Source: Nanfang Daily
Chen Xiaohui Chinese students from foreign universities flock to study abroad [Weibo] How many gains attract attention
In November this year, Xiao Wen was relieved that her wish to study in the United States had finally come true. But to her surprise, "there are many Chinese students in the class, and there is nothing wrong with it". Xiaowen's previous worries about the unfamiliar environment were also dissipated by the many familiar Chinese faces around him.
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Data from the China Study Abroad Development Report (2012) shows that in 2010, China surpassed India to become the country with the largest number of students studying in the United States. According to the statistics of Canada, Russia, Japan and other countries, China has also become the largest source country of foreign students in these countries.
Among the huge group of Chinese students studying abroad, Xiaowen is also gradually becoming more and more common - Chinese students are clustered to choose the country, school, city and major to study in.
According to the 2012 Survey on the Trend of Studying Abroad, the United States is still the first choice for Chinese students from the perspective of destination. Following the United States are the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, which account for about 75% of the market share of self funded study abroad in China; In terms of majors, about 50% of Chinese undergraduate students choose economics, finance and management majors. This is the same as going abroad for postgraduate study [Weibo] The choices of graduate students are basically the same.
Taking the UK as an example, a set of data reported by the media in 2011 shows that in the UK, the University of Westminster [Weibo] More than 50% of Chinese students majored in international media; Studied at London University of the Arts [Weibo] Chinese students majoring in fashion marketing are also the largest group of foreign students.
As for this phenomenon, Wen Wei Po also talked about it in the article Zhou Chenggang, Executive Director of New Oriental Education Technology Group and CEO of Qiantu Going Abroad, "An old returnee's study abroad experience: what are the shortcomings of Chinese students studying abroad?". When talking about how to choose a school, the article said that "the University of Toronto in Canada, which is relatively famous to Chinese people, is jokingly called 'Tsinghua University' in the overseas Chinese community - all Chinese universities, and Chinese children flock to apply. In fact, there are many such 'famous schools'".
Why "feel like being in the Chinese class"?
What is the reason for the phenomenon of Chinese students swarming, even making some students sigh "feel like they have entered the Chinese class"?
Experts studying abroad in Weijiu believe that the schools that are prone to "China Class" can be divided into three categories: the most concentrated are some specialized language schools. With the rapid growth of Chinese students studying abroad, the proportion of Chinese students in language schools in popular countries to study abroad continues to increase, which is the place most likely to form a "China class".
Second, some well-known universities, because some Chinese students and parents [Weibo] The more famous universities, the more applicants there are, so the higher the probability that famous universities will form a "Chinese class".
The third type is in some foreign universities with poor teaching quality or private universities with enrollment pressure. These universities have low threshold, low tuition fees, and are not particularly suitable for some families with sufficient conditions, or the purpose of going abroad is not purely for Chinese students studying abroad to apply for and study, so the probability of "China Class" in these universities is greater.
From the perspective of students, "being led by study abroad agencies due to information asymmetry" is also a reason. They have just taken the IELTS test [Weibo] Xiaotao is worried about which overseas study agency to find. "Because I don't know much about foreign schools, I want to listen to the suggestions of overseas study agencies. But I called several of them and thought they all said the same thing. The recommended schools have little difference."
In addition, as an extension of the chain of studying abroad, some recruitment units in China know little about some foreign schools, and prefer those schools with high "popularity and recognition" in recruitment, which also aggravates the clustering of international students in selecting schools and majors.
The choice is in your own hands
In the face of this phenomenon, some parents worry that "the children's English level has not improved much after studying abroad", some parents worry that "the children have not really drunk foreign ink even if they spend a lot of money", some parents insist that "whether they pile up or not, they should choose a famous school", and some students think that "seeing Chinese students will feel less lonely, what's wrong? The extent of learning depends on oneself, not on classmates "... The debate between advantages and disadvantages is lively.
"Chinese students should be treated objectively when they are clustered together. It cannot be generalized. Whether they have learned something after studying abroad and whether their own abilities and comprehensive qualities have been improved is the key," said one parent.
In the opinion of Jim Wolfston, president of American University Network, a successful experience of studying abroad should include two aspects, one is a deep understanding of the society, the other is a serious attitude towards their own studies.
Jim Wolfston also mentioned that among Chinese overseas students, there is a phenomenon of "staying in the Tang Dynasty" - students still use Chinese to communicate with each other, like to go to Chinatown after class, and only activities in the local Chinese circle... He believes that for Chinese students like "staying in the Tang Dynasty", their academic studies are not problematic, but their integration into the local society is poor. However, for new international students, the right to choose is actually in their own hands. You can get the experience of "staying in the Tang Dynasty" in the same way as previous students, or you can take a new way to improve their comprehensive cultural literacy.
"Whether you can get rid of the strange phenomenon of 'staying in Tang' depends on whether you can survive the period of just studying abroad, because it was the hardest time. But compared with working hard after arriving in a foreign country, rational planning before studying abroad is more important," said Xiao Wen.
Many parents are worried about whether the clustering of major choices will lead to the clustering of employment. Experts studying abroad from New Oriental Future said that the two issues do not necessarily have an inevitable connection. The gap between majors is very large. Some majors have high demand. Although many people choose to study, the impact on employment competition is small; However, this is not the case in some industries. If the number of people selected is larger than the number of people that can be absorbed by the market, it may have a negative impact on employment.
