Understanding Chinese International Students' Perceptions of Racist Sentiments: Toward a Measurement Scale

• In Event: Social Justice in an International Context

Abstract

Notwithstanding the rise of racist sentiments targeted at Chinese international students in the U.S, little is known about how the racist sentiments are perceived through the eyes of the students themselves. As part of a larger research project focused on the racialization of the Chinese international students in the U.S., we present in this study a rigorous approach to constructing a measurement scale that taps into the students’ perceptions of the racist sentiments. Drawing on Wilson’s (2005) framework of constructing measures (an Item Response Theory (IRT)-based approach), we illustrate and discuss the key procedures involved in the development and validation of the scale, in addition to their implications for investigating the racialization of international student mobility at a broader level.

Authors

• Peng Yin, University of California - Berkeley

• Feng Ji, University of California - Berkeley

• Alexander Blum, Tru Optik