1. Works Cited
Dave Tomar. “The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat” (2012)
2. Main ideas of the book
Dave Tomar is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He published an article titled “The Shadow Scholar” in 2010. In the article, Tomar revealed certain ugly truth in terms of the prevalence of college cheating by describing his experience as an “academic ghostwriter”. Then in 2012, Tomar published this book and provided a more detailed elaboration about how he became a ghostwriter as well as how he came clean. Tomar believed that American’s higher education was poorly managed and has become a business rather than aiming for improving academic proficiency. There was one chapter in his book titled “The RU Screw” (22-39) that was relatively representative, where he particularly condemned his college (Rutgers) for having the structure of bureaucracy. Tomar described how a public University like Rutgers runs more like business and strives to ripe students off in stead of providing sufficient support.
3. Quotes from the book
1. “I wish that parking tickets had less of a defining role in my experiences in college. Problem is, Parking and Transportation Services as the most efficiently run department in the entire university. It was as if all of the school’s resources had been dedicated to punishing scofflaw parkers, and the manpower and resources left for meaningful academic assistance, quality control, and psychological counseling had been utterly depleted” (Tomar, 22).
2. “The school couldn’t issue you a schedule without two overlapping classes. It couldn’t approve your financial aid without losing your paperwork. It couldn’t print your transcript without accidentally faxing your medical records to the student listserv. But if your meter had expired twenty seconds ago, you could be damn sure that a parking attendant was already writing your ticket out nineteen seconds ago” (Tomar 22).
3. “Rutgers is also, like most colleges, a business. But colleges are a special kind of business. It’s not simply that some colleges are structured more like corporations than like places of learning. It’s that many colleges are shitty businesses that don’t give a crap about customer service or quality assurance” (Tomar 23).
4. “This is every symptom of a sick system; every consequence of designing an institution of learning to function like a multinational business; every demonstration of the university’s commitment to its corporate sponsors at the expense of its student body; every bit of evidence that the educational goals of the school are secondary tp its vitality as a firm” (Tomar 25).
4. Conclusion:
In this chapter of his book, Tomar revealed some ugly truth about Rutgers University’s bureaucratic system and the problems last even until today. Students are not even treated like customers. They receive limited amount of support and constantly get charged. Tomar described his experience of trying to call the Parking and Transportation Services in order to resolve some parking issues and for five and a half minutes, he merely received two voices telling him to hold. The situation is pretty much the same when many international students try to contact the admission office during their application process. Although there was a department named “Center for International Students and Global Services”, it is getting difficult to receive help from them since you have to make appointments in advance or go to pre-determined walk-in hours which may be conflict with your class schedule. Nevertheless, international students still get charged twice the tuition cost as compared to in-state students plus many extra fees. However, some students use these difficulties as excuses to justify certain unethical behavior, such as cheating and plagiarizing. The behavior can be explained by the theory of Techniques of neutralization. The theory proposes that those who commit illegitimate acts temporarily neutralize
certain values within themselves which would normally prohibit them from
carrying out such acts, such as morality, obligation to abide by the
law, and so on. In simpler terms, it is a psychological method for
people to turn off "inner protests" when they do, or are about to do
something they themselves perceive as wrong. Consequently, since some students experience the emotion of being owed by the university, they no longer perceive such strong guilt when performing unethical behavior. They tend to justify the act of cheating and plagiarizing as a payback towards schools' lack of support. The problem will never be resolved if public universities continuously to function like business corporations and aim towards earning monetary gains instead of focusing on promoting support and services for students. The situation is even more detrimental for international students if public education fails to assure a smooth transition process when they encounter different cultural values and language barriers. It is therefore worth exploring the relationship between school support and the cheating/plagiarism culture in American public universities, especially why international students tend to cheat exams more under certain conditions.
More International Students are being admitted to American Colleges
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Research Blog #5: Bibliography with Five Scholarly Sources
1. Abe, J. Talbot, D.M. Geelhoed, R.J. "Effects of a peer program on international student adjustment. Journal of College Student Development", 39, 539–47 (1998).
2. Chang, H.-B. "Attitudes of Chinese students in the United States. Sociology of Social Research", 58, 66–77 (1973).
3. Rajapaksa, S., & Dundes, L. "It’s a long way home: International student adjustment to living in the United States". Journal of College Student Retention, 4, 15-28 (2002)
4. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. "The economic benefits of international students to the U.S. economy academic year 2011-2012". (2012)
5. Douglass, John Aubrey. “International Berkeley: Enrolling International Students Yesterday and Today, Debates on the Benefits of Multicultural Diversity, and Macro Questions on Access and Equity”. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.3.14 (March, 2014).
