Reflexive Agency in Chinese International Students’ Transitions from High Schools to Universities in Anglophone settings

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Study Abroad/International/Global

Abstract

This study examines how international students from Chinese high schools navigate transitions to universities in the UK, US, and Canada, focusing on reflexive agency and self-formation (Marginson, 2024). Adopting a longitudinal, qualitative, multi-case, and multi-perspective design, the research involves 24 participants—8 students, 8 parents, and 8 teachers—and presents students’ first-year transitions through bi-termly interviews and monthly journals. Findings reveal how students engage in reflective practices, selectively draw on cultural repertoires, and cultivate new forms of participation. They exercised reflexive agency in negotiating language barriers, family expectations, and institutional constraints. These processes are shaped by institutional structures, prior diversity exposure, social networks, and identity. The study reconceptualises transition as an iterative, relational process, calling for collaborative school–university support.

Author

• Yu Hao, University of Oxford