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“They Don’t Care About You”: First-Year Chinese International
“They Don’t Care About You”: First-Year Chinese International
Students’ Experiences With Neo-racism and Othering on a U.S.
Students’ Experiences With Neo-racism and Othering on a U.S.
Campus
Campus
Christina W. Yao
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, cy9@mailbox.sc.edu
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Yao, Christina W., "“They Don’t Care About You”: First-Year Chinese International Students’ Experiences With Neo-racism and Othering on a U.S. Campus" (2018). Faculty Publications in Educational
Administration. 84.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsedadfacpub/84
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Published in Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition 30:1 (Spring 2018), pp 87-101.
Copyright © 2018 University of South Carolina.
“They Don’t Care About You”:
First-Year Chinese International Students’
Experiences With Neo-racism and
Othering on a U.S. Campus
Christina W. Yao
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Corresponding author — Christina W. Yao, Assistant Professor, Educational Administration, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588 ;
email cyao@unl.edu ; phone (402) 472-3758 Abstract
This qualitative research study illuminates the experiences affecting
first-year Chinese international students in the United States and gives in-sights as to how these students perceive interpersonal relationships at college. Participants shared reports of neo-racism and othering as
neg-atively affecting their feelings of connection to other members of their
collegiate community. Findings and implications from this study
indi-cate a need for better support for first-year Chinese international stu-dents in college.
Students from mainland China comprise the largest international stu-dent group entering the United States in recent years (Yan & Berliner, 2010). In 2012, more than half a million students from China stud-ied abroad, with the United States being the top destination (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2014). In Fall 2012, U.S. institutions enrolled 235,597 students, or more than 28% of the total international student population of 819,644 (Institute of International Education, 2013a).
Tensions between Asian and domestic students have coincided with this trend, with many international students reporting discriminatory incidents against them at historically White campuses (Jaschik, 2012; Redden, 2012). As the number of Chinese nationals at U.S. institutions rises (Institute of International Education, 2013b; UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2014), those students tend to bear the burden of neg-ative encounters (Yan & Berliner, 2010). Little research is available
specifically on the interpersonal experiences of first-year Chinese stu-dents at those institutions, however.
The early years of college are critical to ensuring students’ sense of belonging and persistence, and institutional environment and culture correlate with students’ collegiate success (Astin, 1993; Pascarella &
Terenzini, 2005; Tinto, 1993). The first year is particularly crucial as
students, especially those from other countries, have little commit-ment to and integration with their institution because of their new-ness in the environment and thus are more susceptible to withdraw-ing (Tinto, 1993).
Yet, residence halls can be an important site for integrating to the
academic and social environs of college. Most first-year students, in-cluding those from other countries, are required to live on campus. Residence halls are considered secure, comfortable spaces for students to live and learn. Community building and student learning are often at the heart of residential programs, and residence halls are touted as the ideal setting for building community and intercultural rela-tionships among students (Blimling, 2010). Yet the experiences of
first-year Chinese students in this new environment are understud-ied. Thus, this study, which emerged from a larger phenomenological
research project, seeks to fill the research gap by examining the in
-terpersonal experiences of first-year Chinese international students
in residence halls.
The primary research question in the larger study was, How do un-dergraduate Chinese international students’ experiences with
domes-tic students in residential communities affect how they understand
their sense of belonging? Findings highlighted in this study provide further understanding of how negative interactions in college may af-fect international students’ overall experiences in higher education.
Literature Review
In interviews for the current study, participants reported discrimi-natory incidents when asked about their interpersonal relationships with domestic American students. To better understand the study’s emerging themes, neo-racism and othering are used as the conceptual framework for further examining participants’ incidents with discrim-ination and isolation. Literature related to discrimdiscrim-ination against in-ternational students is also reviewed.