6. Elliott, M. A., C.J. Armitage, & C.J. Baughan. "Drivers’ compliance with speed limits: An application of the theory of planned behavior." Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2003): 964-972.
7. Fischer, K. “Colleges adapt to new kinds of students from abroad: Younger, sometimes less-experienced students require more academic and social support.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2011).
8. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen , I. “Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research.” (1975).
9. Ota, Akiko, "Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, and Academic Transitions of Chinese International ESL Students in U.S. Higher Education." Dissertations and Thesis. Paper 1051. (2013).
10. Reisberg, L. “Why do we want international students?” Inside Higher Ed (July, 2012).
Friday, October 23, 2015
Lit Review #2--MSU International Students Struggle to Fit In (Youtube Video).
1. Works Cited
"MSU international students struggle to fit in"
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpLnplJBnxQ&feature=em-share_video_user
2. Summary of the video
One of my high school classmates who is currently a junior at Michigan State University shared this video with me after viewing my blog. The recorders of the video are from a student organization of MSU called the Focal Point and they interviewed several MSU international students in terms of how they define their relationships with their American peers. Most of the people who were interviewed indicated that they found it difficult to build relationships with American students. Their elaboration reflects that there are some severe ramifications of the current trend of aggressively recruiting international students, especially Chinese students.
3. Quotes from students
At the beginning of the video, the recorder points out that "It's no secrets that MSU is home to thousands of international students. In the past year, the international student population grows by 8%, more than 6000 students" and the international program coordinator admits that "It really is around one country and one group and that is Chinese Undergraduates". It is therefore reasonable for us to suspect that some of these Chinese Undergraduates will encounter adaption problems in terms of social skills.
One Chinese students says: "I kinda feel like a long distance between me and them". Here, it is no doubt that "them" refers to his American peers caused by "cultural" and "language" barriers.
However, there is one girl who successfully integrated herself into American culture and she suggests that: "I felt Americans are really really like the top friendly..."
4. Conclusion
I personally believe that it is not easy to build a bridge between the cultural difference gap and there are only very few Chinese students who would have the courage to date an American. Surely we have to be open-minded but I do not see the necessity to become an American. However, international students, especially Chinese students definitely need to jump out of the circle of collectivism and interact with their peers from different countries. This is the only way that can help prevent "racial isolation" by creating positive images. We have to actively adapt into a different culture instead of hiding behind the group and speak Mandarin every single day.
Research Blog #4--Research Proposal (Updated)
Working Title:
Jackson, M., Ray, S., & Bybell, D. "International Students in the U.S.: Social and psychological adjustment. Journal of International Students", 3(1), 17-28. (2013). Print.
Kim, H. Y. "International graduate students' difficulties: Graduate classes as a community of practices. Teaching in Higher Education", 16(3), 281-292. (2011). Print.
McLachlan, D. A., & Justice, J. "A grounded theory of international student well-being. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing", 13(1), 27-32. (2009). Print.
Ota, Akiko, "Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, and Academic Transitions of Chinese International ESL Students in U.S. Higher Education." Dissertations and Thesis. Paper 1051. (2013). Web.
Young, A. "First time international college students’ level of anxiety in relationship to awareness of their learning-style preferences. J. of International Students", 1(2), 43-49. (2011). Print.
Zhang, J., Smith, S., Swisher, M., Fu, D., & Forgarty, K., "Gender role disruption and marital satisfaction among wives of Chinese international students in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies", 42(3), 523-542. (2011). Print.
