Post-Graduation Intentions Of African Students In China

Since the foundation of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in2000, education cooperation between China and African countries have come into a new era. The most significant phenomenon is that the population of African students has become the fastest growing group among all the international students in China. This informs the desire to understudy the motivation for students of African descent to study in China. It is also pertinent to understand their educational experience and their post-graduation intentions.This study which applied qualitative research methods randomly selected13African students in Zhejiang Normal University for interview. The interviews focused on such research questions like "What are the post-graduation intentions for African students in China?""What are the determinants of their graduation intentions?""What impact does the educational experience in China have on their intentions?" The study applied the "two-way push-pull theory" and combined internal and external frameworks in analyzing data collected from the interview.The study result shows that there are3major directions of post-graduation intentions among the interviewed African students:1. to return home (with the largest proportion);2. to stay back in China (with a medium proportion); and3. to go to a third country (with the least proportion). In addition, three respondents showed more than one intentions, demonstrating diverse tendencies. Among the three major intentions, students’ intention of returning home is mainly influenced by the desire of personal development at home, family expectations and good employment conditions in their home countries, intention of staying back in China is mainly driven by their aspirations of self-realization and China’s social conditions (such as better education and employment opportunities), the intention of going to a third country comes from students’ education, employment and income expectations in the particular third country.According to the analysis, African students’ movement intentions are affected by internal factors such as personal wishes, aspirations, relationship, family support and sense of belonging, as well as uncontrollable factors such as employment opportunity, government policy and political climate at home, and cross-cultural differences. Also, students’ post-graduation intentions are correlated to gender, age, financial support, length of the time of study in China and other varieties. Female students, elder students, students with employment agreement scholarships or with shorter length of study in China tend to return home. Male students, younger students, students with no graduation employment restriction scholarships or with longer length of study in China tend to stay back in China and their intentions are more diverse.In the context of educational experience, it tends to affect African students’intentions after graduation. The improvement in knowledge of Chinese language and culture can turn into personal strengths which pull them to stay in China for business or employment. The students also presumed that integration into Chinese culture can open up more opportunities to work back home or in a third country in China-related matters. Indeed this can be considered a strong pull factor for them to return home or go to other countries. In my opinion, a deeper understanding of the Chinese society and the networks built during their study may also be an enabling factor for African students to stay in China. Problems encountered in China such as differences in living habits, privacy and cultural shock form the push factors which drive African students to leave China and return home or go to a third country.To conclude, the study found that more effort needs to be made by Chinese universities in creating a diversified campus and guiding students to understand African culture. Currently, the level of internationalization, openness and public awareness of cultural diversity in Chinese society is not high enough. China and Africa, although on the macro level, the political, economic and trade relations are becoming increasingly tight, the micro level of people to people communication and mutual understanding in culture between the two sides is still in its infancy. From a perspective of long-term cooperation and development, China should strive to promote civil and cultural exchanges between China and Africa.