Chinese Spaces in the Frozen North: International Students Overcoming Isolation
<p id="p1">There are multiple stresses associated with the international student experience, such as culture shock, social isolation and differing academic philosophies. Chinese international students born in the 1980s and 1990s face additional challenges. They face high expectations to become &ldqu...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book Chapter |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IntechOpen
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/1224601 |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | <p id="p1">There are multiple stresses associated with the international student experience, such as culture shock, social isolation and differing academic philosophies. Chinese international students born in the 1980s and 1990s face additional challenges. They face high expectations to become “successful” and are expected to care for their parents as they age. Due to the one-child policy, these students are overwhelmingly singletons, placing all these expectations on their shoulders alone. This chapter is based on extensive field-studies amongst Chinese international students in Trondheim, a Norwegian university town. These students often experienced multiple issues in Norway, but the most prominent was social isolation and the mental health problems that come with it. International student literature has tended to focus on the degree to which such students form ties to the host-nation students. This chapter argues that this was not a priority for the participants. They mostly liked Norwegians, but their own temporary status made the extra effort taken to form bonds across the cultural divide not worth it. Instead, the students found spaces in which to create specifically Chinese social arenas. These served to relieve the pressures the students were facing, act as a support network, enabling them to overcome their isolation.</p> |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 978-1-83634-596-1 |
| DOI: | 10.5772/intechopen.1011870 |