How Do American Public Universities Help Resolve Adaptation Issues for International Students and The Effects On Their Academic Performance For Lacking School Support
Topic
The number of international students, especially Chinese students has increased significantly in American public educational institutions and the trend is predictable with the popularity of globalization. Since the economy conditions of countries in South Asia have developed significantly over the past thirty years, parents from middle-class families in China are more than willing to provide financial support for their children to study at American colleges. As a collective group, international students and their dependents contribute $21,807,000,000 to the U.S. economy annually. A critical point is that since their funding comes mostly from overseas and not from U.S. sources; this economic contribution to the U.S. society is not only from tuition ($15,812,000,000), but also from the living expenses, local services, and products international students and their dependents consume ($14,394,000,000) and has, in fact, helped create more jobs in the U.S.( Zhai, 2004; Association of International Educators [NAFSA], 2012). Therefore, we can conclude that admitting international students as compared to local students is an efficient way to compensate for the recent loss of state funding and taxation. However, the trend tends to create adverse effects in terms of public higher education's accountability in many flagship universities. For example, currently some state universities collaborate with for-profit recruiting agencies in China and lower the admission requirements in order to recruit more international students, simply because the business is lucrative. Liz Reisberg points out in her essay “Why do we want international students?” (July, 2012) that “When universities take the easy route to recruitment and “purchase” international students by paying agents to deliver warm bodies, it’s hard to believe that they will do the hard work necessary to host and support students from diverse cultures responsibly. More likely a senior administrator sees the opportunity of working with agents as an easy way to increase revenue without an additional budget line for infrastructure or personnel” (Reisberg). The idea that more American colleges "purchase" international students abroad implies that privatizing the recruitment process has enormous economic benefits. It’s tempting to believe that when American colleges use shortcuts in recruiting, they are less likely to make the institutional commitment necessary to ensure international students a successful transition process in college. Consequently, since American colleges lack the understanding of certain unique needs of this diverse group and commit the necessary resources for the services that international students require, more international students suffer from cultural adaption issues. For instance, there are inevitable collisions in terms of cultural differences such as individualism to collectivism. Karin Fischer proposes an idea called the “Classroom Culture Clashes” in her article by explaining: “Colleges adapt to new kinds of students from abroad: Younger, sometimes less-experienced students require more academic and social support. One of the places cultural differences come to a head is in the classroom. American educational culture emphasizes critical thinking, drawing conclusions, and classroom participation. Those may be foreign concepts to students schooled in systems that stress rote memorization and esteem for one's teachers. Tonya Veltrop, director of international and off-campus programs at Westminster, says many of her East Asian students turn in papers copied word-for-word from books and other primary sources. "They see that as respectful," she says. "We'd call it cheating."” (Fisher, May 2011). Therefore, we see that there generates severe consequences if international students are not provided with sufficient support during the adaptation process. Cultural differences and traditions add more difficulties for international students to define the boundary of certain behavior such as cheating and plagiarizing, which in turn creates more obstacles academically in addition to language difficulties. There are numerous cases where there are certain number of Chinese students who are expelled from their colleges due to plagiarizing whereas most are even unaware of the definition and consequences of the behavior. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate how much support American colleges provide for international students that could help them overcome adaptation issues in addition to aggressive recruitment. I propose to consider how much support that American public education provides for international students in terms of their cultural adaptation process and more specifically, whether the result can help explain the growing trend of cheating and plagiarism among Chinese students . Research suggests that pairing counselors/mentors with international students may help them adjust better to American colleges and it is also crucial to provide English courses in order to help them succeed academically.
Topic
The number of international students, especially Chinese students has increased significantly in American public educational institutions and the trend is predictable with the popularity of globalization. Since the economy conditions of countries in South Asia have developed significantly over the past thirty years, parents from middle-class families in China are more than willing to provide financial support for their children to study at American colleges. As a collective group, international students and their dependents contribute $21,807,000,000 to the U.S. economy annually. A critical point is that since their funding comes mostly from overseas and not from U.S. sources; this economic contribution to the U.S. society is not only from tuition ($15,812,000,000), but also from the living expenses, local services, and products international students and their dependents consume ($14,394,000,000) and has, in fact, helped create more jobs in the U.S.