The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceived experience of Chinese students during their first year attending a Catholic co-educational boarding and day school in the United States. Data collection included semi-structured interviews of five current students, a faculty and staff questionnaire, and an analysis of the schedule of events for the new boarding student orientation. The data was analyzed using the inductive method for data analysis. The data showed that Chinese students face challenges in four key areas: 1) academic adjustment; 2) social adjustment; 3) emotional support; and 4) developing autonomy. Differences between Chinese culture and American culture provide challenges across the four key areas, leading culture to be best suited as a lens for analyzing the challenges faced by Chinese students transitioning to life at an American boarding school. There should be continuing research to identify the challenges faced by other ethnic and cultural groups in adjusting to life at boarding schools.

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Currently more than half a million international students are enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. All of these students face challenges associated with integrating into their new host education environments and learning how to make their way through the rules and regulations of their host university and community. Social network theories attribute behaviors to the structural and relational attributes of one's social network including access to resources and information. The social networks of most international students are insular, dense, and homogeneous and serve to reinforce cultural norms in the host society. Further, they provide little to no access to dissimilar others and limit information flow to redundant information. China and India are the countries of origin of over 20% of U.S. international students. The goal of this research was to understand the constructs of the Chinese and Indian students' social networks and ascertain factors affecting satisfaction and influencing academic progression. Support related to making their way through the university system and residing in the host community framed the social networks. Among the variables studied were tie strength, homogeneity, and roles and relationships of network members. Results indicated that while significant differences existed within the Chinese and Indian student populations, their networks contained many similarities. Males' networks were more homogeneous and dense than females' networks and weak links were more prevalent in females' networks. Chinese males had the most insular networks. The networks of Indian students and Chinese females were in many cases more similar with one another and different from those of Chinese males. Network members were predominately friends and most were students. University faculty and staff were present in only 12% of Chinese males' networks and at least 25% of all other groups. Not all students were satisfied that their networks met their needs. Despite having the largest networks, Chinese students wanted even larger networks. Just under half of Indian students wanted larger networks. Universally, students indicated their networks enabled academic progression and Chinese females rated their networks more effective than all others. Despite significant differences among and between the populations, the students were able to invoke effective networks enabling academic progression. / Ph. D.

One of the most striking phenomena in the first half of the 20th century was the influx of Chinese intellectuals into America to receive Western education. Studies in the past, however, often depicted the history of American-educated Chinese students simply as the history of Chinese students returning from America. For a long time the foreign exposure and experience of the Chinese intellectuals did not draw enough attention from the academia. If we agree that one of the valuable contributions that the West can make to China was the spiritual values in Western civilization, the encounter between the intellectuals and the Christian idealism would probably be a very important issue. It is not the purpose of this research to re-write the history of American-returned students in any depth. The author would like to focus on a group of "China's American-educated youths" who has encountered modern Christianity. Although they were not all followers or baptized Christians, they adhered to the principles of Christianity as the highest standard for measuring the changing circumstances in China and in the world. / To unite the Chinese Christians in the United States, the Chinese Students' Christian Association in North America was founded in 1909 by a group of Chinese Christian students. The objective of the Association was similar to the Young Men's Christian Association. Through a case study of the Chinese Students' Christian Association in North America, the author attempts to depict the spiritual feature of the American-educated Chinese students as a single group. This dissertation argues that they intentionally chose the social gospel, which adopted the Kingdom of God as the key concept, in the quest fort he modern religious belief. By making critical assessment and judgment on the non-Christian order in the society, political arena and the internationals cene, they longed for the realization of the earthly democratic kingdom which suited to the home country and the world. Disappointed in politics, the China's American-educated youths did not turn into mere spectators. The Christian idealism made them profoundly aware of the sociopolitical realm of China and the world. This thirst for a Kingdom of God became the driving force for the continuous development of the students' Christian movement. / 梁冠霆. / Adviser: Tze-Ming Ng. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 2073. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-167). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Liang Guanting.

Chinese international students in American colleges and universities report low levels of physical activity involvement, which may limit them in terms of realizing their full human potential (i.e., cognitively, physically, socially). The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the psychosocial mechanisms as well as the sociocultural influences to understand physical activity behavior among Chinese international students in American higher education. The first manuscript reviewed the background of physical activity participation among Chinese students. It also reviewed empirical findings related to the Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) model (Welk, 1999). The second manuscript tested a model of meeting physical activity recommendation (MPAR), using the YPAP model as the guiding framework in an effort to identify theoretical predictors of physical activity participation among Chinese international students. Results revealed that the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors predicted MPAR among Chinese international students. Different from Welk's (1999) model, however, we found that the enabling and reinforcing factors influenced physical activity indirectly through the predisposing factors, able(i.e., Am I able?) and worth (i.e., Is it worth it?), instead of directly. The results clarify how the YPAP model might be used to understand the physical activity behavior of Chinese international students studying in American colleges and universities. The third manuscript qualitatively explored the physical activity experiences of Chinese female international graduate students in terms of meanings, facilitators, and barriers to participation. It revealed that physical activity provided the participants with a break from their academic work, allowed them some alone time, gave them feelings of accomplishment, and taught them a process for accomplishing other things in their lives. Major facilitators included social influences, the availability of ample resources, their changing perceptions of femininity, and the need to improve or maintain their health. The most frequent barriers included a lack of time, self-efficacy, social support, "how to" information, and cultural barriers. This study adds to our understanding of the physical activity experiences of Chinese international graduate students, as well offers some direction to colleges and universities in the U.S. regarding how they might facilitate the physical activity behavior of Chinese international graduate students in the future. Based on the two empirical studies, colleges and universities ought to provide physical activity resources, as well as social resources, to increase the perceived competence, self-efficacy, positive attitude, and enjoyment of physical activity among Chinese international students. University curriculums and fitness training programs should include cross-cultural course content to increase awareness of the unique needs of international students, as well as to help them to remove barriers to their physical activity participation. / Graduation date: 2012

The purpose of the study was to investigate cultural aspects that influence customer perception of service quality in the hotel industry, specifically those that influence Eastern and Western respondents. A questionnaire was developed to assess cultural differences on perceptions, which included a modified version of the SERVQUAL scales, an instrument used to measure service quality. The convenience sample consisted of students enrolled in the MBA program at a Western university (N=152; Eastern=57.9%, Western=34.9%, Other=7.2%). Findings indicated that there were no significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures in perceptions of service quality. A sample questionnaire is included.