Discrimination Against International Students
Several studies have focused on discrimination against international students on U.S. college campuses. Lee and Rice (2007) introduced the concept of neo-racism, or discrimination based on cultural and
na-tional differences. The authors found a strong divide between the ex-periences of students based on nation of origin. For example, in their study, students with phenotypically White features from Canada, Eu-rope, and New Zealand did not report any discrimination based on their culture or race, whereas students from countries such as Asia and India reported considerable negative experiences they attributed to skin color, language, and cultural backgrounds. The authors used neo-racism as a framework to analyze the discriminatory acts against international students, layering both skin color and national origin as the foundation for neo-racist behavior by Americans.
Other studies have also highlighted issues of discrimination based on country of origin (Hanassab, 2006; Lee, 2010; Marginson, Nyland,
Sawir, & Forbes-Mewett, 2010), finding that international students from different regions perceived varying degrees of discrimination in
college. Students from predominantly non-White regions (e.g., Latin America, Africa, Middle East, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast
Asia) reported less satisfaction and greater difficulty with their host
institutions than did their colleagues from Europe, Canada, and
Aus-tralia. Hanassab (2006) found that difficulties manifested in issues
with perceived discrimination, unfair campus services and treatment, and negative interactions with domestic students, similar to Lee and
Rice’s (2007) findings. Overall, these experiences led international students from predominantly non-White regions to be less satisfied
and less likely to recommend their host institution to others in their home country, particularly for students from East Asia, as Lee’s study (2010) on international student experiences found.
The discrimination that international students from predominantly non-White regions face requires further thought: Why do these
stu-dents have a marked difference in experiences compared to stustu-dents
from predominantly White regions? As a whole, major cultural dif-ferences between international and domestic students exist, includ-ing language, food habits, and communication styles; however, in-ternational students from predominantly non-White regions possess
additional differences in the form of skin color and ethnic origin.
and different in the United States, these additional factors add com-plex layers of identity. These layers require a deeper understanding of how international students from non-White regions perceive their collegiate residential experience within a racialized U.S. context. The problems that non- White international students face are particularly salient for Chinese nationals, who must navigate the complexities of
living and learning in a campus environment vastly different from
China’s hom*ogenous cultural climate.
Conceptual Framework: Othering and Neo-racism
Othering and neo-racism are offered as conceptual frameworks for
better understanding Chinese students’ experiences with
discrimi-nation in residence halls. Othering is defined as “that process which serves to mark and name those thought to be different from oneself
” (Weis, 1995, p. 17) and is used by the dominant group to separate from and suppress the non-dominant outsider group (Luke, 2010). The concept stems from the notion that the Western world tends to view and situate the Orient (including the Middle East, Asia, and north-ern Africa) as backward and undeveloped (Said, 1978). Orientalism
is used as “a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based
on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience” (Said, 1978, p. 1). As othering relates to the present study, Chinese
interna-tional students are the “object” that is “stamped with an otherness” (Said, 1978, p. 97), a designation difficult to escape even in modern-day perceptions because othering is a “set of structures inherited from
the past.” (p. 122)
Othering has its roots in earlier socio-historical perspectives that
are complementary to more contemporary reflections on race in the United States. Balibar (2007) popularized neo-racism, then, as “rac-ism without race” (p. 85), as it goes beyond earlier models of biologi-cal racism to include layers of nationality, language, and cultural prac-tices rather than emphasizing physical characteristics alone (Balibar, 2007; Lee & Rice, 2007). Similar to Said’s (1978) concept of
Oriental-ism, neo-racism provides a “new racism” that often becomes a way to
discriminate by using new categories (e.g., immigration) rather than earlier notions of biological race. In doing so, neo-racism enforces the
structures of the dominant group and provides “an increasing ratio-nale for marginalizing or assimilating groups in a globalizing world”
of students from China has created an othering of a specific popula-tion within the neo-racist structures of college campuses. The
global-ization of higher education has divided campuses into “us” (domestic students) and “them” (international students), leading to tension in-side and out-side the classroom.
