Abstract
In the last decade, there has been a surge of interest in how international students experience American undergraduate universities and colleges, especially as more institutions of higher education have courted and expanded their international enrollment. Chinese international students have the largest growth in American undergraduate education enrollment, with their enrollment increasing even as the numbers of other groups of international students have been on the decline. Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education, by Yingyi Ma, offers much-needed insight into this group of students.
The book is clearly organized into a somewhat chronological telling of the lives of Chinese international students, starting with their motivations for studying abroad during college, followed by their experiences once they arrive in the United States to study, and concluding with their goals and ambitions for their futures. Ma utilized a mixed-method research design, which includes a quantitative survey of 507 Chinese international students, in-depth interviews with 65 Chinese international students, and fieldwork in nine Chinese high schools on how students prepare to study abroad.
Ambitious and Anxious unfolds the stories of Chinese students by first focusing on the motivations of Chinese students to study abroad in the United States, which reflects the “ambitious” part of the title. Ma argues that a culture of studying abroad has materialized as urban China’s new education gospel. Driven by widespread parental disappointment in a difficult test-oriented education process of Chinese higher education, families find refuge in the promise of high-quality American educational institutions that allow for what they perceive as more academic and personal growth. Steered by school rankings and social networks of other study abroad students, Chinese students and their families believe that undergraduate study in the United States is the fundamental pathway for securing a successful future.
Many of the students in Ma’s study attended regular or international classes in Chinese public schools prior to enrolling in American undergraduate studies, as opposed to Chinese private schools or American high schools. Because the American educational system is foreign to many Chinese students and their families, a cottage industry exists in China to aide them in navigating the American college system, such as international divisions of Chinese public schools and external college counseling agencies. The addition of this fieldwork aides the reader in understanding the cultural and social context of Chinese international students before they arrive in American college classrooms, something that is often left out of academic work on this group.
Difficulties in navigating the American school system do not end upon admission and enrollment for these Chinese international students. Most of the students in the book experienced challenges both socially and academically during their undergraduate studies, which echoes the “anxious” portion of the title. The seclusion of Chinese international students from mainstream campus life has been well documented. Ma identifies two processes that help to explain the social segregation many Chinese students report: exclusion, wherein Chinese students are isolated from American college social networks due to racism, and voluntary withdrawal, in which Chinese students withdraw into their own social groups due to what Ma terms “the loss of an imagined America.” That is, Chinese international students are disillusioned by the lack of development in small-town America, which contrasts the media images of America that they grew up with, and by the individualistic impulse of many Americans. Ma states, “Under these circumstances, sticking to their own group can at least help Chinese students find security and comfort when out-group friendships are hard to access without help” (p. 133).
Another common concern with the Chinese international student experience has been classroom participation, with faculty considering how best to include these students in class-wide discussions. Most of the students interviewed echoed this concern, explaining that they did not often speak up in class, even though they were anxious about their lack of participation and its consequences. Although this has been often blamed on language proficiency, Ma’s analysis also highlights the impact of cultural differences between China and the United States, wherein Chinese students’ previous education valued verbal classroom exchanges that were well-considered, informational, and cautious.
Ma finds that studying abroad for their undergraduate education has a lasting impact for these students. Their time in the United States changes how they view both their home and host countries, through rekindling a fondness for Chinese culture and challenging the romanticized view of the United States they had before their studies. Additionally, these students undergo a personal transition, emphasizing that their American educational experience made them more proactive, independent, and autonomous. Given these transformations, Chinese undergraduate students struggle with deciding if they should stay in the United States or to return to China. Most of those interviewed planned to return to China, although a large portion intended on first attending graduate school in the United States. Governmental policies, such as the changing H-1B visa policies, have affected the opportunities that Chinese international students envision for themselves if they stay in the United States, with many believing that China holds more opportunities for them upon their return.
Overall, Ambitious and Anxious provides a nuanced view of the experiences of Chinese international students. By highlighting the variation of backgrounds within this group, Ma challenges the homogeneous perspective that many academics and institutions have when considering the challenges and strengths of Chinese students studying in America. Moreover, she draws attention to the historical and cultural context that explains the experiences of these students. The book would be a good fit for courses on education, migration, and race and ethnicity.