrasting countries: UK and China, at national, institutional and individual levels. Both are countries in transition in a greater global context. The objective is to identify what these countries can learn from each other about the issues and policies surrounding the management of educational mobility. Design/methodology/approach An inductive approach was employed to understand real-life experience via multiple case studies. Participant observation and semi-structured interview methods with a variety of stakeholders were used to collect data which were then subjected to a thematic analysis to identify in which areas countries had developed good practice. Findings Over-arching themes were developed through comparing national findings. These reveal that national policy and family support are most influential in China, while British universities largely drive SM at an institutional level. Social implications The significance of this knowledge lies in the potential for social impact and reform of successful mobility schemes. International mobility equates to social mobility through global employability of those who engage. Global citizenship is regarded as one of the paths to world peace and understanding. Mobilising a younger generation can contribute to better regional integration and international stability as part of an idealistic approach to geopolitics. Originality/value Concluding that neither country has a comprehensive and complete approach, this study proposes the areas in which all both could develop and details good practice. The value therefore emerges from the comparison and contrast and the practical focus of the research.