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
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.
Recommended Citation
Chen, Huiying, "Paths to Belonging: How Chinese Parachute Kids Construct Identity Across Borders" (2024). Pitzer Senior Theses. 193.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/193
Included in
Asian American Studies Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons
