Abstract
In the context of economic globalization, cultural exchanges are becoming more and more frequent, and more and more international teachers come to China to teach. Using qualitative data collected from a university in Beijing, this study explored the international teachers’ roles perceived by school administrators, students, and international teachers in the internationalization of Chinese higher education. Results indicate that international teachers play an important role in promoting higher education internationalization in China by serving as the backbones of the teaching process. They also act as walking billboards of internationalization and bridges facilitating communication with international students. However, the cognitive differences between international teachers and students regarding teaching, coupled with administrators’ lack of understanding of international teachers’ professional needs, hinder the teachers from fulfilling their roles and seeking continuing development. This study provides a new analytical perspective on the role of international teachers, exploring their role from the perspectives of students, school administrators and international teachers themselves, presenting practical recommendations to enhance international teachers’ roles and providing suggestions such as cooperation model between international teachers and domestic teachers for future research, which may help managers of high education institutions to find the reason why they should introduce many international teachers and what kind of kind of teachers they should introduce to develop education internationalization.
Plain language summary
Using qualitative data collected from a university in Beijing, this study explored the international teachers’ roles perceived by school administrators, students, and international teachers in the internationalization of Chinese higher education. Results indicate that international teachers play an important role in promoting higher education internationalization in China by serving as the backbones of the teaching process. They also act as walking billboards of internationalization and bridges facilitating communication with international students. However, the cognitive differences between international teachers and students regarding teaching, coupled with administrators’ lack of understanding of international teachers’ professional needs, hinder the teachers from fulfilling their roles and seeking continuing development. This study presents practical recommendations to enhance international teachers’ roles and provides suggestions for future research.
Keywords
Introduction
The internationalization of higher education (IHE) has been widely discussed since governments worldwide promoted “international understanding and cooperation” in university teaching, research, and service (Mok, 2007). During this process, many universities view global academics as a key component of the internationalization agenda partially because the number of international faculty is considered a key indicator of internationalization (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2017). For example, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2020) incorporates a direct focus on international faculty ratios, accounting for 2.5% of its assessment of university performance and competitiveness. As shown’ in the previous literature (Alberts, 2008; Barbarič & Jones, 2016; Mamiseishvili & Rosser, 2010), international faculty introduces global perspectives and diverse expertise to campuses. Moreover, they help strengthen research collaboration initiatives, especially in science and technology (Corley & Sabharwal, 2007; Marvasti, 2005).
In many countries including China, the increasing impact of globalization continues to press their governments to pursue IHE and employ international faculty. To date, some studies (Huang, 2018; McCalman, 2007; Lin et al., 2008) have analyzed international faculty’s roles in facilitating student learning and research collaboration in higher education. However, these studies have mainly focused on perceptions of international teachers (hereafter, ITs) without considering other stakeholders (e.g., students and educational administrators) who play a significant part in ITs’ instructional practices and professional lives. Examining their perceptions is equally important because their interactions with ITs can exert a powerful influence on ITs’ everyday practice, personal well-being, and continuing professional development in specific institutional and sociocultural contexts (Benneworth & Jongbloed, 2010).
With the increase of bilingual courses in colleges and universities, the number of ITs is also increasing. At the same time, the problems exposed in our daily teaching have become increasingly prominent. Forced to study and consult relevant materials, it is found that research on ITs’ roles is still lacking. Moreover, due to the relatively late implementation of bilingual courses and the lack of management experience of ITs, there is little research on the significance of international teachers in China. The management of ITs pays more attention to their life and adaptation to cultural customs, and there are few studies on the combination of reality, so that researches on the management of ITs mainly focus the following aspects: (a) cross-cultural management of ITs; (b) human resource management of ITs; (c) teaching management of ITs; (d). teaching methods and teaching effects (Lin, 2021; Yang, 2020).
The development of international education in China started relatively late, and there is a lack of experienced managers. In order to stimulate the potential of ITs and promote the development of international education, there is positive effect and significance on understanding IT’s roles and duties in gaining international fame and popularity. The author intends to take an international business school (IBS) at a university in Beijing as an example to analyse the influence and role of ITs on higher education. At the same time, it also finds specific problems and reasons that hinder ITs from fulfilling their roles, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures for the problems found, so as to provide support for better realizing the role of ITs in the internationalization of higher education.