Method
I used both phenomenological and critical orientations for this study. Using critical phenomenology allowed me to understand the lived ex-periences (Van Manen, 1990) of the participants through a critical
interpretive lens that puts those experiences within a specific con-text (Merriam, 2009). More simply, if phenomenology were the lens for viewing this study, then a critical perspective served as tint on
the lens, making for a deep analysis of findings and implications. Al-though critical phenomenology is not commonly used, several studies in recent years (Campbell, 2008; Ray, 2008) have blended phenom-enology and critical research in order to better understand the lived
experiences of individuals within a context that has power differen
-tiations between different groups in the study.
Using phenomenological methods, I examined how participants de-scribed their experiences on campus and attempted to determine what
links all participants by reducing “individual experiences with a phe-nomenon to a description of the universal essence” (Creswell, 2007, p. 58). However, an added layer of a critical research perspective was necessary, given that participants in this study are part of a
marginal-ized and othered group. Critical research “goes beyond uncovering the
interpretation of people’s understandings of their world” (Merriam, 2009, p. 9) to include issues of power and empowerment in the anal-ysis. The current study is critical in nature because of the interactive relationship between Chinese international and domestic students. As
the findings illustrate, the layers of culture, language, and skin color influence the power dynamic between the two student populations. Site Selection and Participants
For the study, I selected “Midwest University” (MWU), a large, public
land-grant research institution in the Midwest with more than 33,000 undergraduate students enrolled in Fall 2012. MWU was ranked as one
of the top 10 U.S. institutions with high international student enroll-ment in 2012-2013 (Institute of International Education, 2013b), with
about one in eight first-year MWU students originating from China. All first-year, non-commuter students are required to live on cam
-pus, and in 2012-2013, 96% of all first-year students lived on cam-pus. Thus, the residential requirements and international emphasis at MWU provide valuable context for examining the residential expe-riences of Chinese international students.
To gain as much insight as possible from the participants selected, I employed a purposeful sampling technique (Merriam, 2009). With approval from MWU’s institutional review board (IRB), I recruited for the study by e-mailing eligible participants from the institution’s
Of-fice of the Registrar. Participants identified as undergraduate Chinese international students in their first year at the university who lived in
the residence halls. All 21 participants (see Table 1) were completing their second semester at MWU; they included six men and 15 women. Each participant chose a pseudonym, and these are used throughout
the study. All interviews were conducted in English. For clarification,
participants used the term American to refer to those they perceived to be U.S.-born students; therefore, American is used interchangeably with domestic students throughout this study.
Data Collection and Analysis
I conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with each partici-pant in a face-to-face format. Each participartici-pant completed a consent form beforehand, and I verbally reviewed contents with each student
to ensure understanding. All first-round interviews, lasting about
45-75 minutes each, were conducted toward the end of the 2013 spring
semester. Examples of questions included “Describe your relationship with non-Chinese students” and “Describe any experiences when you feel like you were treated differently from other students in your res-idence hall.” Second-round interviews were conducted at the start of the 2013 fall semester, with each interview lasting about 30-60 min-utes. I conducted these with 17 of the 21 participants; questions
fo-cused on refining and clarifying the first interviews. The remaining
four participants declined a second interview.
For data analysis, I began with deductive coding, which includes a start list (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014, p. 81) based on the interview protocol and conceptual framework. I searched for broad
categories and then developed themes that emerged from the
partici-pants’ experiences. Themes were coded by “lifting appropriate phrases
or by capturing in singular statements the main thrust of the mean-ing of the themes” (Van Manen, 1990, p. 93). In domean-ing so, I followed Van Manen’s (1990) thematic approach to systematically uncovering the essence of participants’ interviews.
After concluding first-cycle coding, I moved on to second-cycle cod
-ing (Miles et al., 2014), organiz-ing the first-cycle codes by cluster-ing
them by common themes or patterns. This was an iterative process
of reflecting and clustering codes into code categories. I continuously refined the pattern codes until I felt they were representative of the
participants’ lived experiences. Several themes emerged, including issues related to discrimination, expectations of roommate relation-ships, and perception of language ability. For the purpose of this study, participants’ perception of the interpersonal relationships in their res-idence hall is examined as the analytical sample from a larger study.
