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The changes of Chinese international student’s study motivation after COVID-19 in the US

Abstract

This study examines the presence of the Chinese students in the united states and tries to

investigate why a lot of the Chinese students decided to study abroad and why they decided to

choose the united states as their place of international study. This information is of significance

to college life at many universities and a much more vital source of fiscal income. The findings

illustrate that the Chinese international students are in need of education with a global view and

choose to terminate the Chinese education system of learning. This paper seeks to offer the

students, the university administrators, and other individuals a deep understanding of why the

Chinese students were motivated to study in the united states after the end of COVID-19 and to

contribute to the acquaintance area extent the Chinese students.

Keywords

Chinese international students in the US, Chinese families, COVID-19

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Introduction

The total number of Chinese undergraduates learning in the united states has increased.

Chinese international students and their families spend a lot of money to ensure that their

children are educated. International education in the united states is significant since it has

contributed significantly to its economy. The united states have tried its best to maintain its

leading position in attracting international students to the country where China is the leading

source of the international undergraduates learning in the US (Yang,2020). After the covid-19,

the number of Chinese scholars learning in the united states is starting to pick as it was before the

break out of the pandemic. The Chinese students contribute up to two-thirds of the total number

of international scholars learning in the united states. the researchers are seeking to understand

why most Chinese students are motivated to study in the united states and not their home country

China. This paper explores the drivers and the inspirations of the Chinese scholars who choose to

study in the united states after COVID-19.

Literature review

China had turn out to be the primary main source of the international undergraduates in

the united states. from the recent years before the outbreak of COVID-19, the international

schools in the US noted an over 40% growth rate of the Chinese international students from

China when compared to the total number of the international students. Education is the top

priority on the side of Chinese families (Marginson & Yang, 2022). The economy of China and

the modifications during the past decades led to a growth in the wealth and lessening the size of

the family where only one child was born in each family hence making the children in the

international school in the united states less onerous. The main reason why the Chinese families

send their children to study in the international schools in the united states is that they are tired of
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the education system, which focuses only on the student's academic progress at the expense of

the general advancement. Also, the Chinese families and the Chinese students value the degree

obtained in the united states when it is compared to the one obtained in their home country China

(Tang & Witt, 2018).

The significance of studying abroad is both felt by the individuals and the states. For

these reasons, the researchers are interested in investigating the motivation factors that encourage

Chinese students to study in the united states. About over 70% of sources of finance for the

Chinese international students in the US originate from their families. The findings obtained

illustrate that the Chinese international students seek education with a global view and elect to

break down from the Chinese education system. The paper majorly focuses in depth on the

Chinese international motivation for them to select to come and study in the US, to provide a

better understanding to the people (Crist & Popa, 2020).

Methods

The qualitative research methods were employed to conduct the one-on-one and

conducting detailed structured interviews with the Chinese students who study in the united

states (Zhang et al., 2021). after the interview, the resources are recorded, and that was they are

examined and analyzed. To increase the compression and the incorporation of the essential

categories, the concepts which were obtained from the primary information were compared with

the theoretical framework. From the primary data, the hypothetical framework, and the

hypothetical viewpoint stated, the paper progressively forms the scopes, the qualities, categories,

and as illustrated in the table below. Regarding the pen cyphering, the artifact appreciates the

interviewee's information for the interviews and the basis of the concept cataloging.

Findings and Analysis

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After the covid-19, many Chinese international students studying in the united states

were willing to continue studying in the US. A few of the students were willing to study

passively. The Chinese international students who chose to go to the united states can be

alienated into two active and passive from the information obtained. The active Chinese

international scholars in the united states believe that studying in the united states can help them

meet their life desires, mainly manifested in the need for differentiated growth and in-depth

advance. Most of the students are willing to study in the united states since of the worthiness of

overseas school certificates and degrees. The degree obtained in the US is more valued when

compared with the one obtained from the local schools in China (Helbich et al., 2019). The

information we obtained from the Chinese international students in the US who were willing to

be passive learners is that the pandemic affected them. As a result, their families invest a lot of

money in studying. Does their situation arise that what if they do not make it to the end? All the

money will be of no importance, and it will be all wasted.

The features of the Chinese international student's motivation changes are evident in the

education field in the united states after COVID-19. As a result, many of the Chinese students

who were studying in the US were motivated to continue with their studies. At the same time, a

few felt like the pandemic had affected them, and they saw the need to study passively since they

felt like they would not make it to the end. The Chinese students who were willing to continue

studying were actively motivated since they believed that studying in the united states could

enable them to achieve their life desires. The Chinese students and the teachers were the

interviewees who were projected to provide the information required upon the change of the

study motivation. If different people were used to providing the information, we could not have

obtained the projected information since the information would be biased.