( Zhai, 2004; Association of International Educators [NAFSA], 2012). Therefore, we can conclude that admitting international students as compared to local students is an efficient way to compensate for the recent loss of state funding and taxation. However, the trend tends to create adverse effects in terms of public higher education's accountability in many flagship universities. For example, currently some state universities collaborate with for-profit recruiting agencies in China and lower the admission requirements in order to recruit more international students, simply because the business is lucrative. Liz Reisberg points out in her essay “Why do we want international students?” (July, 2012) that “When universities take the easy route to recruitment and “purchase” international students by paying agents to deliver warm bodies, it’s hard to believe that they will do the hard work necessary to host and support students from diverse cultures responsibly. More likely a senior administrator sees the opportunity of working with agents as an easy way to increase revenue without an additional budget line for infrastructure or personnel” (Reisberg). The idea that more American colleges "purchase" international students abroad implies that privatizing the recruitment process has enormous economic benefits. It’s tempting to believe that when American colleges use shortcuts in recruiting, they are less likely to make the institutional commitment necessary to ensure international students a successful transition process in college. Consequently, since American colleges lack the understanding of certain unique needs of this diverse group and commit the necessary resources for the services that international students require, more international students suffer from cultural adaption issues. For instance, there are inevitable collisions in terms of cultural differences such as individualism to collectivism. Karin Fischer proposes an idea called the “Classroom Culture Clashes” in her article by explaining: “Colleges adapt to new kinds of students from abroad: Younger, sometimes less-experienced students require more academic and social support. One of the places cultural differences come to a head is in the classroom. American educational culture emphasizes critical thinking, drawing conclusions, and classroom participation. Those may be foreign concepts to students schooled in systems that stress rote memorization and esteem for one's teachers. Tonya Veltrop, director of international and off-campus programs at Westminster, says many of her East Asian students turn in papers copied word-for-word from books and other primary sources. "They see that as respectful," she says. "We'd call it cheating."” (Fisher, May 2011). Therefore, we see that there generates severe consequences if international students are not provided with sufficient support during the adaptation process. Cultural differences and traditions add more difficulties for international students to define the boundary of certain behavior such as cheating and plagiarizing, which in turn creates more obstacles academically in addition to language difficulties. There are numerous cases where there are certain number of Chinese students who are expelled from their colleges due to plagiarizing whereas most are even unaware of the definition and consequences of the behavior. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate how much support American colleges provide for international students that could help them overcome adaptation issues in addition to aggressive recruitment. I propose to consider how much support that American public education provides for international students in terms of their cultural adaptation process and more specifically, whether the result can help explain the growing trend of cheating and plagiarism among Chinese students . Research suggests that pairing counselors/mentors with international students may help them adjust better to American colleges and it is also crucial to provide English courses in order to help them succeed academically.
Research Question:
To what extent do American public universities provide support for international students during their cultural adaptation process? Also, do international students, especially Chinese students are being adversely influenced academically so that more of them conduct unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarizing due to lack of school support?
To what extent do American public universities provide support for international students during their cultural adaptation process? Also, do international students, especially Chinese students are being adversely influenced academically so that more of them conduct unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarizing due to lack of school support?
Theory:
There are substantial research papers that explore the effects of the current trend of the growing amount of international students in American public universities as well as the associated adaptation and acculturation issues that seem inevitable to them. Nowadays, American public universities advocate for the idea of diversity and open their doors for international students to prove its significance. However, the motive behind this movement is worth exploring due to the fact that admitting international students substantially help compensate the loss of state funding. John Aubrey Douglass, the author of the research essay: “INTERNATIONAL BERKELEY: Enrolling International Students Yesterday and Today, Debates on the Benefits of Multicultural Diversity, and Macro Questions on Access and Equity*” specifically analyzes the situation in California. He proposes the theory of a “Zero Sum Conundrum” by arguing that the UC education system forces low-income Californian families to compete the opportunity of going to college with international students due to lack of funding; there will hardly have a balance between two parties and international students tend to win because they have more financial leverages. While Douglass condemns the fact that the UC education system covers its true motives for heavily recruiting international students by saying that it is a way to promote diversity in American colleges, he views international students as a collective group. Nevertheless, as individuals, adapting to Western culture is inevitably a major challenge for international students, especially Chinese students. Undergraduate and master’s degree students at U.S. colleges report various cultural and social issues. These include differences with the norms and social practices of American society (Jackson, Ray, & Bybell, 2013; McLachlan & Justice, 2009; Sherry, Thomas & Chui, 2010); identity complications due to race and ethnicity (Kim, 2012); and disruptions of family relationships due to academic demands and distance from home (Poyrazli & Kavanaugh, 2006; Zhang, Smith, Swisher, Fu, & Forgarty, 2011). These issues are common to both domestic and international students who travel away from home to different college locations. However, there are certain significant challenges that directly affect the international student population, particularly, the lack of English language proficiency and adjustments to differences in teaching approaches (Kim, 2011; Kuo, 2011; Sherry, Thomas, & Chui, 2010; Telbis, Helgeson, & Kingsbury, 2014). Within the American academic culture, students contribute to each other’s learning experiences through group discussions and projects. This level of interaction among students is difficult during the early stages of the international students’ tenure as they are of diverse educational backgrounds with different teaching methods and student values (Kim, 2011; Young, 2011). Furthermore, those who speak English as a second language have difficulties interrelating with peers and instructors, and feel challenged by the expectations of academic writing and oral presentations (Kim, 2012; Sue & Rawlings, 2013). Similar troubles were evident outside of classroom settings as foreign students try to integrate with the American community (Chavajay, 2013).
Since the U.S. individualistic cultural values and collectivist cultural values are significantly different, this leads to international students encounter significant challenges in acclimating and adjusting to new academic and social lives once they arrive on campus (Lee & Rice, 2007; Trice, 2007)” (Ota 3). The idea of collectivism is almost exclusive to Chinese students and that somewhat predicts the fact that Chinese students find it difficult to fit into American society; not to mention that language difficulties create more barriers academically. Consequently, the feeling of being isolated and marginalized serve as a "Neutralizing Technique" that directly contributes to the prevalence of certain unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarism. The idea of "Neutralization Technique" is proposed in Gresham Sykes and David Matza's theory of Neutralization. They argue that would-be teenager delinquents must find ways to preemptively neutralize the guilt and protect their self-image if they choose to participate in delinquent or deviant behavior. One way to do this is by using techniques of neutralization that provide episodic relief from moral constraint and allow individuals to drift back and forth between delinquent and conventional behavior. Drift is possible because neutralization techniques blunt the moral force of dominant cultural norms and neutralize the guilt of delinquent behavior in specific situations. Sykes and Matza outlined five neutralization techniques: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victims, appeal to higher loyalties, and condemnation of condemners. In the case of international students' intention to cheat and plagiarize, the technique of "denial of responsibility" and "appeal to higher loyalties" may play a significant role in causing the problems,
In order to further explore the ramifications of cheating as a result of unsuccessful adaptation and acculturation process, we can adopt the theoretical model of TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior). According to the TPB, behavioral intentions and perceived behavioral control are the main determinants of behavior. Intentions are determined independently by attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1985; Elliott et al., 2003). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that in addition to cultural differences that made it difficult for international students to adapt smoothly to American colleges, they also form certain negative attitudes and subjective norms due to the lack of staff support and even negligence. Thus this theoretical framework of TPB provides us with more possibility of understanding the rationale behind Chinese students’ alleged cheating behavior since the issue is not merely an unethical behavior but an inevitable ramification of a failed cultural adaptation process.
Bibliography
Chavajay, P. "Perceived social support among international students at a U.S. university. Psychological Reports: Sociocultural Issues in Psychology", 112(2), 667 – 677. (2013). Print.
Douglass, John Aubrey. “International Berkeley: Enrolling International Students Yesterday and Today, Debates on the Benefits of Multicultural Diversity, and Macro Questions on Access and Equity”. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.3.14. March, 2014. Web.
Elliott, M. A., C.J. Armitage, & C.J. Baughan. "Drivers’ compliance with speed limits: An application of the theory of planned behavior." Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2003): 964-972. Web.
Since the U.S. individualistic cultural values and collectivist cultural values are significantly different, this leads to international students encounter significant challenges in acclimating and adjusting to new academic and social lives once they arrive on campus (Lee & Rice, 2007; Trice, 2007)” (Ota 3). The idea of collectivism is almost exclusive to Chinese students and that somewhat predicts the fact that Chinese students find it difficult to fit into American society; not to mention that language difficulties create more barriers academically. Consequently, the feeling of being isolated and marginalized serve as a "Neutralizing Technique" that directly contributes to the prevalence of certain unethical behavior such as cheating and plagiarism. The idea of "Neutralization Technique" is proposed in Gresham Sykes and David Matza's theory of Neutralization. They argue that would-be teenager delinquents must find ways to preemptively neutralize the guilt and protect their self-image if they choose to participate in delinquent or deviant behavior. One way to do this is by using techniques of neutralization that provide episodic relief from moral constraint and allow individuals to drift back and forth between delinquent and conventional behavior. Drift is possible because neutralization techniques blunt the moral force of dominant cultural norms and neutralize the guilt of delinquent behavior in specific situations. Sykes and Matza outlined five neutralization techniques: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victims, appeal to higher loyalties, and condemnation of condemners. In the case of international students' intention to cheat and plagiarize, the technique of "denial of responsibility" and "appeal to higher loyalties" may play a significant role in causing the problems,
In order to further explore the ramifications of cheating as a result of unsuccessful adaptation and acculturation process, we can adopt the theoretical model of TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior). According to the TPB, behavioral intentions and perceived behavioral control are the main determinants of behavior. Intentions are determined independently by attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1985; Elliott et al., 2003). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that in addition to cultural differences that made it difficult for international students to adapt smoothly to American colleges, they also form certain negative attitudes and subjective norms due to the lack of staff support and even negligence. Thus this theoretical framework of TPB provides us with more possibility of understanding the rationale behind Chinese students’ alleged cheating behavior since the issue is not merely an unethical behavior but an inevitable ramification of a failed cultural adaptation process.