The innovation of this article lies in examining ITs’ roles incorporating perspectives of students, school administrators, and ITs themselves, and resolving the problems caused by these differences. Through our research, we help people recognize the existence of these differences and encourage them to not simply act based on their own ideas, thus avoiding the deepening of conflicts. We believe that understanding each other’s needs is crucial in solving problems and effectively utilizing the role of international teachers.
By comparing those diversified perceptions, the study may shed light on the complexities involved in international staff recruitment, practice, and development and to provide useful implications on ITs’ integration into localized higher education settings with a view to promoting IHE. The study is guided by the following research questions:
(1) What are ITs’ roles as perceived by school administrators, students, and ITs in the university?
(2) What are the barriers that hinder ITs from fulfilling their roles?
Literature Review
Role of ITs Play in IHE
As an organic part of the IHE process, ITs are considered as an important component of the academic labor force (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2016), accelerating global competitiveness and enhancing the international rankings of higher education (Li & Xue, 2021). Despite various motives behind the employment of ITs, their work falls into two broad categories: teaching and conducting academic research. For one thing, ITs are expected to contribute to curriculum reform and classroom innovations in higher education settings (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2017). For another, they are also valuable resources for improving research performance of universities due to their experiences of publishing in international journals and potential international academic achievements brought to their institutions (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2017).
Problems That ITs Encountered
Previous research (e.g., Altbach & Yudkevich, 2017; L. Chen, 2022; D. Kim, 2012) has reported problems faced by ITs in interpersonal relationships. For instance, ITs often experience feelings of isolation and loneliness in local communities (Gress & Shin, 2020; Huang et al., 2019; Munene, 2014). More serious challenges include exclusion and discrimination from colleagues and students (Alberts, 2008; L. Chen, 2022; Rita & Karides,2022; Skachkova, 2007). Specifically, S. K. Kim (2016) revealed that feelings of isolation among western faculty in Korean universities hindered their long-term work in local academia and resulted in teacher attrition. Additionally, emergent waves of nationalism and xenophobia in some countries may also impede international academic flows (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2017).
Alongside interpersonal relationships, ITs also face challenges in teaching practice. First, ITs may have only a limited voice in curriculum/course design and other key issues regarding teaching (Mamiseishvili, 2011). For example, studies have found that ITs are dissatisfied with their lack of autonomy to make decisions on curriculum, course content, and instruction methods (Mamiseishvili, 2011; Wells et al., 2007). This lack of decision-making power has a discernible negative impact on their motivation and performance, and induces reluctance to fully invest intellectual resources in classroom practice and research (Mamiseishvili & Lee, 2018). Second, the conflict between ITs’ teaching style and local classroom culture may also present a problem. Some researchers have contended that, in East Asian countries (such as South Korea) that inherit the Confucian cultural tradition, teachers often have absolute authority in the student–teacher relationship, which causes conflicts with viewpoints held by ITs from western countries and results in difficulty for both ITs and students in adapting to each other’s expectations (Ghazarian & Youhne, 2015).
Besides the above-mentioned work problems, the promotion of a secure life (e.g., through employment rights and support services) is also a factor facilitating or constraining ITs’ fulfillment of roles. (Pherali, 2012). Some research (e.g., Huang et al., 2019; S. K. Kim, 2016) has shown that logistical support from universities can help ITs to integrate better into local life and improve their job satisfaction. In some German universities, alongside supporting ITs during the residence permit application, the school’s welcome center can help them to set up childcare and communications, solve technical problems (e.g., cell phone contracts or opening bank accounts), and offer guided tours through the town. These measures reduce the ITs’ anxiety and significantly improve their satisfaction and turnover (Bruder & Galizia, 2016).
With the addition of more and more ITs in Chinese higher education, students have made great progress in English learning. ITs play an irreplaceable role in providing students with an authentic language environment (Liu, 2018), increasing the opportunity to communicate with native speakers, and at the same time, as a cultural disseminator, it also allows Chinese students to feel different cultures (Chu & Zhang, 2022). But there are always advantages and disadvantages in everything. Due to the difference in cultural background, ITs encounter various problems in the process of teaching in China (Sakai, 2022), and it is inevitable that they will have different opinions from students and school management in teaching and work. For ITs, it is a big challenge to adapt to Chinese students, administrators and the entire school environment. For schools, how to manage ITs well, making them provide students with high-quality teaching and adapt to Chinese culture, is also a big challenge and problem (Cheng, 2022).
