IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i12p6078-d1166160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“My Cross-Border PhD Journey”: A Qualitative Study on the Educational and Life Challenges of Mainland Chinese PhD Students in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Jing Jia

    (The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
    Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China)

  • Nelson C. Y. Yeung

    (The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China)

Abstract

PhD students’ poor mental health has been increasingly concerning. However, challenges among PhD students studying aboard are understudied. The Educational and Life Transitions (ELT) model postulates that international PhD students are subject to both academic and acculturative stressors; however, relevant research is limited in the Chinese context. We examined mainland Chinese PhD students’ study and living experiences in Hong Kong using a qualitative approach. Through purposive sampling, 37 mainland Chinese PhD students in different disciplines from public-funded universities in Hong Kong were recruited to participate in online focus group interviews (December 2020–February 2021). The interviews were analyzed using the framework analysis method. Ten themes of academic/acculturative stressors were identified. The academic stressors included: (1) high expectations from the supervisors; (2) emphasis on self-discipline as PhD students; (3) peer comparison in academia; (4) difficulties shifting research directions/academic disciplines; (5) uncertainties about future career. The acculturative stressors included: (1) differences in the political environment; (2) language barriers; (3) difficulties living in Hong Kong; (4) limited social interaction with others; (5) local people’s discriminatory behaviors. This study sheds light on the stressors experienced by mainland Chinese PhD students in Hong Kong. To better address those students’ academic and acculturative stressors, cross-cultural training and additional support from supervisors/the university could be provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Jing Jia & Nelson C. Y. Yeung, 2023. "“My Cross-Border PhD Journey”: A Qualitative Study on the Educational and Life Challenges of Mainland Chinese PhD Students in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:12:p:6078-:d:1166160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/12/6078/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/12/6078/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levecque, Katia & Anseel, Frederik & De Beuckelaer, Alain & Van der Heyden, Johan & Gisle, Lydia, 2017. "Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 868-879.
    2. Xueyu Wang, 2022. "Occupational Stress in Chinese Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of Doctoral Supervisors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Chris Woolston, 2022. "Stress and uncertainty drag down graduate students’ satisfaction," Nature, Nature, vol. 610(7933), pages 805-808, October.
    4. Mei Tian & Yan Su & Xin Ru, 2016. "Perish or Publish in China: Pressures on Young Chinese Scholars to Publish in Internationally Indexed Journals," Publications, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabian Scheidegger & Andre Briviba & Bruno S. Frey, 2023. "Behind the curtains of academic publishing: strategic responses of economists and business scholars," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4765-4790, August.
    2. Anna Muro & Iván Bonilla & Claudia Tejada-Gallardo & María Paola Jiménez-Villamizar & Ramon Cladellas & Antoni Sanz & Miquel Torregrossa, 2022. "The Third Half: A Pilot Study Using Evidence-Based Psychological Strategies to Promote Well-Being among Doctoral Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Sara M. González-Betancor & Pablo Dorta-González, 2020. "Risk of Interruption of Doctoral Studies and Mental Health in PhD Students," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-12, October.
    4. Hayter, Christopher S. & Parker, Marla A., 2019. "Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 556-570.
    5. Chiara Corvino & Amalia De Leo & Miriam Parise & Giulia Buscicchio, 2022. "Organizational Well-Being of Italian Doctoral Students: Is Academia Sustainable When It Comes to Gender Equality?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Fubiao Zhu & Delin Zhuang & Shengwu Jin & Lingling Gao & Rui Chen, 2022. "Effects of air pollution on regional innovation and the mediator role of health: Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 628-650, June.
    7. Andrei V. Grinëv & Daria S. Bylieva & Victoria V. Lobatyuk, 2021. "Russian University Teachers’ Perceptions of Scientometrics," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Pawe³ A. Atroszko & Bartosz Atroszko, 2020. "The Costs of Work-Addicted Managers in Organizations: Towards Integrating Clinical and Organizational Frameworks," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(Special 1), pages 1265-1265, November.
    9. Nannan Zhang & Fengxin Sun & Yongsheng Zhu & Qinglan Zheng & Changjun Jia & Yupeng Mao & Bing Liu, 2023. "Effects of Fitness Dance and Funny Running on Anxiety of Female Ph.D. Candidates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, January.
    10. Frolov, Daniil, 2018. "От Институтов К Экститутам И Далее - К Теории Институциональных Аномалий [From Institutions to Extitutions to the Theory of Institutional Anomalies]," MPRA Paper 90286, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Pimentel, Erica & Cho, Charles H. & Bothello, Joel, 2023. "The blind spots of interdisciplinarity in addressing grand challenges," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Kyle R. Myers & Wei Yang Tham & Jerry Thursby & Marie Thursby & Nina Cohodes & Karim Lakhani & Rachel Mural & Yilun Xu, 2023. "New Facts and Data about Professors and their Research," Papers 2312.01442, arXiv.org.
    13. Elena Riva & Rebecca Freeman & Lauren Schrock & Victoria Jelicic & Cameron-Tosh Ozer & Ruth Caleb, 2020. "Student Wellbeing in the Teaching and Learning Environment: A Study Exploring Student and Staff Perspectives," Higher Education Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(4), pages 103-103, December.
    14. Kevin M. Kniffin & Andrew S. Hanks & Xuechao Qian & Bo Wang & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2020. "Dissertators with Distantly Related Foci Face Divergent Near-Term Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 27825, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Ben Purvis & Hannah Keding & Ashley Lewis & Phil Northall, 2023. "Critical reflections of postgraduate researchers on a collaborative interdisciplinary research project," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Mario Pagliaro, 2021. "Did You Ask for Citations? An Insight into Preprint Citations en route to Open Science," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-10, June.
    17. Xiantong Zhao & Xu Liu & Shan Yan, 2024. "Why English? Exploring Chinese early career returnee academics’ motivations for writing and publishing in English," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    18. Mohamed Mousa & Monowar Mahmood, 2023. "Mental Illness of Management Educators: Does Holding Multiple Academic Jobs Play a Role? A Qualitative Study," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 647-665, June.
    19. Finnborg S. Steinþórsdóttir & Thomas Brorsen Smidt & Gyða M. Pétursdóttir & Þorgerður Einarsdóttir & Nicky Le Feuvre, 2019. "New managerialism in the academy: Gender bias and precarity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 124-139, March.
    20. Jennifer A. Byrne & Cyril Labbé, 2017. "Striking similarities between publications from China describing single gene knockdown experiments in human cancer cell lines," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1471-1493, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:12:p:6078-:d:1166160. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.