Bibliography
Chavajay, P. "Perceived social support among international students at a U.S. university. Psychological Reports: Sociocultural Issues in Psychology", 112(2), 667 – 677. (2013). Print.
Douglass, John Aubrey. “International Berkeley: Enrolling International Students Yesterday and Today, Debates on the Benefits of Multicultural Diversity, and Macro Questions on Access and Equity”. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.3.14. March, 2014. Web.
Elliott, M. A., C.J. Armitage, & C.J. Baughan. "Drivers’ compliance with speed limits: An application of the theory of planned behavior." Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2003): 964-972. Web.
Fischer, K. “Colleges adapt to new kinds of students from abroad: Younger, sometimes less-experienced students require more academic and social support.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2011). Web.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen , I. “Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research.” (1975). Web.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen , I. “Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research.” (1975). Web.
Jackson, M., Ray, S., & Bybell, D. "International Students in the U.S.: Social and psychological adjustment. Journal of International Students", 3(1), 17-28. (2013). Print.
Kim, H. Y. "International graduate students' difficulties: Graduate classes as a community of practices. Teaching in Higher Education", 16(3), 281-292. (2011). Print.
McLachlan, D. A., & Justice, J. "A grounded theory of international student well-being. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing", 13(1), 27-32. (2009). Print.
Ota, Akiko, "Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, and Academic Transitions of Chinese International ESL Students in U.S. Higher Education." Dissertations and Thesis. Paper 1051. (2013). Web.
Poyrazli, S., & Kavanaugh, P. R. "Marital status, ethnicity, academic achievement, and adjustment strains. College Student Journal", 40(4), 767-780. (2006). Print.
Reisberg, L. “Why do we want international students?” Inside Higher Ed. July, 2012. Web.
Sherry, M., Thomas, P., & Wing-Hong, C. "International students: A vulnerable student population. Higher Education", 60(1), 33-46. (2010). Print.
Sue, E., & Rawlings, M. "Preparedness of Chinese students for American culture and communicating in English. Journal of International Students", 3(1), 330-341. (2013). Print.
Reisberg, L. “Why do we want international students?” Inside Higher Ed. July, 2012. Web.
Sherry, M., Thomas, P., & Wing-Hong, C. "International students: A vulnerable student population. Higher Education", 60(1), 33-46. (2010). Print.
Sue, E., & Rawlings, M. "Preparedness of Chinese students for American culture and communicating in English. Journal of International Students", 3(1), 330-341. (2013). Print.
Telbis, N. M., Helgeson, L., & Kingsbury, C., "International students' confidence and academic success. Journal of International Students", 1(2), 43- 49. (2013). Print.
Young, A. "First time international college students’ level of anxiety in relationship to awareness of their learning-style preferences. J. of International Students", 1(2), 43-49. (2011). Print.