In sum, despite extensive research on challenges ITs face, few studies have explored ITs’ contributions to IHE and the associated challenges from a comparative perspective. As Knight (2004) mentioned that a close scrutiny must be given to the analysis of the interaction between the bottom-up approach and a top-down approach when internationalization activities take place in universities. Following this line of thinking, our study pursued different stakeholders’ perceptions of the role of ITs in HIE in China. We believe that the stakeholders’ perceptions are significant due to they are actors who may gain or lose the most from the interaction with the foreign teachers (Benneworth & Jongbloed, 2010). Hence, an awareness of ITs’ roles and stakeholders’ diverse perceptions (e.g., ITs, students, and educational administrators) can promote a deeper understanding of ITs’ work contexts and challenges, which may further improve ITs’ work performance and enhance collaboration among ITs, administrators, and students.
The Study
Narrative Inquiry as Research Methodology
Education narrative research focuses on the life stories of teachers as the research object. This can be seen from the sources of data collection. As a qualitative research method, education narrative research mainly uses participatory observation and in-depth interviews to capture the deep information of the research object. Ordinary educational stories in daily life may hide a problem worth exploring and the unique experiences and feelings of teachers. The surrounding environment, atmosphere, and actions of teachers may also hide certain personal values and theoretical cultivation levels, which require careful observation by researchers (Ma & Sun, 2014). Narrative is a fundamental language expression used by humans to convey ideas. Researchers reflect their personal experiences and perspectives by observing and describing people, events, and objects, narrating the occurrence, development, and outcome of events. In addition, a case refers to an event that takes place within a specific time and space, serving as the research subject within a particular context. It provides a concentrated reflection of the issues and concerns that researchers focus on (Zhang, 2013). Therefore, this research adopts narrative inquire as research methodology.
Research Context and Participants
The participants of the study were recruited from an international business school (IBS) at a university in Beijing. The IBS exhibits a strong international atmosphere featured by multilingualism and cross-cultural communication. Aiming to cultivate future business talents with global vision and social responsibility, it has over 70%of teachers with overseas formal education or training experiences. The number of ITs and international students is as high as 12.9% and 22.3% (2,018.12), respectively. All kinds of students including undergraduates and masters have courses given by ITs. Thus, the IBS is selected as the research site because of its potentially rich contribution to answering the research questions, which maximize the data saturation.
Following the ethics approval from the university, the research team sent invitations to all administrators, ITs, and students in different years via email in March 2019 on the campus of IBS, and 25 participants (6 administrators, 7 ITs, and 12 students) joined the study on a voluntary basis. Administrators include the dean and vice deans, who assume the responsibility of managing the schools and faculties. Table 1 presents the administrators’ demographic information (coded as A1 to A6). ITs refer to teachers who undertake teaching and research tasks in the school with a mother tongue other than Chinese. Table 2 shows the demographic information of the ITs (labeled as F1–F7). Lastly, 12 students were willing to participate after receiving the invitations. These 12 students (named S1–S12) were purposively selected from different grades ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate levels to represent possibly diverse perspectives (Creswell, 2007), as shown in Table 3. This sample could provide rich information on different groups’ perceptions regarding ITs’ role in IHE. The participants provided informed consent and ethical review from the institution was obtained before the study.
Demographic Information of Administrators.
Demographic Information of the ITs.
Demographic Information of the Students.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data was primarily collected through semi-structured interviews in April 2019. Administrators’ and students’ interviews were conducted in Chinese, whereas those for ITs were in English. Using their mother language renders the interviewees comfortable and maximizes the possibility of full expression. Each interview lasted for 35 to 50 min. During interviews, different stakeholders were told the definition of education internationalization which was given by Knight (1994) as the process of introducing international perspectives and cross-cultural communication and cooperation into educational institutions and internalizing them into the functions of educational research and services, and were asked about their opinions on ITs’ role(s) in IHE and related support and challenges based on their own personal experiences and observation. They were also encouraged to recall any critical incidents regarding the topic and share their feelings and reflections. For instance, administrators were asked questions such as “What are your expectations about ITs?” and “What difficulties did you encounter in the recruitment and management of ITs?” Question for Students included: “How do you feel about the lectures of foreign teachers?” and “Do they meet your expectations?” All the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The Chinese transcripts of the administrators and students were first analyzed, and the relevant transcripts were subsequently translated into English. To ensure the accuracy of data translation, the transcripts were initially translated by the first author and then sent to the interviewees for verification. For the ITs, the English data were directly analyzed.
