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Comfortably “Western”: How Chinese International Students Imagine Canada.

How do students from Mainland China select Canada for their education? Beyond the customary push-and-pull explanations, we introduce a framework of comparative imaginaries that describes how students’ rational strategies are imbued with the imaginaries of their host societies and migration aspiratio...

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Published in:Canadian Ethnic Studies Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 157 - 177
Main Authors: LAKE LUI, MANLIN CAI, YUE QIAN
Format: Article
Published: Canadian Ethnic Studies 2024
Subjects:
Foreign students
Emigration & immigration
Citizenship
Education
Immigrant students
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Comfortably “Western”: How Chinese International Students Imagine Canada.
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          LAKE LUI
          MANLIN CAI
          YUE QIAN
        affil:
          Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Taiwan Social Resilience Research Center at National Taiwan University.
          PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia.
          Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia.
      su:
        Foreign students
        Emigration & immigration
        Citizenship
        Education
        Immigrant students
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          Foreign students
          Emigration & immigration
          Citizenship
          Education
          Immigrant students
      keyword:
        étudiants internationaux
        Canada
        imaginaire social
        immigration
        international students
        Migration
        social imaginary
        étudiants internationaux
        Canada
        imaginaire social
        immigration
        Migration
      ab:
        How do students from Mainland China select Canada for their education? Beyond the customary push-and-pull explanations, we introduce a framework of comparative imaginaries that describes how students’ rational strategies are imbued with the imaginaries of their host societies and migration aspirations. Based on longitudinal interviews with 36 Chinese postsecondary students in Vancouver, we find that these students imagine Canada as a safe alternative to the United States (perceived as the best country for higher education): Western, offering quality education, ethnically inclusive, and with a less politically fraught relationship with China. The students imagine Chineseness as recognized in Vancouver’s mainstream society (not relegated to ethnic enclaves), allowing them to form Chinese-exclusive networks sprinkled with Western elements. The easy path to permanent residency and citizenship that Canada offers, compared with that of the United States, is also conducive to students’ imagination of flexible citizenship. Our study illuminates how social imaginaries are intertwined with practical concerns to shape Chinese students’ mobility.
        Comment les étudiants de Chine continentale choisissent-ils le Canada pour leurs études ? Au-delà des explications habituelles de poussée et de traction, nous introduisons un cadre d’imaginaires comparatifs qui décrit comment les stratégies rationnelles des étudiants sont imprégnées des imaginaires de leurs sociétés d’accueil et de leurs aspirations migratoires. Basés sur des entretiens longitudinaux avec 36 étudiants chinois du postsecondaire à Vancouver, nous constatons que ces étudiants imaginent le Canada comme une alternative sûre aux États-Unis (perçus comme le meilleur pays pour l’enseignement supérieur) : occidental, offrant une éducation de qualité, inclusif sur le plan ethnique et avec des relations politiques moins tendues avec la Chine. Les étudiants imaginent la chinoisité comme reconnue dans la société mainstream de Vancouver (et non reléguée dans des enclaves ethniques), ce qui leur permet de former des réseaux exclusivement occidentaux. Le chemin facile vers la résidence permanente et la citoyenneté que le Canada offre, comparé à celui des États-Unis, favorise également l’imagination de la citoyenneté flexible par les étudiants. Notre étude éclaire la manière dont les imaginaires sociaux sont entrelacés avec les préoccupations pratiques pour façonner la mobilité des étudiants chinois.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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          year: 2024
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