Navigating Identity: How Chinese International Students Negotiate Self-understanding, Belonging and Social Categorization in the U.S.

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  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 8

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The construction of identity has become an urgent and complex social action in this era marked by cultural collisions and global power shifts. Universities often serve as the starting stage for young individuals entering the process of identity choice, driven by challenges and conflicts. This thesis explores the identity construction processes of Chinese international students in the United States. Specifically, it investigates how Chinese students navigate and negotiate their identities in cross-cultural interactions, their pervasive identity anxiety, and why they choose or emphasize certain racial, national, and global identities. What cultural and identity symbols do they embrace, to which groups do they feel a sense of belonging? Through 20 in-depth interviews with Chinese international college students, this study reveals three key insights. First, Chinese students often struggle to resist imposed racial and national identity definitions. They are constantly reminded of their identities through the experience of being othered, which exacerbates their identity anxiety. Second, the pursuit of certain identities is facing growing skepticism, and the power associated with different identities is shifting within the context of deglobalization, which influences identity choices. Third, the identity anxiety arising in cross-cultural environments shapes international students’ values and behaviors, leading some to unexpectedly adopt certain interpretations and narratives of populist nationalism. These findings demonstrate how global political and cultural transformations shape individual identity choices, and reveal how young transnational individuals navigate competing identities in an era of increasing identity politics.

Author

• Jingyang Meng, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor