The Lived Experiences of Chinese International Students Preparing for the University-To-Work Transition: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study

Authors

Ian M. Lertora, Texas Tech UniversityFollow
Jeffrey Sullivan, Sam Houston State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Chinese international students have been the largest growing number of international students on U.S. college and university campuses for the last ten years. However, there is minimal research literature that pertains to Chinese international students’ experiences on U.S. campuses and currently no research literature that reflects the entirety of their experience studying in the U.S. The purpose of thisphenomenological qualitative study was to give a voice to Chinese international students who are preparing for the university-to-work transition to better understand their experiences as international students in the United States, specifically the types of transitional stressors they experienced and how they coped with these stressors. Five major themes and the essence of the participants emerged from the data analysis and are presented, discussed, and implication for campus based mental health professionals are provided.

Keywords

Chinese International Students, Transition, Phenomenology, Optimism

Author Bio(s)

Ian M. Lértora is an assistant professor in Counselor Education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Ian has worked in various settings over the past 9 years that include trauma-focused play therapy, community counseling, college counseling, and career counseling. When working on colleges campuses Ian providessupport for international student populations by providing transitional, academic, career, and mental health support. His areas of research are college student transitions, international student transitions, and developing innovative and interactive teaching strategies for counselors and counselor educators. Correspondence can be addressed directly to: ian.lertora@ttu.edu.

Jeffrey M. Sullivan is an assistant professor of counselor education at Sam Houston State University. Jeffrey has worked in various settings over the past 10 years and currently serves as program coordinator for the counseling program at Sam Houston State University. Jeffrey’s research interests include counselor development, counseling supervision, play therapy, and counseling research methodology. Correspondence can also be addressed directly to: jms107@shsu.edu.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Jesse C. Starkey, Alexis L. Croffie, and Jessica R. Jones. Without your hard work, inspiration, and dedication this work is not possible.

Publication Date

8-11-2019

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3634

Recommended APA Citation

Lertora, I. M., & Sullivan, J. (2019). The Lived Experiences of Chinese International Students Preparing for the University-To-Work Transition: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study. The Qualitative Report, 24(8), 1877-1896. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3634