Zhang, J., Smith, S., Swisher, M., Fu, D., & Forgarty, K., "Gender role disruption and marital satisfaction among wives of Chinese international students in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies", 42(3), 523-542. (2011). Print.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Research Blog #3: How Privatization Connects to My Topic
Privatization connects to my topic because the trend of enrolling more and more international students contributes substantially to the increase
of college tuition in the US. This idea is discussed in many ways in the readings
such as “Understanding privatization.” In this reading "The Chinese Mother;s American Dream", the author Karin Fischer argues "American colleges offer relatively little financial assistance to international undergraduates, which is where the real growth from China has been. Indeed, though many institutions are loath to admit it, overseas recruitment has been a budgetary bright spot during and after the recession. Chinese students’ ability to pay is part of their appeal" (Fischer 7). The observation reflects that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between China's booming economy and the growing admission rates of Chinese students into American colleges. International students are willing to contribute twice the tuition in order to have the opportunity to be educated in American colleges since Chinese parents believe that the Return on Investment is incalculable if their children can earn a bachelors degree in the US. Therefore, the trend tends to drive up the overall cost of attending colleges especially when state funding drops simultaneously. Not only do the cost of textbooks increases, but universities also privatize services (hiring part-time professors, outsourcing accounting and dining services, etc.), which add more miscellaneous fees to tuition. Consequently, both American students and international students undertake more financial pressure and concern more about graduation. The worries of being exploited the education privileges thus adversely affect their academic performance as well as psychological health. I would like to gather more information of how the growing tuition cost affect students' as individuals because I believe that students from affluent families must experience differently from those who take students loans to attend colleges. I would assume that admitting international students implicitly reinforces the prevalence of privatizing American's public higher education and will continuously explore the issue on a more sophisticated level.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Lit Review #1
1. Works Cited
Stephens, Paul. "International Students: Separate But Profitable." Washington Monthly 45.9/10 (2013): 55. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
2. Main ideas of the article
This article proposes some concerns over the issue that the amount of international students recruited by U.S. flagship state universities is increasing drastically over the past five years. The author Stephens Paul provided specific examples of Purdue University that depends heavily on international students to compensate for the declining state spending on public higher education. Paul points out several downsides of the rising of international students' role in American Higher Education. Since flagship state universities such as Purdue does not require SAT/ACT scores for international students' admission, they alleviate the risk of driving down school's selectivity Therefore, this relatively lower admission requirement fosters big business do college recruiting (for-profit agencies, for example) and the integrity of the process can no longer be assured. The large amount of international students in state universities also leads to isolation because international students are grouped together and thus rarely reach out to their American peers. From an economic standpoint, admitting more international student implies that state disinvestment will continue and there will be even less state support for American public higher education.
3. Quotes from the article
1) "International students bring a lot of money into the United States, contributing roughly $22 billion to the U.S. economy. in 2012, according to one estimate. Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, has said the U.S. has “no better export” than higher education, and Larry Summers, former secretary of the treasury and former Harvard president, lists “exporting higher education”—bringing more international students to American institutions—as a key part of his recommendations for economic growth" (56).
2) "In Indiana, international students bring $688 million in economic benefits, equivalent to 40 percent of what the state spends on higher education every year. At Purdue, the tuition paid by international undergraduates since 2007 accounts for almost half of all the new revenue it has raised through tuition" (56).
3) "Chinese parents who have spent years saving nest eggs to send their child to university see highly ranked American public schools as a great value compared to private colleges. With growing wealth and a lack of educational infrastructure in China—and millions of single children reaching college age—Chinese parents are willing to pay the price" (56).
4) "The search for out-of-state tuition dollars has been going on for a long time, but it was somewhat kept in check by a limited pool of students, and the possible loss of prestige from lowering standards. But a limitless supply of international students changes the game quite a bit, Roza said. “People say, ‘Oh well, they’re supporting our kids,”’ she said, referring to the financial benefits of having out-of-state and international students. “But they aren’t supporting our kids if our kids aren’t getting in” " (57)
5) “It’s a classic scenario of a developing market,” said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, about the use of agencies for recruiting student abroad. “The borders are not well determined.” Hawkins’s organization recent released a report recommending best practices for recruiting abroad, a scene that he has characterized as a “gold rush.” The recommendations call for strict guidelines to ensure transparency and institutional accountability in the use of paid agents. But even for universities that don’t pay agents to recruit abroad, gray areas remain in the relationship, Hawkins said, since the university is largely dependent on their services for international applications" (58).
6) "It raises the specter of a downward spiral of state disinvestment and decreasing public support for universities, adding grease to the slippery slope of increasing privatization" (59).
2. Main ideas of the article
This article proposes some concerns over the issue that the amount of international students recruited by U.S. flagship state universities is increasing drastically over the past five years. The author Stephens Paul provided specific examples of Purdue University that depends heavily on international students to compensate for the declining state spending on public higher education. Paul points out several downsides of the rising of international students' role in American Higher Education. Since flagship state universities such as Purdue does not require SAT/ACT scores for international students' admission, they alleviate the risk of driving down school's selectivity Therefore, this relatively lower admission requirement fosters big business do college recruiting (for-profit agencies, for example) and the integrity of the process can no longer be assured. The large amount of international students in state universities also leads to isolation because international students are grouped together and thus rarely reach out to their American peers. From an economic standpoint, admitting more international student implies that state disinvestment will continue and there will be even less state support for American public higher education.
3. Quotes from the article
1) "International students bring a lot of money into the United States, contributing roughly $22 billion to the U.S. economy. in 2012, according to one estimate. Francisco Sanchez, the undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, has said the U.S. has “no better export” than higher education, and Larry Summers, former secretary of the treasury and former Harvard president, lists “exporting higher education”—bringing more international students to American institutions—as a key part of his recommendations for economic growth" (56).
