Issues in studying oversea
According to a U.S. university report, last year (2016) is the first time the number of international students enrolled in U.S. colleges has reached over a million students in a single year. The report found that although students come to the U.S. to study a variety of subjects, the most popular areas are Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Within the STEM areas, more than one-third of all international students were studying engineering and computer science.
For the past ten years, the majority of international students often went to the U.S. to study business and management. Since the financial crisis when nearly millions of U.S. workers lost their jobs, and even today are still looking for jobs, the number of international students studying business has dropped significantly. Another factor is STEM areas such as computer and engineering have high demand but not enough supply, and graduates in computer field could stay and work in the U.S when business and others non-STEM areas could not. According to the report, the growth in computer field was driven by a high number of India students enroll in U.S. schools with the ultimate goal of getting a job and stay in the U.S.
Another country that sent a large number students to the U.S. is China. However, compared with Indian students, many Chinese students are having difficulty due to language deficiency and cultural differences. The report found that Chinese could not communicate well, which makes them more isolated with the rest of other students. Although some Chinese started to learn English when they were in elementary schools, the way English is taught in China emphasizes the traditional “grammar-translation” rather than the spoken form which did not help them to express their view in class discussions and participate in teamwork where learning take place in most U.S. Schools. There are lots of vocabularies in textbooks that they do not know as they have to read a large amount of books and resources, which takes them a long time to complete. Another issue is most Chinese students are not likely to ask questions in class or seek help from their professors. In China, students who did not ask questions are considered “smarter” as the education do not encourage asking questions and disrupt classroom time.
The report also found that International students are having difficulties in U.S. Schools because of the difference in teaching and learning method. Many students received lower grades and had to re-take some courses and spent more than five years for a college degree. The reason is these students are not prepared adequately to study oversea. Their family spent much money just to get them to the U.S. but did not prepare them to deal with the academic difficulties. Another factor is their education systems were still using older textbooks with obsoleted materials, and theses students were struggling to catch-up with a fast moving pace of learning in most U.S. schools.
Recently many U.S. schools have begun to recognize these problems. Some set higher standards for admission for International students; other are offering more remedial courses, allowing them to have more time to prepare before attending the college-level courses. These extra supports will prolong their time to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
