Internationalizing the undergraduate student experience : a case study of a provincial university in China

Abstract

In this study, the researcher addressed the problem in the process of internationalizing the undergraduate student experience in a provincial university in China. The main question, emerging from this problem, which I address is what effect internationalization has on the student experience of domestic undergraduate students in an under-resourced provincial university. The central thesis in addressing this question is the differentiation of internationalization at national level and institutional level has direct impacts on internationalizing the student experience. My aims and purpose in this study thus go to comprehend the impacts of internationalization on the student experience in various aspects. The research context of this study is in the domain of the internationalization of higher education (HE) and the student experience literature. Based on the literature review, I derive the premise that there is a differentiation in internationalizing the student experience between the best universities and regional universities in China, assuming that the regional universities have developed distinctive strategies and approaches toward internationalization in response to resource asymmetry, which directly influence the student experience. The method I use to achieve these aims is to conduct a case study through employing a student survey. My results suggest that the internationalization of faculty and student body, curricular learning and research, extracurricular programs and activities, and student support system still stays at a low level, and the satisfaction level on the internationalized student experience exhibits internal differentiation, and from these I conclude that the undergraduate student experience has been internationalized to some extent and differs across disciplines. The outcomes of this study embody the effects of internationalization on the student experience in a provincial university.

This study extends the inquiries from the internationalization of HE to internationalizing the undergraduate student experience. It faces the practical demands of internationalization, and contributes to the literature on the student experience and the internationalization of HE in China. In the end, the results and findings illuminate a number of implications for the university and other universities in China sharing the situations to rethink and reorder their practices to better internationalize the student experience in three different levels.