The study employed the qualitative inductive approach for data analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) through a recursive and iterative process of open, axial, and selective coding. Informed by the existing literature on ITs’ experiences as reviewed above (e.g., Bruder & Galizia, 2016; Huang et al., 2019; Mamiseishvili, 2011), students’ interview transcripts were first reviewed, and seven categories initially emerged regarding ITs’ roles. Examples included improving intercultural communication ability and acquiring business English skills in addition to professional knowledge. After recursive reading and coding, the seven categories were contrasted and merged into three themes—windows of learning foreign culture; acquisition of essential professional knowledge and English skills from ITs; and a channel for broadening the horizon and expanding perspectives. The same approach was used to analyse the interview transcripts of ITs and administrators. Finally, the initial findings derived from administrators, ITs, and students’ data were compared and contrasted, producing four main themes—the backbone of teaching, important force in shaping students’ cross-cultural ability, internationalization status, and bridge for communication with international students. To enhance the study’s validity (Creswell, 2007), the first two authors analyzed the data separately, followed by several discussion rounds, until a consensus was reached regarding the results.
In terms of ensuring data saturation, this study selected multiple interviewees to ensure that the interviewees included teachers of different nationalities, genders, ages, subjects, educational backgrounds, and working experiences. In this way, the role of international teachers in higher education can be understood from different perspectives. And the diversified interviews also facilitate more comprehensive information collection. As the number of interviewees increases and the research deepens, there is a growing presence of repetitive data and expressions until all the interviewees confirm that the content has been adequately addressed.
Findings
This section reports the findings obtained from the perspectives of the administrators, ITs, and students regarding the roles of ITs. The three major themes—that is, backbone of teaching, walking billboard of internationalization, and bridge for communication with international students—were demonstrated respectively to answer the two research questions. The views from the different groups were compared to generate a holistic picture of the role and barriers of ITs.
Backbone of Teaching
First, the administrators, ITs, and students all believed that ITs played an important role in teaching. As A1 (Male, Dean) shared, “ITs undertake teaching work of all kinds for students.” ITs offer various courses for both Chinese and international students. Apart from language courses, other courses related to business, including Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity Venture Capital, and Business Law and Management, are important components of the business curriculum. A3 (Female Vice Dean) mentioned that although local Chinese teachers can teach these courses, many of them are unable to conduct English-medium instruction. ITs’ presence compensates for this limitation, especially for teaching international and Chinese students who aim to venture abroad for further studies. As A5 (Female, Vice Dean) further analyzed,
Things are different for ITs. They learned these kinds of courses in English when they were young. Thus, they know better how to illustrate these courses through simple words and make students better understand. (A5, Female, Vice Dean)
Moreover, the administrators believed that ITs could add extra knowledge beyond the mandated course content to students, such as cross-cultural knowledge (A4, Female, Vice Dean) and global vision, multilingual ability, and intercultural communication skills, which could add a valuable layer to the quality of education (A6, Female, Vice Dean).
Similar to the administrators, the ITs believed that their greatest contribution to IHE was the promotion of internationalization of teaching through enriching the course content. F1 shared that he tried to personalize his courses by drawing on his experience and expertise in the academic and business fields. When he built the course Private Equity Venture Capital for undergraduates in 2011, few similar courses were offered in China. The course taught by F1 was unique in that he utilized his professional experience in Italy, America, and China to help students understand business models used in China and other countries. In this sense, ITs were able to enrich the content of the curriculum in line with international trends from a bird view.
ITs’ instruction involves not only professional knowledge but also the introduction of cross-culture competence and thinking modes. F3 (Male, Humanities related subjects) shared that he attempted to introduce topics that were not only the subject but cultural values and related aspects. As he recounted, unlike in China, email communication was more effective than telephone communication in western countries and he encouraged students to use more emails while communicating with him, in order to foster their cross-cultural and global competence. F6 (Male, English) also mentioned that “curriculums in the UK emphasize knowing what constitutes a good answer rather than gauging correctness and one’s memorizing ability.” Therefore, instead of pinpointing the answer and rote memorization, he elaborated more about what constitutes a good answer, such as explaining an opinion, backing up, justifying things, etc.
Students also regarded ITs as a valuable channel for learning and practicing English in the professional field because ITs use English-version textbooks and deliver professional courses in English.
My undergraduate major is English, but to be honest, I know little about financial or business English; but in the business environment, talking about daily life is not enough. I have to learn some professional business English to communicate with others. ITs’ classes give me the chance to acquire professional language. (S10, Female, China)
Compared with reading textbooks, students prefer to utilize ITs’ course delivering to improve their professional English because “knowing what the word refers to is more important than remembering it.” (S9, Female, China) Additionally, the students stated that learning professional English in conjunction with acquiring professional knowledge (ITs’ way of instruction) is more effective than merely learning professional English.
