Academic Association through Overseas Visits: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Doctoral Students from the Perspectives of A(N)T

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Academic Association through Overseas Visits: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Doctoral Students from the Perspectives of A(N)T
Language: English
Authors: Shan, H. (ORCID 0000-0003-3286-9870), Ren, Z. (ORCID 0000-0002-1914-0359), Ma, Y.
Source: Higher Education Research and Development. 2023 42(6):1496-1509.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2023
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Doctoral Students, Study Abroad, Foreign Students, Student Experience, Socialization, Productivity, Writing for Publication, Academic Freedom, Achievement
Geographic Terms: China
DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2022.2130185
ISSN: 0729-4360
1469-8366
Abstract: Studies of Chinese (visiting) international doctoral students typically focus on how students are socialized into the Western academy. Not only does the literature reinforce Western institutions as 'the academic centre', but it also conjures a unidirectional image of academic learning and knowledge transfer from the West to the rest of the world. This paper complexifies these images by proposing academic association as an alternative image to understand students' experiences. Inspired by assemblage thinking and actor network theory, academic association directs attention to the processes through which students translate themselves within research and knowledge practices and become researchers and knowledge producers. Empirically, drawing on a multiple-case study, this paper traces how 18 short-term Chinese visiting doctoral students built pathways to overseas studies, became enrolled within academic networks and practices, and assembled research and knowledge projects. It also highlights how the students' subjectivities shifted as they knotted themselves into various relations with others, both human and non-human, in the academy. It is argued that as students articulated themselves to 'the academic highways' during their visits, they also multiplied the highways and became, simultaneously, the subjects of academic 'freedom' and 'control'.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2023
Accession Number: EJ1390292
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Studies of Chinese (visiting) international doctoral students typically focus on how students are socialized into the Western academy. Not only does the literature reinforce Western institutions as 'the academic centre', but it also conjures a unidirectional image of academic learning and knowledge transfer from the West to the rest of the world. This paper complexifies these images by proposing academic association as an alternative image to understand students' experiences. Inspired by assemblage thinking and actor network theory, academic association directs attention to the processes through which students translate themselves within research and knowledge practices and become researchers and knowledge producers. Empirically, drawing on a multiple-case study, this paper traces how 18 short-term Chinese visiting doctoral students built pathways to overseas studies, became enrolled within academic networks and practices, and assembled research and knowledge projects. It also highlights how the students' subjectivities shifted as they knotted themselves into various relations with others, both human and non-human, in the academy. It is argued that as students articulated themselves to 'the academic highways' during their visits, they also multiplied the highways and became, simultaneously, the subjects of academic 'freedom' and 'control'.
ISSN:0729-4360
1469-8366
DOI:10.1080/07294360.2022.2130185