International Experiences and Global Competence of Chinese Graduate Students Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

International Experiences and Global Competence of Chinese Graduate Students Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Yuhao Cen (bio) and Yuan Yang (bio) Graduate education is the fastest-growing segment of postsecondary enrollment in China. In 2011, the total enrollment of graduate students was 1.66 million. In 2021, the number doubled to 3.33 million, among whom 2.82 million were master's students (Ministry of Education, 2022). The central government held the National Graduate Education Congress in 2020, the first of its kind since 1949, highlighting the strategic role of graduate education in economic and social development. A number of policies followed, one promoting the internationalization of graduate education to prepare high-level talents with global competence. Global competence, defined as "having an open mind while actively seeking to understand cultural norms and expectations of others [and] leveraging this gained knowledge to interact, communicate and work effectively outside one's environment" (Hunter et al., 2006, p.277), is a multidimensional construct. Many studies have suggested it has three components: (a) knowledge, (b) skills, and (c) attitudes (Deardorff, 2006; Hunter et al., 2006; Olson & Kroeger, 2001; Salzer & Roczen, 2018). Graduate students' global competence can be developed by pursuing degrees abroad or through overseas academic experiences (OAE). Higher education students in China with overseas experience display a significantly higher level of global competence, and studying abroad is the largest impactor of global competence (Cen et al., 2020; Hu & Li, 2021). Internationalizationat-home (IaH), the purposeful integration of international and intercultural experiences for all students within domestic learning environments (Beelen & Jones, 2015), is another approach to cultivating global competence (Cen & Yang, 2022; Flammia et al., 2019; Jon, 2013). In Chinese higher education, students' IaH participation has been much higher than their participation in cross-border activities, while those with overseas experiences have tended to be more active and engaged in IaH (Xu et al., 2019). During the COVID-19 pandemic, academic mobility was impeded by border closures, travel restrictions, and campus lockdowns. The zero-tolerance approach was administered in mainland China for three years following the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Chinese students who had considered pursuing graduate degrees abroad turned to graduate education at home. Meanwhile, international cooperative [End Page 491] Click for larger view View full resolution Table 1. Student Composition and Response Rate programs and overseas academic opportunities were minimized. Did the global competence of graduate students decrease over these three years? Did student participation in IaH activities increase as an alternative? The present study sought to assess the changes in international engagement and global competence among graduate students in China. METHOD Data and Sample The data for this study came from annual exit surveys of master's students at a large public research university in China between 2020 and 2022. Located in a metropolitan city on the east coast and supported by the national initiative to build world-class universities, the institution is committed to internationalization, including facilitating student and faculty mobility, recruiting international students, and implementing cooperative research and teaching programs. Competitive scholarships offered by the government, University Graduate School, and schools support OAE. Most full-time master's degree programs run for 2.5 years at this institution, and the exit survey was administered in March to all graduating students in these programs. Survey participation was voluntary, and the survey was advertised through internal university communications before it was issued online. Self-reported data from college students can include potential challenges (Bowman & Seifert, 2011), yet we expected increased validity among graduate respondents. The survey was distributed in Chinese but translated for this article. Table 1 provides student sample and response rate information. The samples resembled the demographic characteristics of the populations for each cohort. The class of 2020 had a majority of their graduate experiences prior to COVID-19 and served as a pre-pandemic comparison group. Variables Based on the global competence model (Hunter et al., 2006), Liu and Wu (2015) designed a scale assessing college student international competence in Chinese higher education. For this study, we revised some items to reflect the academic orientation of graduate education (e.g., "I know the latest international research in my field of study" and "I am confident...