Similar to the view of ITs (as important forces in shaping students’ cross-cultural and global competencies), students claimed that ITs had broadened their worldviews. Studying with ITs, students knew more about the world from different cultural groups shared by ITs.
When teaching, ITs not only tell us knowledge but also reveal some of their thoughts to us, including their demeanor and way of speaking, which helps me know the difference between our mode of thinking and understand foreigners’ behaviours well. (S6, Female, China) ITs always know the latest international views earlier than domestic teachers, probably because of their connections to their relatives overseas and their strength in language, which allows us to keep up with the international frontier. (S8, Male, China)
Although the three groups have affirmed ITs’ role in teaching, the gap between IT’s self-positioning and students’ actual needs is also evident in the data. From the students’ perspective, ITs are more English teachers than professional scholars who guide them to refine and optimize the structure of their professional knowledge. Their appreciation for ITs focuses on the language level, whereas only a few students praised the depth of ITs’ content teaching. Some students (S5, Female, China, S7, Female, China and S12, Female, China) even expressed that the courses taught by ITs were relatively simple compared to similar courses taught in Chinese by their domestic counterparts. Such a view contradicts the ITs’ self-identification as experts with specific content knowledge in their respective fields. Although the administrators (A1, Male, Dean and A3, Female, Vice Dean) clearly specified ITs’ tasks, that is, to teach students not only English but also professional knowledge in the interviews, they seemingly lacked an awareness of students’ actual experiences and perceptions in these courses. “As an International Business School in a universities mainly teaching languages, it is a major feature of our shcool that students can receive professional courses not just English taught by ITs at home.” (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee) However, when asked whether they had learned about students’ expectations for ITs through interviews and questionnaires when recruiting ITs, they replied that “we had not done this work.” (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee) In other words, they appeared to be content with the positive influence of ITs on students’ language and cross-cultural ability without acknowledging the lack of substantive content in ITs’ professional courses as perceived by students.
The data reveals that Chinese universities employing international teachers experience enhanced cultural diversity within their institutions. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, the number of international teachers in Chinese universities has been steadily increasing over the past decade. The diverse cultural backgrounds of these teachers expose Chinese students to different perspectives, beliefs, and worldviews, fostering a more inclusive learning environment.
Data analysis illustrates that international teachers significantly enhance language proficiency among Chinese students. A study conducted by the China Scholarship Council indicated that students taught by international teachers demonstrated significantly better language skills, particularly in English. This improvement in language proficiency enables Chinese students to communicate effectively on an international stage and pursue further academic and professional opportunities abroad.
Academic Research findings indicate that academic collaboration between Chinese and foreign scholars. A study conducted by the National University of Singapore found that Chinese universities with a high proportion of international teachers had a more extensive network of international academic partnerships. This collaboration fosters research opportunities, joint projects, and publications, thereby raising the global impact and visibility of Chinese universities.
Data analysis highlights a positive correlation between the presence of international teachers and international recognition for Chinese universities. Research conducted by the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University revealed that Chinese universities employing international teachers tend to receive higher global rankings. This recognition attracts more international students, scholars, and research funding, further promoting the internationalization agenda of these universities.
Walking Billboard of Internationalization
For administrators, ITs are an important indicator of IHE: “The number of ITs is a good indicator to show our school is internationalised.” (A1, Male, Dean and A3, Female, Vice Dean) Their views can be attributed to the assessment system for education internationalization, which attaches great importance to ITs’ proportion in terms of personnel composition.
IT is a very important indicator of internationalization in the evaluation held by the Ministry of Education and some other international organizations, especially the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, whose membership is an important symbol of world-level business education; we are applying to join it. (A3, Female, Vice Dean)
Moreover, the administrators also believed that the number of ITs strongly indicates the school’s internationalization level to students, parents, and the general public.
Having ITs is an important embodiment of the internationalization of our school. It is also the need of our students and the characteristic of our school. If we don’t even have ITs, how can we convince others that we are international? (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee)
Students shared the same view with administrators in that ITs’ presence naturally created an impression of an internationalized learning environment. S3 (Female, China) shared she was heavily impressed by the school’s internationalization because of the diversified courses taught by ITs. Furthermore, S2 (Female, China) mentioned that compared with other universities, her university’s atmosphere was more international due to the increasingly growing opportunities to attend the courses and lectures conducted by ITs on campus and communicate with English-natives.
