International students are valuable assets for many countries. Host countries often benefit from the cultural backgrounds and academic talents of internationals student pool. Their presence also represents political and cultural diplomacy between origin and host countries.
Dr. Bao Fang from Guangxi University, China, illustrates that international students are a boon to a country’s educational and economic sectors. Many nations are currently eyeing ways to get a bigger piece of this pie, and they have all made higher education a key part of their international trade strategies.
In his presentation at the IISE Symposium, November 14, 2019, at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Fang exposed the 2016-2017 OECD data of international students’ mobility. Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Australia had been among the top destination countries receiving international students. However, there are more alternative destination countries in Asia offering international education for foreign students, including China. In fact, China hold almost five hundred thousand international students, which takes up 10% of all the internationally mobile students. Most of these students are from neighboring countries in Asia, up to several countries in Africa.
Focusing on trends and challenges of international students in China, Dr. Fang found that half of international students in China studied in a non-degree and/or short-term programs, of which most of the students coming from European and American countries. Meanwhile, most international students from Asian and African countries are doing full-length degree programs, including graduate programs. Top majors taken by most international students are Chinese language, literatures and Chinese medicine fields.
China’s government have been providing scholarship for international students, especially for those taking full-time degree programs. This contributed to the increased number of international students in China. However, as Dr Fang pointed out, the distribution of international students across regions in China is still uneven. Another challenge he identified is strategies to enhance quality and competitiveness of China’s higher education system, in comparison to ivy league universities in the US and the UK, such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Cambridge University and Oxford University.
Dr. Fang Bao is an associate professor from Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, China. He received his Ph.D. degree in Institute of Education Xiamen University in China. He is currently serving as a visiting scholar at the Institute for International Studies in Education (IISE), University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Fang has been working with Prof. Sean Kelly as his faculty counterpart during his time at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Fang’s current project is “A Comparative Study of University Teachers’ Scientific Research Achievements Evaluation between China and the U.S.A.”
His current research scope includes a comparative & international education, higher education management, educational economics and teaching English as a foreign language. He has published more than 40 papers in Chinese magazines and has published a book. Dr. Bao Fang can be reached at this email address: forbyfang@163.com.
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