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ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9441-8990

Keywords

Chinese international students, student conduct, racialization, internationalization, sense of belonging, AsianCrit, IntlCrit, higher education

Special Issue

Special Issue Summer 2026: Examining Race, Racism, and Racialization in the Internationalization of Higher Education from Global Perspectives

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how first-year Chinese international students (CIS) understand misconduct policies and procedures, and how those experiences relate to belonging. Drawing on interviews with 14 Chinese international undergraduates at a private research university, the study applies AsianCrit and IntlCrit to analyze how race, foreignness, and noncitizen status shape students’ encounters with institutional policy. Findings show students often learned misconduct policies through a hidden curriculum of compliance without clear institutional teaching. Participants described uncertainty and fear about the adjudication process and racialized experiences of hierarchy, otherness, and visa-related risk. Policies were accepted as necessary but rarely associated with trust or inclusion. Instead, students relied on peers for guidance while maintaining self-discipline for compliance. The study argues that non-academic misconduct processes are experienced not simply as administrative procedures, but as a racialized institutional system. Implications include redesigned policy education, stronger peer-informed support, and more relational conduct practices for international students.

Abstract - Translated

本文章通过质性访谈，考察本科一年级中国留学生对非学术类不当行为相关政策与程序的理解，以及这些经历与其归属感之间的关系。研究基于对美国一所私立研究型大学14名一年级中国本科留学生的访谈资料，运用AsianCrit与IntlCrit作为分析视角，探讨种族、被视为外来者的处境以及非公民身份如何塑造学生与校纪校规政策的接触经历。研究发现，在缺乏清晰系统性和制度性讲解的情况下，学生往往通过一种“不成文的隐性课程”来学习、认识和理解相关政策与程序。参与者普遍谈及对违纪处理与裁决程序的不确定感和恐惧，并描述了与制度层级、他者化以及签证相关风险相交织的种族化经历。尽管学生普遍认可校纪校规政策的必要性，却很少将这些政策与信任或包容联系起来。面对制度和程序上的不确定及不透明性，学生更多依靠同伴获得解释、建议和实际指导，同时通过自我约束确保自身行为合规。研究指出，学生所经历的非学术类不当行为体系具有超越一般规章和程序的种族化制度特征。基于上述发现，本文建议高校注重革新设计校纪校规教育，强化融入同伴经验的支持机制，并为国际学生构建更具以关系为导向的学生行为管理。

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