Exploring Chinese Doctoral International Students' Employability Challenges and Coping Strategies

• In Event: International Students and Employability

Proposal

Abstract
The United States steadily attracted a large amount of international students, pre and post-COVID-19. Significant research on their acculturation experience; however, the employability journey of this group has not been studied well. This study aims to fill this gap by revealing students’ experiences and perceptions of their employability development within the PhD programs and highlighting the areas for enhancing international doctoral student employability. Drawing on a qualitative study with Chinese doctoral students studying in various social science and humanities disciplines at different universities in the United States, the study demonstrated that three main challenges included a lack of hands-on working opportunities, difficulties with publication practices, and the impact of family responsibilities. The coping strategies utilized by students were categorized into two main types: those that were self-initiated and those facilitated by a supportive institutional environment. The findings indicated the importance of universities, departments, and programs in supporting Chinese doctoral students in social science and humanities disciplines' employability experiences and graduate outcomes. These findings contained recommendations for facilitating the employability of Chinese doctoral students in the United States, which might also apply to international doctoral students in general.

Introduction
Employability refers to a collection of skills and qualities that are essential for any graduate to enter the job market, secure and maintain employment, and advance their careers (Trans, 2016). However, current research on international doctoral students mainly concentrates on their initial transition and adjustment to challenges when starting their doctoral programs, as well as their global employability at the graduate level. There is a lack of studies that examine their overall experiences when pursuing their career development throughout their doctoral studies (Zhang, 2023). Additionally, a meaningful, supportive and secure learning environment also plays a key role in helping students achieve academic success while enhancing their employability (Singh et al., 2023).
Methods

A constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) approach was used. Eight Chinese doctoral international students from different institutions in the United States participated in this study. The recruitment request was distributed through social networking media channels such as WeChat. The primary data collection method consisted of two rounds of semi-structured interviews with each participant. Additionally, a one-question survey, “What are the most important things that happened during your program?” was used as complementary data to support interviews. This study is part of a large research study.

Participants
All participants were either in the process of working on their dissertation or had graduated within a year of participating in this study. They were from different higher institutions across the United States and represented various majors within social science and humanities. All participants were female Chinese doctoral students, reflecting the voluntary nature of participation in this study.

Results
The findings of this study revealed some key challenges that Chinese doctoral international students encountered in enhancing their employability, as well as coping strategies they used to address these challenges. Three main challenges included a lack of hands-on working opportunities, difficulties with publication practices, and the impact of family responsibilities. The coping strategies utilized by students were categorized into two main types: those that were self-initiated and those facilitated by a supportive institutional environment.
In the self-initiated category, students consciously sought out different types of job opportunities to improve specific employability. For instance, some students took on research assistant roles to gain experience in data analysis, while others opted for teaching positions to build their instructional skills. Additionally, some students engaged in voluntary roles to expand their administrative mentoring and leadership capabilities. Due to the limited opportunities available on campus, students also turned their attention to external resources, such as internships and fellowships opportunties at conferences and job postings on social media. To address the challenges related to publication, some students intentionally transferred their class papers into presentable and publishable manuscripts, either for conference presentations or journal publications. Besides, students also proactively sought co-author opportunities by reaching out to professors within their programs.
Rather than relying solely on self-exploration, some students noted that their program and department provided a supportive institutional environment to enhance their practical working experiences, research skills, and publication practices. For example, some students mentioned their program offered research labs, where they have bi-weekly meetings allowing students to collaborate on various projects, internal practice for conference presentations and job talks, and provide feedback from faculty members. This collaborative environment enabled students to develop their presentation, research project design, and writing skills in a comfortable and supportive environment.
The impact of family responsibilities had positive and negative effects on the employability of students. On one hand, international students seeking employment in the United States must take legal considerations into account, particularly regarding work authorization. In some cases, the partners of those doctoral students have addressed these legal issues, alleviating the need for students to negotiate sponsorship with employers. However, on the other hand, participants who were married and had children indicated that their parental responsibilities limited the time and energy they could devote to their doctoral studies and job search. Additionally, they had to factor in their family needs, including their spouse’s job location, when determining potential employment locations.

Implications
This study examined the employability challenges faced by Chinese doctoral students in social science and humanities disciplines and the potential coping strategies from both student and institutional dimensions. When encountering the unchangeable reality that there were limited hands-on working opportunities in the institutions, difficulties of publication practices, and family responsibilities, participants exercised their agency by diversifying their work experience, taking on voluntary roles, and seeking for external resources. In addition, institutions also took significant responsibility by fostering collaboration among students and between students and professors, providing spaces, or initiating regular activities to support their collaborations. This exploration contributes to the literature by providing practical applications to higher education institutions that engage with international doctoral students in the United States. The findings may have broad implications, not only for understanding the employability and realistic situation of Chinese international doctoral students but also for supporting international doctoral students across social sciences and humanities disciplines.

Author

• Xiaoyuan Chen, University of Dayton