INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' PATHWAY: MAINLAND CHINESE STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Going beyond the simplistic understanding of international student mobility as a form of educational exchange and human capital development, this thesis attempts to investigate the Mainland Chinese student migratory flows as a particular life stage where the attention is paid towards how the experience of studying abroad shapes the Chinese youths? pathway in life. Situated in the transitional phase of emerging adulthood, the student migration trajectory is tied to the simultaneous demands from the Chinese youths? commitment to education and their youthful desires for experimentation and exploration. Yet embedded in these processes are also the Chinese parents? aspirations and expectations, which arise out of the fetishization of the single-child, in directing the youth people?s pathway in life. Therefore, this thesis seeks to examine how the Chinese youths? student migration trajectory is structured by the interplay of the commitment to education, the youthful aspirations for exploration and the parental aspirations as they navigate their life alongside the transition to adulthood.