From Familial Pressure to Seeking One’s Fortune: Chinese International Students’ Search for Geographical and Social Mobility as a Response to Societal and Familial Pressures

Abstract

The societal changes seen in China since 1978 have created a sharp generational divide. Those born after the 1980s are mostly singletons raised with high life-expectations, both of themselves and from their families. The singletons want freedom of choice and social mobility, but the stiff competition at Chinese universities makes such ambitions unattainable for many. Study abroad is sometimes seen as an alternative gateway to social mobility. This chapter is based on participant observation of, and interviews with, a group of 40 Chinese students in Norway. The fieldwork took place from 2012 to 2014. The research questions concern (a) what motivates their sojourn, (b) their aspirations for the future and (c) how their migration would facilitate this. The findings are that they seek to construct themselves as global citizens able to travel and work anywhere. A Western degree is seen as enabling this. However, as single children, the burden of caring for their parents is theirs alone and a decline in the health of the latter would therefore necessitate an early return. Thus, the opportunities abroad are, by their nature, transitory and liable to be cut short at any time. However, the students believe that they will retain potential mobility, which may be used when their life-circumstances permit.