Racialization of Asian International Students

Asian International Students to Canadian Universities:
Examining the Racialization of Chinese, Indian and Korean Students in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg

Thank you for your interest in the RAIS study!

We are still looking for volunteers to take part in a study of Asian international student’s experiences in Canadian universities.

For Fall 2023, we are still recruiting international students enrolled at Dalhousie University (Halifax) and at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)!

You would be asked to participate in a one-on-one virtual interview to share your experiences as a Chinese, Indian or Korean international student in a Canadian university. We are also looking for some European international students who do not consider themselves a visible minority to share their experiences.

Interviews will be conducted on Zoom. These will be recorded in order to facilitate the subsequent transcription, after which all recordings will be destroyed.

In appreciation for your time, you will receive a $20 gift card.

Interested students enrolled at Dalhousie University, please contact Dr. Ajay Parasram, email: parasram@dal.ca

Interested students enrolled at the University of Manitoba, please contact Dr. Lori Wilkinson, email: Lori.Wilkinson@umanitoba.ca

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance by the Research Ethics Board of Dalhousie University, the University of Manitoba Ethics Board and the Research Ethics Board of York University.

Purpose of the Study
This research project aims at understanding how racial identity is constructed and understood by Asian international students in Canadian universities, especially Chinese, Indian, and Korean students who form the majority of international students at Canadian universities. We are also looking for some European international students who do not identify as visible minorities. We are interested in how the racialization process comes to influence the on- and off-campus lives of Asian international students, their plans after their studies, and their experiences as a whole.

All responses will remain confidential, and we will not release any information that personally identifies you. (Warning: ‘liking’ or ‘forwarding’ information online about this study may publicly identify your link to the study if you choose to participate.)

For more information about the study, or to sign up, contact the researcher affiliated with your university below:

National research team:
York University
Dr. Jean Michel Montsion
jmmontsion@glendon.yorku.ca

Field sites and team leaders:
Dalhousie University
Dr. Ajay Parasram
parasram@dal.ca

Université de Montréal
Dr. Marie-Odile Magnan
marie-odile.magnan@umontreal.ca

University of British Columbia
Dr. Elic Chan
elicc@mail.ubc.ca

University of Manitoba
Dr. Lori Wilkinson
lori.wilkinson@umanitoba.ca

University of Toronto
Dr. Elizabeth Buckner
elizabeth.buckner@utoronto.ca

This research has received ethics review and approval by the Ethics Review Board of all participating institutions, the Human Participants Review Sub-Committee, and conforms to the standards of the Canadian Tri-Council Research Ethics guidelines. If you have any questions about this process or about the rights of the participant in the study, you can contact the Sr. Manager & Policy Advisor for the Office of Research Ethics at York University by email (ore@yorku.ca) or by phone (416-736-5914). If you have questions or need more information about the study itself, please contact Jean Michel Montsion at: jmmontsion@glendon.yorku.ca or 416-736-2100 extension 88159.

About the Project

Principal Investigator: Jean Michel Montsion (Multidisciplinary Studies, York University)
Email: montsion[at]yorku.ca

Co-Investigators at York (core national team): Ann Kim (Sociology, York University), Soma Chatterjee (School of Social Work, York University), Shirin Shahrokni (Sociology, Glendon College, York University)

Co-investigators and collaborators: Elic Chan (Sociology, University of British Columbia), Ajay Parasram (International Development Studies & History, Dalhousie University), Elizabeth Buckner (OISE, University of Toronto), Marie-Odile Magnan (Éducation, Université de Montréal), and Lori Wilkinson (Sociology, University of Manitoba)

Funding: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

With the launch of the federal government’s Canada’s International Education Strategy in 2014 to provide a more systematic approach to recruiting and retaining international students, a broader examination of the challenges faced by these students, matching the national scope of such strategy, is required. We focus on the racialization encountered by these students, as a process that remains unspoken, unacknowledged and under-explored, to counter the silence found at the national and institutional levels about racialization and its consequences for international students. When the problem of racialization is obscured, international students are more vulnerable to encounters that they do not understand, or of which they are unaware, limiting not only the quality of their academic and social integration but also limiting their desire and conscious decisions to contribute to Canadian society.

