Chinese PhD candidates in British universities: Understanding the practices of international doctorate students

Abstract

This study aims to contribute to the themes expounded by Deuchar (2022; British Educational Research Journal, 48, 504‐518) concerning international students’ strengths, contributions, and practices in higher education by focusing on the experiences and practices of Chinese doctoral students across four English higher education institutions. The investigation deploys Bourdieu's tools of habitus, field and capital to understand how these students employ their capital and skills in the process of sense‐making in the English field. The findings revealed that Chinese students displayed signs of confrontation during their initial interaction with the English institutional milieu, stemming from discrepancies between the forms of capital and norms valued in the British system and those encouraged and developed within the Chinese system. However, interpretations of these challenges among Chinese students were not uniform. Their practices and responses to these challenges also exhibited variability, which provides insights into the evolving and enduring aspects of their habitus. The study advocates moving beyond a homogeneous ‘deficit’ view that focuses on what Chinese students ostensibly lack, built on the assumed norm of Western modes of thinking and learning. Instead, it emphasises recognising the strengths and unique capacities, such as their linguistic repertoire, developed in the Chinese system. This perspective could provide policymakers and stakeholders with valuable insights into recognising Chinese students as agentive and diverse actors, thus better supporting and protecting their interests. This, in turn, could unleash their potential and facilitate greater academic contributions in their respective disciplines.