Doing and Supervising China Studies PhD Projects in Australia: Experiences of Chinese PhD Students and Australian Supervisors

Adult Learning Australia. Office 1, Henderson House, 45 Moreland Street, Footscray VIC 3011, Australia. Tel: +61-3-9689-8623; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.ala.asn.au

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20

Doctoral Students; Foreign Students; Asian Studies; Asians; Supervisor Supervisee Relationship; Barriers; Doctoral Programs; Student Research; Student Attitudes; Teacher Student Relationship; College Faculty; Foreign Countries; Time Management; Interpersonal Competence; Academic Language; Writing Skills; English for Academic Purposes; Second Language Learning; Writing Improvement; Cultural Differences; Ideology; Critical Thinking; Thinking Skills; Teacher Attitudes

Australia; China

1443-1394

The article examines the experiences of Chinese PhD students doing research in China Studies as well as the experiences of their supervisors who supervise their research in Australian universities. By conducting semi-structured interviews with both PhD students and their supervisors, we aim to understand the expectations, concerns and challenges of both students and supervisors involved in the PhD journey. We found that the main concerns and challenges of students lie in the tight timeframe of scholarship, their 'ideological dissonance' and their relations with supervisors. The supervisors hope their Chinese students could improve academic writing skills, critical thinking skills and social skills in order to well accommodate the research culture in Australia and successfully complete their PhD research. Our findings could help Australian universities to better understand the cultural and educational challenges of Chinese PhD students and to further build up the quality for research training to attract more international research students from China and elsewhere.

As Provided

2023

EJ1392959