Such a research project has high salience in contemporary Canada, not only as it will shed light on an empirical case that is underexplored, but it will support a growing segment of students at Canadian universities who are redefining the university landscape as well as the community politics and socio-demographic profiles of various cities and provinces. This study is novel due to the suggested scale, reach and possible cross-provincial and cross-university comparisons and it aims to inform future policy and programmatic pathways.

The main objective of this research project is to shed light on the experiences of international students as migrants to specific communities, beyond their academic affiliation, by using the ways in which racialization affects them on and off-campus, and has repercussions on their migratory experiences and trajectories as a whole.

Research Questions:

What are the academic and non-academic racialization experiences and processes that affect and are shaped by Asian international students (i.e. Chinese, Indian, Korean) to Canadian universities during their studies?
How does racialization work in similar and/or different ways across groups of Asian international students?
How is racialization shaping the student migration experiences to Canadian universities and post-graduation pathways in similar and/or different ways across the country?

Les étudiants internationaux d’origine asiatique et les universités canadiennes: Un examen des processus de racisation des étudiants chinois, indiens et coréens à Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver et Winnipeg

Chercheur principal: Jean Michel Montsion (Études pluridisciplinaires, Glendon-York)

Co-chercheurs à York: Ann Kim (Sociology, York), Soma Chatterjee (Social Work, York), Shirin Shahrokni (Sociologie, Glendon-York)

Co-chercheurs et collaborateurs: Elic Chang (Sociology, UBC), Ajay Parasram (International Development Studies & History, Dalhousie), Elizabeth Buckner (OISE, UofT), Marie-Odile Magnan (Éducation, Université de Montréal), et Lori Wilkinson (Sociology, University of Manitoba)

Financement: Le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada

Avec le lancement, en 2014, de la Stratégie d’éducation internationale du Canada par le gouvernement fédéral, visant à mettre en place une approche systématique des processus de recrutement et de rétention des étudiants internationaux, un examen pan-canadien approfondi des défis que relèvent ces étudiants est plus que jamais nécessaire. Nous nous penchons sur la racisation dont ces étudiants font l’expérience, un processus qui reste invisible, méconnu, et donc insuffisamment étudié. Ce projet de recherche vise à pallier le silence qui persiste aux niveaux national et institutionnel sur cette racisation et ses conséquences dans les parcours de vie des étudiants internationaux. Tant qu’un silence et une méconnaissance persistent sur le problème de la racisation, ces étudiants demeurent vulnérables à des interactions qui limitent la qualité de leur intégration socio-académique et freinent leur désir de contribuer à la société canadienne.

Contribution: L’apport d’un tel projet à la société canadienne contemporaine est indéniable car il représente une étude empirique d’envergure, menée dans un champ jusqu’ici peu exploré. De plus, il saura apporter un soutien à un segment grandissant de la population étudiante au sein des universités canadiennes. Les étudiants internationaux d’origine asiatique redéfinissent en effet le paysage universitaire, mais aussi les politiques locales et les profils démographiques d’un grand nombre de villes et provinces du pays. Cette étude est pionnière de par son étendue, de par les comparaisons interuniversitaires et interprovinciales qu’elle propose, mais aussi en raison des recommandations qu’elle permettra de formuler aux pouvoirs publics afin d’améliorer l’expérience d’intégration de ces étudiants.

L’objectif premier de cette recherche est de mettre en lumière les expériences des étudiants internationaux, en tant que migrants de communautés distinctes, au-delà de leur affiliation académique, en appréhendant les manières dont les processus de racisation les affectent sur le campus mais aussi hors campus. En somme, l’objectif est de cerner en quoi la racisation joue sur leurs expériences et leurs trajectoires migratoires.

Questions de recherche:

Quelles sont les expériences de racisation, à la fois académiques et extra-académiques, vécues par les étudiants internationaux en provenance d’Asie (Chine, Inde, Corée) inscrits dans des universités canadiennes?
Qu’est-ce que la comparaison intergroupe (cf. ci-haut) nous apprend de l’expérience de la racisation? Observe-t-on des différences intergroupes?
En quoi la racisation façonne-t-elle les expériences migratoires étudiantes au sein des universités canadiennes, ainsi que les trajectoires postuniversitaires? Observe-t-on des différences interuniversitaires et interprovinciales?