International Doctoral Students in Globalized Transnational Spaces

1. International Doctoral Students in Globalized Transnational Spaces Jennifer M. Phelps, PhD Assistant Dean Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies University of British Columbia November 4th, 2013 Canadian Association of Graduate Schools Annual meeting – Montreal, QC

2. Research problem We know little about how international doctoral students make sense of their own educational purposes, choices and experiences, and imagine their future trajectories in the context of a rapidly globalizing world.

3. Research questions • What are international doctoral students’ purposes in pursuing a PhD abroad? • Why and how did these students come to the University of British Columbia, Canada? What do they encounter? What future paths do they imagine? • What do the answers to these questions tell us about influences of globalization and how students are interacting with them?

4. Global Higher Education Field • Network Society (Castels, 1996) • Global Social Imaginary (Appadurai, 1996; Taylor,2004) • Global ranking schemes; vying for global prestige • Increased Student/ Academic Mobility Global Universities • Research globalization • Academic capitalism/ market imperatives • Transnational • Space • (Glick Schiller & Fouron, • 1999; Jackson, Crang& • Dwyer, 2004) • Neoliberalism • (Harvey, 2005)

5. Global Higher Education Field • Doctoral education as developing “global citizens”, “outstanding researchers” and contributors to social good National and Provincial Policies and Discourses University Policies and Discourses • Doctoral education as means to produce/retain capital (human, economic) Student purposes?

6. Research design and method • Qualitative methodology– in-depth interviews with representative sample of international PhD students at UBC who had advanced to candidacy

7. Sampling frame SSH: 10 (32.3%) (UBC: 30.4%) Female: 11 (35.5%) (UBC: 37.9%) STEM: 21 (67.7%) (UBC: 69.6%) Male: 20 (64.5%) (UBC: 62.1%) Total: 31

8. Findings Map

9. Students’ purposes for doctoral education • Capital acquisition • Prestige/clout/credibility • Skills/knowledge/English proficiency • Access to influential social/professional networks • Mobility (Motility capital--Kaufmann, Bergman & Joye, 2004) – ability to be mobile; to immigrate • Intercultural fluency (Transnational identity capital--Kim, 2010) – ability to engage competently with ‘otherness’

10. Students’ purposes for doctoral education 2) Academic Produce and disseminate knowledge; teach new learners; become members of an academic community “The most interesting, most exciting in doing research is I am the first person to see this, to discover this. I think discovery, the knowledge itself is very important because the application is based on fundamental study…Maybe for 10 years nobody use it, but discovery, the knowledge itself is interesting process for me.” (Jun)

11. Students’ purposes for doctoral education 3) Positive social contribution Effect positive social change; help others; benefit home country “I think I will be able to do much more back home than here. Here you have already so many people with PhD and so many intelligent people...I think we need more people willing to work back home rather than run away after they get a PhD... I learned a lot, but all of them would mean nothing if I don’t know how to use them for the benefit of others.” (Sheddy)

12. Students’ purposes for doctoral education 4) Personal Experience the world and find personal growth, enjoy life, prove oneself, give family new opportunities. “My decision doing a PhD was not based on I want to be a PhD. It was based on I want to have more Canadian experience...So PhD doesn't really mean that much to me. My experience, interacting with the real Canadian environment, that means a lot to me.”(Li) “I wanted to do it for personal reasons more so. I wasn’t thinking about getting a job after, I just wanted to see if I could actually do a PhD…Coming from a lower class background, I’m not somebody who should be doing a PhD. I should be working as a mechanic or in some sort of trade. I suppose it was kind of sticking two fingers up to the world.” (Shane)

13. Influences of globalization across the student pathway “I was ten years old and there were Olympic games in Calgary (on TV). And we were still behind the Iron Curtain and I had no idea what it is…I knew that I wanted to go to at least see Canada. Canada, in my child eyes, was something that perfectly fulfilled my wishes which was lots of snow, freedom, maybe I don’t know, nice life.” (Jaro)

14. Influences of globalization across the student pathway “I had never imagined myself living anywhere else [but home country]...but for my daughter, this is the only home she has known. And that does cause some anxiety, because when I say home,it’s always [home country], but she always refers to Vancouver as home.” (Maya)

15. Influences of globalization across the student pathway • “I wish that UBC can do something where we can still be connected to Canada. I mean you cannot expect for all the people to just come and settle here. You still need that other part of the world and you still need to have ties with it, but I’m not sure what can be done so that we can.” (Hoda)

16. Findings – Agency and its bounds

17. Global Higher Education Field National and Provincial Policies and Discourses University Policies and Discourses Rizvi & Lingard, 2009 “World-making agents” International Doctoral Students are deeply influenced by forces of globalization yet navigate them with agency and strategy within their unique ranges of motion. They offer a multiplicity of purposes and experiences that counter any singular notion of the “international doctoral student”.

18. Implications for policy and practice • Better alignment is needed between doctoral education and diverse, global career paths • Students seek a larger purpose to their doctoral education and want to make a positive social contribution • More can be done to bridge the distances between global academic mainstream and periphery and extend the benefits of doctoral education • Universities can better support students by recognizing their agency and the multiplicity of their purposes, experiences and identities

19. Thank you. Merci.jenny.phelps@ubc.ca