According to the ITs, they tended to view themselves as walking advertisements that display Chinese higher education to the world. They could help international students understand Chinese contexts, attract more students, and improve IHE’s level in China (F1, Male, Merger and acquisition, business law and private equity venture capital, etc.). Moreover, F1 mentioned that he taught at Harvard University in winter every year and offered routine courses on Chinese overseas investment with topics such as Chinese investments in Africa or the current One Belt One Road Initiative. He further shared, “I bring the school’s name more to the international level by representing the school when I go to another country to give a special lecture.” Therefore, ITs help schools or universities project their image on international occasions and improve their universities’ reputation through participating in international conferences and publishing articles as a staff member.
Every time I come back to my home country, I always introduce my school to people who ask about my job, which, I think, is a good way to make more people know about our school. And when I know someone is searching for universities to study, I always recommend our university if they are interested in business, because our courses are taught in English and the employment rate is high in Beijing.” (F3, Male, Humanities related subjects)
Although ITs are indicators of schools’ comprehensive strength and tools for enhancing publicity, such positive effects are difficult to sustain, mainly because of ITs’ high mobility. The administrators and ITs reported that the high turnout rate hampered ITs from fulfilling their responsibilities. The two groups, however, attributed this barrier to different factors.
For administrators, the difficulty of retaining ITs was caused by the unequal status between international and domestic teachers, unequal pay, and the dearth of academic platforms. They expressed that ITs may not be able to enjoy the same benefits and privileges as domestic teachers. For instance, they cannot acquire professional titles through a route taken by Chinese teachers, which leads to their high levels of mobility (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee, A3, Female, Vice Dean, A4, Female, Vice Dean, and A6, Female, Vice Dean).
Most of the current systems regarded ITs as temporary workers. ITs were not in the same management system as domestic teachers. They were managed by the international department, while domestic teachers were managed by the personnel department with different evaluation criteria. For example, the international department does not offer a clear promotion path for ITs—they cannot apply for professional titles as domestic teachers even when they have already obtained the same achievement as domestic teachers. (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee)
Moreover, the administrators admitted a lack of appropriate platform for ITs to participate in the staff award program and an obstacle to secure administrative positions besides teaching work (A2, Male, Secretary of the Party Committee, and A6, Female, Vice Dean).
ITs had no room for administrative promotion, so they felt that they didn’t have what they wanted after coming here, which made it impossible for us to retain ITs and maintain the relationship with them for a long time, so the mobility of ITs was very high. (A6, Female, Vice Dean)
Further, the salary and academic platform for ITs remained unattractive (A1, Male, Dean, A4, Female, Vice Dean and A5, Female, Vice Dean), especially for those engaged in academic research. Moreover, resources were limited for ITs to shine in academia, compared with universities in other cities, such as Hong Kong (A1, Male, Dean). Thus, recruiting suitable ITs to work for a long time in mainland Chinese universities was difficult, thus further posing challenges for them to fulfil their role in the internationalization of research.
From the view of ITs, they may opt to leave due to the lack of support for scientific research. “Research was very important for teachers in universities, but we lacked research information and funding.” (F1, Male, Merger and acquisition, business law and private equity venture capital, etc., F5, Female, Mathematics and management science related subjects, and F6, Male, English). They shared experiences of cooperating with local teachers to conduct research or apply for research grants. However, no information and funding were available for them. The majority of information was publicized in Chinese, which presented cognitive load for them to process. Moreover, even some projects were available to apply, the language barrier proved to be a major drawback for the completion of application.
While the administrators analyzed the reasons for the ITs’ frequent departure due to the promotion system, salary, and research platform, the study demonstrated that scientific research is ITs’ core concern. This further indicated administrators’ lack of a comprehensive understanding of ITs’ genuine needs.
Bridge for Communication With International Students
For administrators, supporting international students is essential in developing IHE, whereas ITs are “a significant force in this process” (A1, Male, Dean). Owing to their similar cultural backgrounds with international students, they may better understand international students’ needs and provide corresponding assistance in both coursework and life (A6, Female, Vice Dean).
At the beginning of enrolling international students in our school, we experienced some problems in international student management. Later, we appointed an IT to deal with international students. He was an international student and was familiar with our school’s rules, so when he was responsible for communicating with international students, he explained the rules and related things much clearer to them. (A3, Female, Vice Dean)
ITs also reported that they shared more common topics with international students in China. The overseas experience of ITs enabled them better understand the feelings and situations of international students.