Table 1. Participant Demographics
Participant Age Gender
D 20 Man Riverkid 19 Woman Jack 18 Man Sunny 19 Woman Zoey 19 Woman Mora 19 Woman Lu 19 Woman Waffle 19 Woman Mike 20 Man Peter 18 Man Kay 18 Woman Julie 20 Woman Tom 19 Man Shirley 21 Woman Rachel 20 Woman Gwen 19 Woman Grace 19 Woman Vicky 18 Woman Camilla 19 Woman Nancy 19 Woman Derek 20 Man
Trustworthiness and Credibility
Trustworthiness and credibility were established through triangula-tion, member checks, and peer review (Merriam, 2009; Patton, 2002).
Triangulation of sources was employed to confirm emerging findings by examining the consistency of data from sources at different points
in time. I conducted member checks via the two interviews with each
participant, which provided feedback on emerging findings and in
-terpretation from the first interviews. In addition to member checks, I triangulated data with peers proficient in qualitative research, who critiqued my findings and gave alternative viewpoints.
I employed several reliability procedures (Creswell, 2007), includ-ing personally transcribinclud-ing all interviews and reviewinclud-ing transcripts multiple times to reduce mistakes in participants’ narratives of their experiences. I ensured reliability with a stringent coding process that included continuously comparing data with codes as well as keeping a codebook with memos. Investigator’s positionality, or how one is po-sitioned in contrast to those being studied, was also used as a form of reliability (Merriam, 2009), which was communicated to all partici-pants prior to beginning interviews.
Researcher reflexivity is essential because of the relation between
researcher and participants (Glesne, 2006; Patton, 2002). The essence of participants’ experiences was interpreted through my lens as a Chi-nese-American scholar. English is my primary language, and this led many participants to view me as both an insider and an outsider
dur-ing the interviews. In some ways, the language difference served as a
barrier, particularly because of participants’ accents and my own habit of speaking English quickly. However, my insider’s perspective helped build rapport with most; sometimes they would talk about China and I could understand them because of my ethnic connection. Orienting myself in relation to the participants was necessary for conducting this critical phenomenological study (Van Manen, 1990), particularly because my study is an inquiry on the orientation and positioning of
a specific population (undergraduate Chinese international students)
within a particular space (a college campus).
Limitations
Interviews were conducted in English, which was not the primary lan-guage for any of the participants. I carefully chose the phrasing of my
questions to minimize the use of U.S.-centric colloquial terms. Ques-tions were repeated and rephrased for participants’ understanding. Another limitation was interviewing participants at the end of their
first year on campus, when they may not have had time to fully re
-flect and make meaning of their first year. However, second-round in-terviews were conducted at the start of participants’ second year on
campus, which may have provided some time for reflection. One fi-nal limitation is in the study’s methodology. As a phenomenological
study on participants’ lived experience, findings cannot be general-ized, yet generalizability is never the intention of a qualitative study
on a specific population. However, by better understanding the transi-tion experience of the largest interna-tional student popula-tion in the U.S., higher education institutions can use a culturally relevant lens
to adapt findings and implications for strategies to support students
from all over the world.
Findings
Participants’ lived experiences indicated that negative interactions
typified their relationships with American students. Two themes
emerged relating to participants’ perceptions of interpersonal inter-actions in residence halls: blatant acts of discrimination and aware-ness of being outsiders, both of which led to negative feelings toward domestic students.
Blatant Acts of Discrimination
Many participants described feelings of discrimination and isolation at MWU, which were often rooted in issues related to nationality and
culture. These issues emerged as consistent factors affecting all peer
interactions with domestic students. Some participants gave exam-ples of explicit acts of discrimination against them by U.S. students, although most reported more subtle discrimination in their
interac-tions. D described a domestic student who made derogatory remarks
about Chinese international students:
One time when I was walking to Main Street from [residence
hall]. There is one guy from I think [different residence hall]—he came out, he saw me, and he just shouted, “F--- Asian peo-ple.” Just like that. We don’t know each other.
