The Impact of Policies on International Graduate Students’ Adaptation in China

Abstract

In China, the number of international students has been increasing. These students are from different parts of the world, with Asians comprising the largest bulk and Americans and Europeans tailing behind. A stratum of the population is composed of those taking up graduate degrees. The present study probes the psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of international graduate students in the cities of Shanghai and Wuhan in China. Specifically, it examines the influence of national and institutional policies on their adaptation. Using mixed methods design, the study had 302 foreign graduate students as survey participants. Fourteen of them participated in the interviews. Correlation results showed that policies have a significant influence on adaptation. The interviews also illuminated insights on how policies have affected their adaptation in different ways. Given these findings, the study implicates the need to review and formulate policies to facilitate the adaptation of international graduate students.