I was once an international student; I knew how difficult to adapt to a different country, from food to look. Everything is different. There were moments of frustration. I was involved in this kind of situation like visa issues many times, I am an expert in this kind of thing to some extent, so I could help our international students. (F1, Male, Merger and acquisition, business law and private equity venture capital, etc. )
F2 (Male, Chinese and Chinese culture and history) also mentioned that “I often helped deal with the affairs of international students in hospitals and public security bureaus, and comfort students emotionally.” Moreover, ITs could also bring schools more information about the academic needs of international students.
After a semester or a school year, I will ask students about their evaluation of the courses and their opinions on the teachers, and feedback students’ needs to the teachers, which helps students solve some learning difficulties and helps teachers better understand the needs of international students in their courses and promote their curriculum improvement.” (F2, Male, Chinese and Chinese culture and history)
Although the administrators and ITs believed that ITs exhibited unique advantages in communicating with international students, some ITs confessed a sense of marginalization in teacher communities. For example, ITs mentioned that they often joined WeChat (an instant mobile communication application) groups with colleagues in the school. However, the messages were in Chinese with only few important notifications being translated into English. The discrepancy between their expectation and the reality made the ITs—especially those who somewhat understood Chinese—feel negligible because they were unable to attend meetings or activities. Despite their willingness to attend seminars, the notifications were only in Chinese, which led them to feel unwelcome in the lectures (F5, Female, Mathematics and management science related subjects). Moreover, communication with other colleagues was insufficient due to the language barrier, resulting in negative emotions of loneliness and isolation. Despite a willingness to learn Chinese and a craving for help from schools, no language support was provided at the institutional level. Thus, they felt that living in China and making acquaintances with colleagues were inconvenient (F1, Male, Merger and acquisition, business law and private equity venture capital, etc. F3, Male, Humanities related subjects, F4, Female, English and F7, Male, Management and business skill etc.).
Evidently, the administrators regarded ITs as a bridge between local and international students that facilitated their rapid integration into the new environment but ignored the support needed to promote the integration of ITs into the local community.
Discussion
ITs are an important force in the process of IHE. Based on the perspectives of administrators, ITs, and students, this study examines their views on ITs’ roles in IHE and analyses the current challenges faced by ITs.
First, echoing the results of previous studies (Altbach & Yudkevich, 2016; Huang, 2018), the three groups affirmed the contribution of ITs in broadening the vision of students regarding globalization and improving their English proficiency. However, the study revealed discrepancies among the three: ITs position themselves as experts and scholars, whereas students mainly pay attention to the English teaching of ITs. In addition, although the administrators show their understanding of ITs’ role as research academics, they lack concerns about how to support and enhance their academic performance. Based on these three viewpoints, the study infers that a stereotype about ITs’ basic role in teaching exists among university managers and students, that is, ITs are simply authentic foreign language speakers and cultural exchange ambassadors. However, is the goal of IHE only to improve the level of foreign languages or understand the cultures of various countries? The answer may be no. The results indicate that the lack of systematic planning on ITs’ role and functions remains a critical issue that needs to be addressed in the IHE process.
Second, the three groups recognize ITs’ positive role as a walking billboard in improving the image of the school and even China. ITs in other Asian countries share similar views (S. K. Kim, 2016). Although the walking billboard effect is effective, it may be difficult to sustain due to the high mobility of ITs. The administrators in the study analyzed the reasons from the aspects of the promotion system, salary, and scientific research platform. Contrarily, ITs believed that the inadequate support facilities provided to scientific research was the pivotal reason. The current research demonstrates that ITs are sensitive to the support for scientific research like research information and funding provided by institutions or countries because achievement on scientific research is very important to their career development (Rumbley & de Wit, 2019). Only providing language programs for undergraduate students is much difficult for ITs to get tenure positions or to be promoted to a higher academic rank (Horta & Yonezawa, 2013). Therefore, ITs will leave when the support for scientific research is insufficient.