D described the harasser as a White male and could not understand
why that student felt the need to yell at him. While he did not respond
to the student, D spoke about how the incident stayed with him after-ward. This experience made him more defensive around White
Amer-ican students and more aware of negative interactions. D described
another incident he experienced on campus:
One time that I ran into a guy, and he was unfriendly to the Chi-nese students. He pretends to be really friendly, and smile re-ally quickly. But after a while, I noticed something is wrong. His friends smiled really strange, weird. They got away and I heard their discussion about me, about Asian, Chinese people.
Several participants had expected discrimination from Americans, having been warned by other Chinese international students who had
attended U.S. institutions. Waffle heard from friends that negative
things could happen to Chinese people in the United States and told this story to illustrate one such experience:
Some American people, they have discrimination about Chinese
students. Example is that last Saturday, we finished lunch and
then we came back. There was a car coming near, and there
was a White man inside the car. And the White man did the
“f---” gesture to us. There was only me and my friend who come from China.
Several participants told stories about Chinese friends who ex-perienced discrimination on campus. Julie related how a friend felt
“so bad” when domestic students told her “you should practice your English” because she “was in America.” Rachel spoke about a Chinese
friend:
I heard from my friend that there is one day when she and her friend goes to the [bank], and they were waiting for a bus. A car passed by them, and the guy in the car threw the pop can at them. That’s really mean, I think.
Rachel’s story illustrates the blatant discrimination that several
participants and their friends experienced on campus. As Waffle’s ex-perience indicates, many participants were warned by other Chinese students who had negative experiences while studying abroad in the U.S. While they were prepared for negative interaction with domestic students, participants were less equipped to manage the subtleties of day-to-day tension and negativity that accompanied these interactions.
Awareness of Being Outsiders
Many participants described discrimination that was more nuanced and subtle. While they sometimes did not understand exactly what was being said to them because of their language ability and cul-tural background, they could sense tension from American students.
Nancy explained, “I can feel it. They will just look at you like you’re
very weird.” Several participants repeatedly discussed subtle acts of cultural and language dissonance to illustrate their lack of connection with U.S. students and culture.
For example, Rachel felt she was treated a certain way because she is Chinese. Asked to elaborate, she explained:
I think this stuff is hard to say. Because sometimes maybe it’s
just you are too sensitive. For example, I work here. There are two American girls that work with me. And sometimes they talk to each other more than to me. So you think, they just try to ig-nore me because I’m Chinese.
Rachel sometimes felt she was treated differently because of her na-tionality, but she recognized that it could be because her sensitivity was heightened to these situations. However, several other partici-pants perceived that American students simply do not like Chinese students.
Kay said domestic students had no interest in engaging with
Chi-nese students. Gwen agreed, saying, “I don’t think all of them are will-ing to make friends with Chinese students.” Vicky expressed a
simi-lar sentiment: “I have heard that before, that some Americans, they
don’t like Chinese.” This perception was a common theme when
par-ticipants recounted their interactions with domestic students. Waffle was even more specific about a population of students she felt dis-criminated against. Asked whether American students were open to
meeting Chinese students, Waffle said:
It depends on different people. It’s true that the U.S. is a very open country. There are lots of people who come from differ-ent parts of the world. But still there are some American peo-ple who think they are the best. And they are the White peopeo-ple.
As expected, negative interpersonal experiences led many study participants to feel isolated and removed from American students.
Although Tom made an effort to befriend domestic students, he la
He felt several students had “a really bad idea about Chinese students” and described his feelings about his floor:
For me, I made friends with Americans because I really want to know them. But actually when we met each other, they don’t really say hi. But the Chinese students always greet you every time we meet each other. I met more Chinese friends and yeah, I can’t just spend time with American students.
