Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0004-5936-6311

Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Asian American Studies

Second Department

Sociology

Reader 1

Hung Cam Thai, Pomona College

Reader 2

Jessica Kizer, Pitzer College

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2024 Huiying Chen

Abstract

Chinese parachute kids, defined as unaccompanied minor who study in foreign countries alone while their parents remain in China, represent a unique segment of international students.This research specifically focusing on Chinese parachute kids studying in the U.S. Grounded in interviews with nineteen individuals who were once parachute kids, this study challenges the popular view that all international students have monolithic experiences especially within the assimilationist framework.

I propose a typology of three orientations (the heritage, the instrumental, and the global) and argue that Chinese parachute kids’ orientation determines their sense of belonging and their approaches to embeddedness in American educational system. Ultimately, this study suggests that Chinese parachute kids are a distinct “mobile” group that achieve their belonging in the U.S. in multiple pathways.

Share

COinS