How Chinese students engage U.S. higher education

With Chinese student numbers increasing so dramatically in the U.S. over the last decade, many educators have struggled to understand how to address their needs. Elizabeth Reddens' review of Inventing the World Grant University: Chinese International Students' Mobilities, Literacies and Indentities (Fraiburg & Wang) suggests that this new book may be a helpful resource.

Redden indicates that Fraiburg & Wang's theoretical grounding is particularly useful. The research for the book was undertaken at Michigan State University, which increased from 600 in 2006 to 4,527 Chinese students in 2016. The influx of Chinese students during this time resulted in some professors teaching courses where domestic U.S. students were in the minority, a dynamic unusual for both professors and students. As a personal anecdote, I frequently travel by train from Chicago to East Lansing (location of MSU) and have enjoyed seeing the dynamic of Chinese students traveling to Chicago for the weekend. The dynamic I've observed that is most disconcerting is that other passengers on the train seem either disinterested or disoriented by Chinese students' presence.

One of the apparent strengths of Fraiburg & Wang's book is that it identifies how Chinese students find supports that allow them to be successful. This is something that is so important for educators to understand; Chinese students have strengths that they bring to their learning. Focusing on these, rather than their deficits, has a much higher likelihood of resulting in both individual student and institutional success.