Tom was initially surprised that American students were not as
friendly as he expected. Reflecting on his experiences, he concluded
that Americans did not want to be friends with Chinese students for cultural reasons. He explained:
At first, I felt surprised. But after time passes, I know some
Americans just don’t want to have friends with Chinese
stu-dents. They have no benefits for making Chinese friends. They
already have their social network, so they don’t want to expand their social network. So they just don’t want to have friends with Chinese students.
Although many participants expressed a continued desire for
American friends, several said they did not want to expend effort to
expand their current circle of friends. Several, including Peter, felt dis-illusioned about American students’ friendliness and cultural
compe-tency, which affected his other interpersonal relationships on cam
-pus. Peter explained, “I recently … don’t like the Americans here. They
just—I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m Chinese, but they don’t care
about you. They don’t help you, this kind of stuff.” Peter was repre-sentative of several participants whose experiences led to somewhat negative feelings toward domestic students.
Discussion
As first-year students, the participants in this study are particularly vulnerable. The first year of college tends to be the most critical in
ensuring students’ success and persistence (Astin, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Tinto, 1993), especially for international students who must navigate a completely foreign educational and societal cul-ture (Marginson et al., 2010). First-year students from China may be
at higher risk of attrition because cultural differences leave them feel-ing isolated from the rest of campus. Social and academic challenges,
particularly in the first year, can hinder success in college and persis-tence to graduation (Tinto, 1993).
Findings indicate the prevalent influence of culture and national-ity on interpersonal relationships when participants recounted their experiences with domestic students, signifying that neo-racism is per-vasive because of the added layers of language and nationality in ad-dition to physical characteristics. To the student participants, national
origin affected all aspects of their perceived interactions with other students, making these findings consistent with prior studies (Ha-nassab, 2006; Lee, 2010; Lee & Rice, 2007; Marginson et al., 2010). Participants had a heightened awareness of the cultural issues they face, primarily because of discriminatory acts or awareness of being an outsider who is othered on campus. Feelings of being othered led several participants, including Peter, to disengage from domestic stu-dents. Interestingly, this was in sharp contrast to participants’ ear-lier desire to make many American friends upon arriving on campus. This indicated that when earlier expectations of friendship are not met, Chinese students may choose to disconnect from American stu-dents after negative interactions, whether explicitly discriminatory or more subtle in nature.
Several participants, such as D and Waffle, shared blatant acts of discrimination committed by American students. D’s incident, which included the perpetrator using the qualifier “Asian” in his slur, was a direct example of neo-racist behavior from a domestic student. D
also experienced a less obvious discriminatory incident in his resi-dence hall with an American student who was unfriendly yet subtle
in his interactions. The discriminatory acts D described were similar
to the experiences of international students of Asian descent in Aus-tralia, who were abused and discriminated against by local commu-nity members (Marginson et al., 2010).
Similarly, Waffle perceived that the White man who made the rude
gesture to her and her friend only did so because they were Chinese.
As students from China, Waffle and D had similar experiences as par-ticipants in other studies, who found that Asian students often re-ported higher levels of discrimination on their campuses than did in-ternational students from Europe, Australia, or other predominantly White countries (Hanassab, 2006; Lee, 2010; Lee & Rice, 2007; Mar-ginson et al., 2010). These experiences appear to be a result of
other-ing and neo-racism. Waffle and D felt othered by the actions of mem-bers of the dominant group, who in this study were domestic U.S.
students. Their experiences indicated the pervasive nature of ethnic-ity, nationalism, and cultural background, all of which led to negative discriminatory encounters with domestic students.
One important consideration is that this study emerged from a larger phenomenological research project on Chinese students’ sense of belonging in residence halls. Participants were asked how they es-tablish a sense of belonging to their communities and how their
in-terpersonal relationships affect their feelings of connection. Many
participants answered the interview questions with stories about dis-criminatory incidents, demonstrating the pervasiveness of
national-ity, language, and cultural differences on their overall first-year ex-perience. Findings from the study indicate that although residence halls are seen as positive environments for community and intercul-tural relationships (Blimling, 2010), participants’ experiences chal-lenge the notion that these settings are comfortable and secure spaces for all students. Thus, U.S. institutions must consider how they can establish safe and inclusive campus communities for Chinese inter-national students.
