#YouAreWelcomeHere? The Two Faces of American Higher Education Toward Chinese International Students

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: International Student Experiences: COVID, Race, and Sense of Belonging (Table 32)

Abstract

Drive by neoliberal ideology and social imaginary, study-abroad experiences and a Western university degree are generally considered the optimal way of becoming competitive talent. However, U.S. higher education institutions, in reality, are monolingualizing and homogenizing nearly all the aspects. Drawing from my seven-year critical ethnography of a top-ranked research university, the study reveals the sharp discrepancies are manifested in three kinds of institutional orientation: one-way cultural socialization that privileges white, middle-class norms, deficit and culturalist ideologies about Chinese students, and institutional indifference toward safety and well-being of Chinese students. The study shows the seemingly contrasting discourses that frame Chinese students, as both desirable and disposable, are not self-contradictory but work jointly to sustain neoliberal market economy and white nationalism.

Author

• Jing Yu, University of Wisconsin - Madison