A shifting portrait
Students from China studying in the United States in recent years were more likely to experience political pressure and discrimination than earlier generations, according to a survey of Chinese graduates that spans the past three decades.
The first-of-its-kind survey polled people from mainland China who earned undergraduate or graduate degrees from American colleges between 1991, when Chinese students began going abroad in significant numbers, and 2021, when China had become the top source of globally mobile students, accounting for one in three international students on U.S. campuses. It was conducted by the U.S.-China Education Trust, which promotes educational exchange between the two countries, and the China Data Lab of the University of California at San Diego’s 21st Century China Center, a research institute.
Among students in the most recent cohort, or those who graduated after 2016, more than half said they had experienced discrimination while in the United States. By contrast, only about a third of those who graduated between 2004 and 2015 reported discriminatory incidents. Among the earliest cohort, just 15 percent had such experiences.
The uptick in negative encounters in recent years is of little surprise: Tensions between China and the United States intensified during this period, and Chinese students increasingly found themselves caught in the middle. President Donald J. Trump reportedly called Chinese students spies and considered barring them from studying in the United States. A 2021 Pew Research Center poll found that 55 percent of Americans favored some restrictions on Chinese students. And the last of the students surveyed graduated during the Covid-19 pandemic, when anti-Asian racism spiked.
The most recent group of graduates were also more likely to report feeling pressure to express certain political views — from American sources and their fellow Chinese nationals. About a third of such graduates said they had felt political pressure from one side or the other.
Rising political pressures
One respondent reported feeling “compelled to defend [the] Chinese government’s official political stance because [they were] from China.” Another said that they received negative feedback from other Chinese students on campus for expressing what were perceived to be “anti-China“ sentiments.
For those who graduated before 2004, politics were much less of an issue: Just 13 percent said they had experienced political pressure from Chinese sources and less than 10 percent from Americans.
Across all graduates, about four in 10 reported feeling “distant” from American society.
Still, the vast majority of students said their experience in the United States was a positive one. Eighty-five percent said Americans were friendly and welcoming, with nearly half saying they strongly agreed with that view.
Asked if they would do it again, eight in 10 graduates said they would study in the United States. A similar share said they would encourage their children to go to an American college, a response that was consistent whether they had stayed in the United States after graduation or returned to China.
The location of respondents, however, is one limitation of the survey, which was distributed through colleges and alumni groups, international-education associations, Chinese professional societies, and organizations with ties to China. About three-quarters of those who participated currently live in the United States, a proportion that does not reflect the many graduates who return to their home country.
A report on the survey notes that “political sensitivities” can complicate polling in China, where people may be hesitant to respond even to anonymous surveys. That dynamic could have discouraged participation by recent alumni in particular, the report notes, as they have been most affected by political tensions.
Despite this limitation, the report paints a shifting portrait of Chinese students in America over the years. Perhaps the single-biggest change is in who pays: Among the initial wave of students, fewer than 10 percent received financial support from their parents. That’s most likely explained by the fact that most of the earliest students were graduate students who received scholarships and stipends from American colleges.
Over the years — as China’s middle class has grown and as undergraduate enrollments have outpaced those at the graduate level — parents have paid more of the tuition bill. About 40 percent of students who graduated between 2004 and 2015 said they had gotten financial assistance from their families. Among recent graduates, more than three-quarters reported such support.
Other trends are less clear cut. Recent students were more likely to say that they spent much of their time studying, crowding out their social life. Yet, participation in a number of extracurricular activities — such as volunteering, taking part in dance or theatre, or writing for the campus newspaper — has increased over time.
Recent graduates were also more likely than their predecessors to have had a non-Chinese roommate, which can be key to integration on campus. Yet that finding may also reflect the larger share of undergraduates among younger alumni. Incoming freshmen are more likely to be assigned roommates than graduate students who can pick their housing.
One finding was consistent over the years: Educational quality drives Chinese students to seek an American degree. Nearly all respondents said a desire to get the “best possible education” was important or somewhat important in their decision to study abroad.
Experiencing life outside China and having more freedom to choose their area of study and their career were also important factors.
