Chinese International Students in the United States: Demographic Trends, Motivations, and Acculturation Features

Abstract

This chapter addresses the unique features of Chinese international students in the United States in three dimensions. The first part includes the literature pertinent to the history and demographic information of Chinese international students in American higher education. In the second part, the review turns to the literature concerning what factors drive Chinese students to study abroad. The third part mainly discusses Chinese students’ acculturation features in terms of group-level factors such as culture, social life, and employment and immigration issues. In the next chapter, the discussion moves on to the special challenges Chinese students face while studying in the United States. In doing so, these two chapters synthesize the literature which provides a stage setting for this study.