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Today over 200,000 returned overseas students called “Hai Gui,” literally “sea turtle” in Chinese, have become the mainstay of China’s infrastructure across all fields and a driving force for the country’s economic and social development. The trend is an old one, just playing out fully now, and the reasons for going are as many as the students themselves. The stories of those who went abroad and returned have not all been tales of triumph, and even the successfully settled exports are following the deep currents home.
IT was 11 years ago when Chen Bei, then a high school student in Henan, stood at one of life’s first crossroads. She, like several million other Chinese students, faced the annual “Gaokao,” China’s college entrance exam. Although it is equivalent to the SAT in the U.S. or the “A” levels in the U.K., it is considerably longer and more intimidating. Young students in China face intense competition and pressure. Only those in the top percentiles specified will have a chance at China’s best universities. For Chinese parents, education has always been a top priority, but in a country of 1.3 billion, it can be tough to get the advantage. This leaves many worried parents and students to search for alternatives to a Chinese education. One “Plan B” becoming more popular is looking abroad for viable options.
The Foreign Welcome Mat
The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping recognized the value of an overseas education. He himself had gone off to France at the age of 16 to spend five years there studying and working. Although he struggled to survive there on his limited funds like many students now, it was a life-changing experience. These years fortified him with an understanding of the world that proved important in his set of leadership skills. This became evident in his instructions to the Ministry of Education in June 1978, stressing that China should expand its academic communication with foreign countries. He felt that China needed to encourage more students to study abroad. “We are going to send not just eight or ten students, but thousands or tens of thousands of them to receive an overseas education,” Deng promised.
Over 30 years have passed since Deng Xiaoping uttered his historic remarks, and over 1.3915 million Chinese students have gone abroad since then to get an education in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. These students have covered almost all disciplines and fields. Over that period a great many of the students also returned, bringing back new skills and knowledge. Some have remained abroad continuing their studies, doing research or being visiting scholars in foreign institutes of higher education. In 2008 alone, almost 180,000 Chinese went to study overseas, according to China’s Ministry of Education. Of those, more than half (98,510) headed for the U.S., 21 percent more than the year before. And the share for undergraduate programs, 26,271, was three times greater than that of five years ago.
This steep increase could be due in part to the strengthening of the Yuan and the overall rise in China’s prosperity that is making an overseas education more affordable. There are also new policies that encourage students to study abroad. Three main options for financing foreign study are state-financed scholarships (used by one quarter of students), employer-funded study terms (accessed by a slightly larger portion), and of course, making your own way, which the majority of students still do.
Educational researcher Geoff Maslen states: “The number of students from China’s mainland studying abroad far outnumbers those from any other country in the world, and they will continue to increase their domination of the international student market for decades to come.” Institutes of higher learning have stepped up efforts to court Chinese students as they have become major contributors both financially and academically to schools around the world. During U.S. president Barack Obama’s recent visit to China, a plan for increased student exchanges between the two countries was announced. China is now the second largest source of foreign students in the U.S., topped only by India, and is showing strong momentum to overtake it. In the midst of a recession, a flood of international students is welcomed by the American economy. China, with its vast population and growing wealth, will remain the focus of Western education export marketing efforts.
The Grass Is Not Always Greener
There is a well-known Chinese proverb often quoted by students:“The foreign moon is rounder than the Chinese one.” It’s similar to the Western idea that “The grass is always greener on the other side.” There is often an unsubstantiated conviction about foreign superiority in education that drives the decision to go abroad,but Yang Hua, a former Australian student “export,” disputes this bias. She wants those contemplating studying abroad to know that while her experience was overall very positive, what really helped her to grow during her years abroad were the difficulties she experienced as a student. She grew in confidence by overcoming these, through her interactions with people of other cultures, and her mastery of English. Yang found her independence, but still felt it best to return home.
A very common problem is going abroad without making necessary preparations. Many students don’t do any, or enough, research on the places they plan to go or lack the right information to guide them. At the mercy of either private educational consulting agencies or their parents to choose the location and program for them,they make the assumption that anywhere but here is better.