2) "In Indiana, international students bring $688 million in economic benefits, equivalent to 40 percent of what the state spends on higher education every year. At Purdue, the tuition paid by international undergraduates since 2007 accounts for almost half of all the new revenue it has raised through tuition" (56).
3) "Chinese parents who have spent years saving nest eggs to send their child to university see highly ranked American public schools as a great value compared to private colleges. With growing wealth and a lack of educational infrastructure in China—and millions of single children reaching college age—Chinese parents are willing to pay the price" (56).
4) "The search for out-of-state tuition dollars has been going on for a long time, but it was somewhat kept in check by a limited pool of students, and the possible loss of prestige from lowering standards. But a limitless supply of international students changes the game quite a bit, Roza said. “People say, ‘Oh well, they’re supporting our kids,”’ she said, referring to the financial benefits of having out-of-state and international students. “But they aren’t supporting our kids if our kids aren’t getting in” " (57)
5) “It’s a classic scenario of a developing market,” said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, about the use of agencies for recruiting student abroad. “The borders are not well determined.” Hawkins’s organization recent released a report recommending best practices for recruiting abroad, a scene that he has characterized as a “gold rush.” The recommendations call for strict guidelines to ensure transparency and institutional accountability in the use of paid agents. But even for universities that don’t pay agents to recruit abroad, gray areas remain in the relationship, Hawkins said, since the university is largely dependent on their services for international applications" (58).
6) "It raises the specter of a downward spiral of state disinvestment and decreasing public support for universities, adding grease to the slippery slope of increasing privatization" (59).
4. Conclusion
I think this article could greatly contribute to my topic as it supports my proposed ideas. It is also useful in the way that it provides specific examples/evidence in terms of the point that I am trying to make. Admitting international students benefit flagship state universities more financial as compared to academically. The idea of promoting diversity merely supplements the big picture but not the emphasis. For international students, although having the opportunity to pursue a degree in American universities is inevitably an advantage, most of them are isolated and only communicate with people with the same nationality. Hence, this isolation may have adverse effects on how international students place themselves in American universities as well as how they perceive the school environment. I would want to gather more information about international students' subject experience in American colleges and hopefully the searching process gives me a better frame for that purpose.
I think this article could greatly contribute to my topic as it supports my proposed ideas. It is also useful in the way that it provides specific examples/evidence in terms of the point that I am trying to make. Admitting international students benefit flagship state universities more financial as compared to academically. The idea of promoting diversity merely supplements the big picture but not the emphasis. For international students, although having the opportunity to pursue a degree in American universities is inevitably an advantage, most of them are isolated and only communicate with people with the same nationality. Hence, this isolation may have adverse effects on how international students place themselves in American universities as well as how they perceive the school environment. I would want to gather more information about international students' subject experience in American colleges and hopefully the searching process gives me a better frame for that purpose.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Research Blog #2--develop more ideas about my research topic.
Today's class was extremely beneficial in terms of teaching us to do research on scholarly articles and journals that can help develop our research topics. I was able to generate more ideas about my topic based on the articles that I found on ERIC: "Where We Are Now--The Presence and Importance of International Students to Universities in the United States", "Tuition Fees for International Students in Finland: Where to Go from Here?", "International Students as a Resource for Achieving Comprehensive Internationalization" and "The Interplay of International Students' Acculturative Stress, Social Support, and Acculturation Modes". I located two main sub-topics for my research topic . On the one hand, I would like to explore more details about how the growing admission rate of international students affect the cost of attending public higher educational institutions. Also, I would like to explore issues about acculturation. There exists substantial differences between Western culture and Asian culture whereas universities have always been viewed as a place where diversification is valued. I would like to conduct interviews with some international students from China, Japan and Korea and ask them if they had a smooth cultural transition upon entering Rutgers and/or if they had experienced instances involve racial discrimination. I assume that the acculturation process may cause stress both psychologically and physically, which in turn adversely affect international students' academic performance. More importantly, I was able to detect some controversies over my topic because although it seems unequal to charge twice the tuition for international students, admitting more foreign student tends to be an inevitable and necessary step for American colleges, due to the decreasing amount of state fund and tax. From international students' standpoint, the fact of having the opportunity to attend American universities is extremely beneficial for their future development. Therefore, the deal seems to be a win-win situation for both parties. I believe that the bargain is worth exploring in addition to the problems associated with the rise in tuition cost.
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