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From the analysis, some of the common examples of first-level codes (academic

perspective) were “happiness,” “feeling relevant,” “positive behavior” and “actively being

motivated.” After some analysis, I was able to decode the data and moved the information from

first-level codes into the required second-level codes. Some of the common second-level codes

(social reference) that I encountered were “family investment,” “change of destination,”

“communication and perception strategies” and “identification of motivation strategies.”

Through this procedure, I was able to create the required form of analysis which would be

critical in giving the required meaning for personal information presented in the research.

However, after going through the second-level codes, there was considerable contrast to the

information that Chinese students undergo in the US and the program they had on community

participation and focus needed to explain the illusion of meaning that need to collegiate the

required level of recovery.

Discussion

The qualitative research helped me formulate a hypothesis for creating the qualitative

questioners, which I used to obtain the information from the students on the changes in the

Chinese international student's study motivation in the united states. Also, the qualitative

research helped me make the perceptions of the students' communication and motivation

strategies. Generally, the qualitative research was of significance in many ways. Also, it enabled

me to determine the language I could use to create a qualitative survey of the Chinese students.

Qualitative research is significant in creating the desired future for Chinese students perusing in

the united states (Hefner-Babb & Khoshlessan, 2018). It enabled me to thoroughly understand

the motivation factors of the Chinese international scholars learning in the united states. Also, it

enabled me to identify the two motivation strategies of the Chinese international students: active
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and passive motivations. As a result, it is possible to create a desired future through qualitative

research.

Some of the communication-related theories related to the Chinese international student's

study motivation in the united states include. The cultural student needs, the social trauma among

the Chinese students, and the first-generation college experience by the Chinese students in the

US. Some of the cultural communication theory illustrates how Chinese students use their

communication skills to negotiate with their cultural group. It consists of the morals, the

definitions, the customs, and the beliefs used by the Chinese students to relate to the motivating

theory. The second one is that Chinese students need to study in the US since they value the

degree obtained in the US more than the one obtained in their home country, China. The social

communication theory is general since the cultural identity is negotiated and supported in

communication when the students socialize with each other. Trauma among some Chinese

students makes them stressed, and they feel like they cannot make it. Hence, they feel like they

are not conformable, resulting in passive motivation. Lastly is the first generation of the college

experience among many Chinese students in the united states, making then to be eager to study,

resulting in active motivation.

Limitations and future directions

As the research is limited only to the Chinese international scholars learning in the US, it

does not provide the direction and the insight for the future researcher to build upon. The paper

can only be of significance for the Chinese students wishing to study in the united states. The

Chinese international student's study motivations for choosing to study in the united states may

also include more. The paper illustrated that both the Chinese families and the children value the

education in the international schools more than their home country's education. As long as they
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afford the cost, Chinese families' first choice is to direct their kids abroad to learn in international

schools (Wright & Auld, 2022). After the end of the pandemic (COVID-19), some Chinese

international students seemed that the situation had affected them, and they felt like they could

not make it to the end of their studies. This, as a result, would lead to the waste of a lot of money

by her family. As a result, this kind of student was passively motivated to study in the

international schools in the US.

The future direction of the findings could also focus on the lifestyle and the living style of

the Chinese international scholars in the united states. Somewhere else, many Chinese students

live together and speak their Chinese language. As a result, it illustrates a pottier between this

segment and the rest of the local and the international Chinese students.

Conclusion and recommendation

In conclusion, the changes in Chinese international study motivation in the united states

can be categorized into active and passive motivation. Many Chinese international students are

motivated actively since they believe that the education degree obtained in the united states is

more valued than the one obtained in their country China. Also, these students believe that

international education will enable them to endure in future life. When it comes to passive

motivation, some internationals illustrate that they are stressed if, in the end, they will not meet

their expectations and the expectations put on them by their parents. As a result, if, in the end, he

will not attain the expectations, that will be observed as a waste of a lot of money.

A future recommendation would be to look at the main differences between the Chinese

international students undergraduate and the graduate and compare the graduate Chinese

international students who have completed their degrees in the united states and those who are

going on with their studies. Also, the growing number of Chinese international students after the
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COVID-19 has raised some challenging questions. In future research, we will require to know

more about: what are the expectations of Chinese international students after they graduate?

Were their expectations met during their study time in the united states? If their expectations

were not met, what are the necessary activities that need to be done.?
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