Friends of Chen Bei’s parents had suggested an agency in her hometown to ease the process of finding a school for her. At the time her English level was still quite low, and she had America on her mind. But the agency had some connection with a school in the U.K., so she went off with little or no idea about life in England and their culture. She found herself deeply disappointed by her school in Carlisle near the border of Scotland, a small, somewhat rural town in the north, as far away from London as Henan is to Beijing.
Even for people who plan early, the hardship of living on foreign soil can surpass all expectations formed at home. Zhou Meiwei, daughter of a taxi driver in Beijing, began to prepare for going to the U.S. when she was 17. Now 21, she has managed to get into a university in Texas, and just finished her first semester there. Taking college level classes in English has been a struggle for her, and she has to work harder than her classmates in order to keep up. She has had to navigate transferring schools and acclimate to a new town with no friends or contacts to help her.
It is understandable that in a new country Chinese students often gravitate toward their compatriots for comfort and camaraderie. One English teacher in Beijing recounts how one of his students spent four years in New York and came home speaking fluent Cantonese, but was still unable to fully communicate in English. Planning is essential to getting the most from the study-abroad experience so that students actually experience local culture and make native friends.
A Question of Goals
When considering going abroad, one of the main things that both Chinese parents and students ponder is whether or not the experience will directly translate into a better job or higher salary. “The short answer is that there are no guarantees, but it should prove valuable in other ways,” according to a college study consultant based in Beijing. As the economic level improves in China many students chose to return after their studies and explore opportunities at home. The financial crisis and China’s own search for overseas talent would appear to encourage the continuance of this trend.
Students like Chen Bei have not been lucky with the assumption that a return to China would be a return in triumph. She spent seven years finding a measure of comfort in England yet still found it hard to get worthwhile employment as a foreigner. Returning to China in the hope of putting to use all that she had learned overseas, she found that Chinese companies saw her as “foreign,” a judgment about her potential that did not seem to be based on her skills. According to one education advisor, “Part of the problem lies in the fact that many students choose the same few fields of study.”
Administration, finance and computer science were the most popular majors for Chinese students going overseas according to a Ministry of Education survey. Students are now advised to think carefully about the Chinese job market before they leave, so that they can make a wise choice of their majors and increase their chances for better job opportunities after graduation. The trend may be changing, as many new students enroll in Liberal Arts programs, something not widely available in China.
“Sea Turtles” Swim Home
Deng Xiaoping hoped that students would choose to return to the motherland after graduation, and expressed that in a speech in 1992, promising to make efforts to improve the living and working environment for these returned overseas students. Today the government continues to woo its overseas students back with a range of measures, including earmarking special funds for business startups and academic research. This has led to what is known as a reverse brain drain. The average age for the Chinese “sea turtle” is 33. They are well educated: 51 percent of the students hold master’s degrees and 41 percent had PhDs in management, technology or science – the kind of people who can make the greatest contribution to an economy’s innovation and growth.
China’s Ministry of Education has confirmed that “returned overseas students and scholars have played leading roles in areas like education, science and technology, high-tech industries, finance, trade and management, and they are becoming a valuable resource for China.” Eighty-one percent of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 54 percent of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering have an overseas education background. Zhu Min, newly appointed vice president of the People’s Bank of China, is a good example of someone who got the most out of his international experience in the U.S. “Sea turtles” have started up 5,000 businesses across the country, with the annual output value exceeding RMB 10 billion (about US $1.21 billion). Many more give to their motherland through technical consultancy, lecturing during short-term visits to China, carrying out academic exchanges, conducting joint research projects, or bringing in projects and investments from overseas.
A senior research associate at Harvard Law School comments, “And it isn’t just new immigrants who are returning home.” His research shows that some 34 percent of the Chinese returnees had permanent resident status or were U.S. citizens. What calls even the successfully settled home? Some 84 percent of his students cited professional opportunities. Though they make less money in absolute terms in China, most said their salaries brought a “better quality of life” than they had in the U.S. When it came to social factors, 67 percent of the returnees listed the better “family life” offered in China. Many wanted the ability to care for their aging parents, and this may be a hidden visa factor: it’s much harder to bring parents and other family members over to the U.S. than in the past. For the vast majority of “sea turtles,” the simple longing for the creature comforts – family and friends is enough of a current to guide them home.