Finally, as a bridge for communication, ITs play an agentive role in guiding international students’ academic and personal lives, which is rarely mentioned by other studies in the field. Thus, the current study acknowledges that the contribution of ITs to the integration of international students is worthy of recognition. In the meantime, the integration of ITs to the local community and work environment as a more noteworthy issue should be acknowledged. After all, ITs can only help others better based on the premise that their integration is guaranteed. However, although the respondents did not mention that they have experienced exclusion or discrimination from their colleagues, several invisible forms of exclusion make them outgroup members in the university. For example, academic lectures and WeChat working groups in Chinese can directly make ITs who are unfamiliar with the language become outsiders. As shown in the previous studies (Bruder & Galizia, 2016), German universities have accelerated the integration of ITs through meticulous and comprehensive logistics services such as language courses and information on career paths. It is thus necessary for Chinese universities to consider how to provide proper facilities (e.g., the establishment of various supporting departments) and support (e.g., a conducive work environment) for ITs to assimilate with the environment quickly and more effectively.
Implications and Conclusion
Different from other studies focused the role of ITs in IHE and the challenges they face in fulfilling their roles, this study investigated this in the Chinese context by incorporating multiple perspectives (administrators, ITs, and students), trying to help people recognize the differences between different stakeholders and avoid the deepening of conflicts, then resolving the problems caused by these differences. The findings suggest that ITs play an important role in promoting IHE in China, especially in the academic fields, by broadening the perspectives of Chinese students and helping accommodate international students. Moreover, they increase the educational visibility of China to the world. However, ITs’ roles and work in IHE deserve further attention, especially in research. Although the current study does not aim to generalize this topic based on a single case, its findings shed lights on ITs’ roles in IHE in China by comparing the views of various stakeholders.
First, students positioning ITs as language teachers is a double-edged sword. One the one hand, the expectations of students for a language teacher are not too difficult to meet. And as only a language teacher, ITs face less pressure on scientific research performance. The workload is less than that of teachers in teaching and scientific research posts. On the other hand, the lack of challenging work also leads to job burnout and a lack of a sense of achievement (Robbins & Coulter, 2012). Therefore, ITs should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages and take responsibility for their choices before securing employment. ITs who are willing to be treated like language teachers by students can continue to shine in language teaching. However, those who are unwilling to do so should try to enhance the professionalism of their courses and strengthen the connections between themselves and students in scientific research (e.g., through cooperative projects). This, in turn, can encourage students to have a more comprehensive understanding of their professional learning and finally eliminate their stereotypes of the “simple course” and of “taking a language class.”
Second, for administrators and policymakers, the management of international and Chinese talents should use a unified standard and system to make them compete on one platform without discrimination. Chinese universities should establish an open environment, recruit teachers globally, and make them compete fairly, where equal support and requirement of scientific research and teaching should be given to all faculty of different nationalities. It can thus ameliorate the dissatisfaction of ITs with the lack of support for scientific research, and in this manner, the international influence and academic achievements of Chinese higher education can be improved with much more iinternationalized scientific research achievements.
Lastly, ITs should not be a series of figures that schools can use to exhibit their political achievements, nor should they serve as tools for improving rankings and attracting students. All concerned parties should constantly communicate with one another to enhance their mutual understanding, especially on the obstacles for ITs to fulfill their roles in the Chinese context. Moreover, an accurate understanding of the needs of stakeholders is key to enhancing ITs’ role in IHE. Toward this end, universities should provide necessary policy guidance and logistical support and establish an open and sustained communication channel through which different parties can express their views and engage in negotiation to create a positive work environment.
Limitations
International teachers play a vital role in the internationalization of China’s higher education. They can not only bring new ideas and methods, update teaching content and improve teaching quality, but also shorten the distance between Chinese students and the international community, which contributes to Chinese higher education. The qualitative analysis of the role of international teachers in Chinese higher education will provide empirical evidence of their contributions to the Chinese higher education internationalization process. However, the study has some limitations. First, the study only drew on interview data without analyzing different stakeholders’ interactions. Second, it did not consider domestic teachers’ and international students’ perspectives. Future research can incorporate new perspectives and utilize data from multiple sources such as field observation to generate meaningful insights for promoting IHE’s efficacy in China and similar educational contexts. Third, this essay ignores the differential among departments and majors. The result may varies when carrying research in other majors.
In the future, research on recruitment and training of ITs can be carried out to find how Chinese universities can do to attract and retain excellent international teachers, and how to train ITs on cultural adaptation and teaching ability. In the meanwhile, research on cooperation model between international teachers and domestic teachers can be conducted to figure out how to build an effective cooperation model in curriculum design, teaching methods, scientific research cooperation, etc., so that the introduction of international teachers can contribute more to the development of China’s higher education.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr. Rui (Eric) Yuan and Kailun Wang from Faculty of Education, University of Macau for their comments help on the earlier versions of the paper.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
Those who want our research data could email us to get the data.