Revisiting the Higher Education Institutional Myth: Perspectives of Chinese Undergraduate Students on Studying in the US

Abstract

Utilising inhabited institutionalism as the theoretical lens, this study explores the meaning-making process underlying Chinese international undergraduates’ learning experiences at American universities, thereby offering a critical reassessment of the ISM phenomenon. Employing a qualitative methodology, the study engaged 12 Chinese international undergraduate students from a public comprehensive university in the northeastern United States. Findings indicate that prior to studying abroad, these students perceived American undergraduate education as a vague institutional myth. Their U.S. undergraduate experience fostered the development of both cognitive and non-cognitive competencies across multiple domains, which not only enhanced their prospect for admission to elite graduate schools but also helped them mitigate the challenges of diploma devaluation in the Chinese labour market. Consequently, the institutional myth is revisited through a dual process of legitimacy reinforcement. The study further highlights the need to critically examine the hierarchical or categorical nature of the global higher education structure and the epistemic violence embedded in the meaning-making process.