IT was 11 years ago when Chen Bei, then a high school student in Henan, stood at one of life’s first crossroads. She, like several million other Chinese students, faced the annual “Gaokao,” China’s college entrance exam. Although it is equivalent to the SAT in the U.S. or the “A” levels in the U.K., it is considerably longer and more intimidating. Young students in China face intense competition and pressure. Only those in the top percentiles specified will have a chance at China’s best universities. For Chinese parents, education has always been a top priority, but in a country of 1.3 billion, it can be tough to get the advantage. This leaves many worried parents and students to search for alternatives to a Chinese education. One “Plan B” becoming more popular is looking abroad for viable options.
The Foreign Welcome Mat
The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping recognized the value of an overseas education. He himself had gone off to France at the age of 16 to spend five years there studying and working. Although he struggled to survive there on his limited funds like many students now, it was a life-changing experience. These years fortified him with an understanding of the world that proved important in his set of leadership skills. This became evident in his instructions to the Ministry of Education in June 1978, stressing that China should expand its academic communication with foreign countries. He felt that China needed to encourage more students to study abroad. “We are going to send not just eight or ten students, but thousands or tens of thousands of them to receive an overseas education,” Deng promised.
Over 30 years have passed since Deng Xiaoping uttered his historic remarks, and over 1.3915 million Chinese students have gone abroad since then to get an education in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. These students have covered almost all disciplines and fields. Over that period a great many of the students also returned, bringing back new skills and knowledge. Some have remained abroad continuing their studies, doing research or being visiting scholars in foreign institutes of higher education. In 2008 alone, almost 180,000 Chinese went to study overseas, according to China’s Ministry of Education. Of those, more than half (98,510) headed for the U.S., 21 percent more than the year before. And the share for undergraduate programs, 26,271, was three times greater than that of five years ago.
This steep increase could be due in part to the strengthening of the Yuan and the overall rise in China’s prosperity that is making an overseas education more affordable. There are also new policies that encourage students to study abroad. Three main options for financing foreign study are state-financed scholarships (used by one quarter of students), employer-funded study terms (accessed by a slightly larger portion), and of course, making your own way, which the majority of students still do.
Educational researcher Geoff Maslen states: “The number of students from China’s mainland studying abroad far outnumbers those from any other country in the world, and they will continue to increase their domination of the international student market for decades to come.” Institutes of higher learning have stepped up efforts to court Chinese students as they have become major contributors both financially and academically to schools around the world. During U.S. president Barack Obama’s recent visit to China, a plan for increased student exchanges between the two countries was announced. China is now the second largest source of foreign students in the U.S., topped only by India, and is showing strong momentum to overtake it. In the midst of a recession, a flood of international students is welcomed by the American economy. China, with its vast population and growing wealth, will remain the focus of Western education export marketing efforts.
The Grass Is Not Always Greener
There is a well-known Chinese proverb often quoted by students:“The foreign moon is rounder than the Chinese one.” It’s similar to the Western idea that “The grass is always greener on the other side.” There is often an unsubstantiated conviction about foreign superiority in education that drives the decision to go abroad,but Yang Hua, a former Australian student “export,” disputes this bias. She wants those contemplating studying abroad to know that while her experience was overall very positive, what really helped her to grow during her years abroad were the difficulties she experienced as a student. She grew in confidence by overcoming these, through her interactions with people of other cultures, and her mastery of English. Yang found her independence, but still felt it best to return home.
A very common problem is going abroad without making necessary preparations. Many students don’t do any, or enough, research on the places they plan to go or lack the right information to guide them. At the mercy of either private educational consulting agencies or their parents to choose the location and program for them,they make the assumption that anywhere but here is better.
Friends of Chen Bei’s parents had suggested an agency in her hometown to ease the process of finding a school for her. At the time her English level was still quite low, and she had America on her mind. But the agency had some connection with a school in the U.K., so she went off with little or no idea about life in England and their culture. She found herself deeply disappointed by her school in Carlisle near the border of Scotland, a small, somewhat rural town in the north, as far away from London as Henan is to Beijing.