Implications for Practice
As the participants’ experiences with domestic students demonstrate, issues of discrimination and isolation are problematic for institutions
in creating safe, comfortable spaces for first-year international stu-dents. One can assume the blatant acts of discrimination reported
were isolated incidents; however, their effects appeared to influence
many participants’ interpersonal relationships with domestic students.
For example, even the subtle acts affected Chinese students’ campus
experiences, as Peter, Rachel, and Gwen showed. Thus, university ad-ministrators should design and promote ways that international stu-dents, particularly those from non-White countries, can recognize and report bias incidents. Bias incident response plans exist at many col-leges, but intentional training and marketing for international
stu-dents, particularly those in their first year, would clearly demonstrate
institutional commitment to a positive racial climate for all students. Also, international students would gain clarity on their options for reporting and addressing blatant and subtle acts of discrimination in their campus community.
In addition to creating a response plan, college staff must consider
campus. College leaders should intentionally create opportunities for positive intercultural communication and intergroup dialogue as a way to mitigate potentially negative interactions. As peer interactions
have the greatest influence on the student experience (Astin, 1993), it
is crucial that colleges provide an environment that leads to positive relationships through improved quality of contact among these di-verse groups, whether through formal structures (e.g., facilitated in-tergroup dialogues) or informal processes (e.g., casual conversations in hallways and lounges). These programs should occur systemati-cally throughout the academic year, but the foundation must be laid before students’ arrival on campus and continued throughout the ac-ademic year.
Although programmatic interventions could influence the racial
climate on campus, the participants’ experiences in the study indi-cated a larger institutional problem. Many of the domestic students mentioned made discriminatory comments toward the Chinese par-ticipants, who reported being targeted because of their English lan-guage skills and foreign status. The perpetrators’ behaviors indicated
neo-racism and othering, which signifies a need for the university to address the stratification between Chinese and domestic students. Chi
-nese international students have been “stamped with an otherness”
(Said, 1978, p. 97) that is impossible to escape without larger
institu-tional intervention. As such, they are defined within a racialized cam-pus culture in which international students are considered outside the American mainstream. This culture constructs a negative environment for the study’s participants, who have been designated as outsiders and not provided guidance on how to navigate their new environments.
Recognizing this racialized climate, institutions must be inclusive of international students in all diversity initiatives and campus climate studies. Institutions must consider multiple factors linked to histori-cal, social, and structural components when attempting to establish a supportive and inclusive environment for international students. By addressing larger institutional and organizational climate issues, in-stitutions will be able to fully support and include students from dif-ferent nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
Recommendations for Future Research
As the findings in this study show, future studies on campus racial cli-mate should include the perspective of international students, who are
an increasingly mobile and visible demographic on campus. Including the nuances of language, nationality, and cultural practices in studies on racism in college would add to the complexities of understanding
race and difference in a global context. Additionally, future research
could include a longitudinal study to evaluate changes in Chinese stu-dents’ experiences throughout their collegiate careers. The
partici-pants in this study were interviewed as first-year students with lim-ited exposure to the overall collegiate experience. Thus, a longitudinal study would give insight as to how longer residency in the U.S. may
influence their interactions with domestic students.
Conclusion
Participants described interactions that indicate cultural tension
be-tween different student groups and a college environment that can be
fairly negative for Chinese international students. As newly arrived members of the collegiate community, these students must navigate a foreign culture while attempting to create relationships with oth-ers. This study indicates the challenge of interpersonal relationships because of othering and neo-racist behavior from other students. U.S. institutions of higher education must take all these factors into con-sideration when developing strategic policies and practices to better support Chinese students within the campus environment,
particu-larly during the critical first few years of college.
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