Even for people who plan early, the hardship of living on foreign soil can surpass all expectations formed at home. Zhou Meiwei, daughter of a taxi driver in Beijing, began to prepare for going to the U.S. when she was 17. Now 21, she has managed to get into a university in Texas, and just finished her first semester there. Taking college level classes in English has been a struggle for her, and she has to work harder than her classmates in order to keep up. She has had to navigate transferring schools and acclimate to a new town with no friends or contacts to help her.
It is understandable that in a new country Chinese students often gravitate toward their compatriots for comfort and camaraderie. One English teacher in Beijing recounts how one of his students spent four years in New York and came home speaking fluent Cantonese, but was still unable to fully communicate in English. Planning is essential to getting the most from the study-abroad experience so that students actually experience local culture and make native friends.
A Question of Goals
When considering going abroad, one of the main things that both Chinese parents and students ponder is whether or not the experience will directly translate into a better job or higher salary. “The short answer is that there are no guarantees, but it should prove valuable in other ways,” according to a college study consultant based in Beijing. As the economic level improves in China many students chose to return after their studies and explore opportunities at home. The financial crisis and China’s own search for overseas talent would appear to encourage the continuance of this trend.
Students like Chen Bei have not been lucky with the assumption that a return to China would be a return in triumph. She spent seven years finding a measure of comfort in England yet still found it hard to get worthwhile employment as a foreigner. Returning to China in the hope of putting to use all that she had learned overseas, she found that Chinese companies saw her as “foreign,” a judgment about her potential that did not seem to be based on her skills. According to one education advisor, “Part of the problem lies in the fact that many students choose the same few fields of study.”
Administration, finance and computer science were the most popular majors for Chinese students going overseas according to a Ministry of Education survey. Students are now advised to think carefully about the Chinese job market before they leave, so that they can make a wise choice of their majors and increase their chances for better job opportunities after graduation. The trend may be changing, as many new students enroll in Liberal Arts programs, something not widely available in China.
“Sea Turtles” Swim Home
Deng Xiaoping hoped that students would choose to return to the motherland after graduation, and expressed that in a speech in 1992, promising to make efforts to improve the living and working environment for these returned overseas students. Today the government continues to woo its overseas students back with a range of measures, including earmarking special funds for business startups and academic research. This has led to what is known as a reverse brain drain. The average age for the Chinese “sea turtle” is 33. They are well educated: 51 percent of the students hold master’s degrees and 41 percent had PhDs in management, technology or science – the kind of people who can make the greatest contribution to an economy’s innovation and growth.
China’s Ministry of Education has confirmed that “returned overseas students and scholars have played leading roles in areas like education, science and technology, high-tech industries, finance, trade and management, and they are becoming a valuable resource for China.” Eighty-one percent of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 54 percent of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering have an overseas education background. Zhu Min, newly appointed vice president of the People’s Bank of China, is a good example of someone who got the most out of his international experience in the U.S. “Sea turtles” have started up 5,000 businesses across the country, with the annual output value exceeding RMB 10 billion (about US $1.21 billion). Many more give to their motherland through technical consultancy, lecturing during short-term visits to China, carrying out academic exchanges, conducting joint research projects, or bringing in projects and investments from overseas.
A senior research associate at Harvard Law School comments, “And it isn’t just new immigrants who are returning home.” His research shows that some 34 percent of the Chinese returnees had permanent resident status or were U.S. citizens. What calls even the successfully settled home? Some 84 percent of his students cited professional opportunities. Though they make less money in absolute terms in China, most said their salaries brought a “better quality of life” than they had in the U.S. When it came to social factors, 67 percent of the returnees listed the better “family life” offered in China. Many wanted the ability to care for their aging parents, and this may be a hidden visa factor: it’s much harder to bring parents and other family members over to the U.S. than in the past. For the vast majority of “sea turtles,” the simple longing for the creature comforts – family and friends is enough of a current to guide them home.