From stepping stone to the springboard
Alumni mobility, identity, and capital conversion in transnational higher education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/rtxht455Keywords:
internationalization, alumni perspectives, Chinese-Foreign cooperation, Internationalization at Home, joint-venture university, student mobility, transnational higher educationAbstract
This study examines alumni perspectives on the long-term impact of a Sino-U.S. joint-venture university. Qualitative interviews (n=13) and a supplementary survey (n=63) reveal that the institution functions as a strategic stepping stone to graduate education (88.9%) and fosters a global mindset. However, its effectiveness is moderated by persistent prestige deficits, inadequate career preparation (M=2.66/5), and underdeveloped alumni networks, reflecting tensions between American-modeled ideals and local realities. Applying Bourdieu's framework of capital conversion, we find that PAU successfully facilitates cultural capital acquisition for graduate mobility but struggles with capital convertibility in domestic labor markets. As one of the first studies to center long-term alumni outcomes in Chinese transnational higher education, it offers critical insights for policymakers and practitioners navigating a post-pandemic landscape of constrained mobility and geopolitical uncertainty.
References
Bobée, A., & Kleibert, J. M. (2023). Choose France! Containment, circulation and postcolonial (dis)continuities in transnational education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 21(4), 575–587. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2022.2075329
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1971430859795983026/holdings
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000196
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (3rd ed.).
Dai, K., & Hardy, I. (2022). Language for learning? International students’ doctoral writing practices in China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(8), 3174–3187. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2089154
Dai, K., Wilkins, S., & Zhang, X. (2025). Navigating organizational identity in transnational higher education: The case of a Hong Kong university’s branch campus in mainland China. Higher Education Research & Development, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2025.2566433
Duffy, L. P. (2025). Opportunities, bureaucracy and geopolitics shaping expatriate academic staff’s job satisfaction at China’s offshore campuses. Cogent Education, 12(1), 2553836. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2553836
Findlay, A. M., King, R., Smith, F. M., Geddes, A., & Skeldon, R. (2012). World class? An investigation of globalisation, difference and international student mobility. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 37(1), 118–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2011.00454.x
Galloway, N., Numajiri, T., & Rees, N. (2020). The ‘internationalisation’, or ‘Englishisation’, of higher education in East Asia. Higher Education, 80(3), 395–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00486-1
Gillies, R. (2021, September 26). Canadians, Chinese executive return home in prisoner swap | AP News. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-canada-china-arrests-washington-2b6e0977ae93557ad1265869d57838ed
Gu, Q., & Schweisfurth, M. (2015). Transnational connections, competences and identities: Experiences of Chinese international students after their return ‘home.’ British Educational Research Journal, 41(6), 947–970. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3175
Knight, J. (2016). Transnational education remodeled: Toward a common TNE framework and definitions. Journal of Studies in International Education, 20(1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315315602927
Li, X. (2021). The China-centric era? Rethinking academic identity for sustainable higher education internationalization in China. International Journal of Chinese Education, 10(3), 221258682110457. https://doi.org/10.1177/22125868211045778
Li, X., Dai, K., & Zhang, X. (2024). Transnational higher education in China: Policies, practices, and development in a (post-) pandemic era. Higher Education Policy, 37, 761–778. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-023-00328-x
Li, Y., & Nicholson Jr., H. L. (2021). When “model minorities” become “yellow peril”—Othering and the racialization of Asian Americans in the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociology Compass, 15(2), e12849. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12849
Marini, G., & Xu, X. (2023). Big fishes in a big pond: A comparison between foreign and Chinese academics’ research influence in mainland China. International Journal of Chinese Education, 12(1), 2212585X221145244. https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X221145244
MoE. (2023). 教育部审批和复核的机构及项目名单 【List of approved and renewed Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools and programs】. https://www.crs.jsj.edu.cn/ aproval/orglists
Mok, K. H., & Han, X. (2016a). From ‘brain drain’ to ‘brain bridging’: Transnational higher education development and graduate employment in China. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 38(3), 369–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2016.1174409
Mok, K. H., & Han, X. (2016b). The rise of transnational higher education and changing educational governance in China. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 18(1), 19–39. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-10-2015-0007
Mok, K. H., Tian, Z., & Amoah, P. A. (2026). Deglobalization and International Higher Education Collaborations: Critical Reflections of China’s Responses |. In A. Y. C. Hou, J. C. Shin, & B. Stensaker (Eds.), Innovative Paths to Quality Higher Education in Asia. Higher Education in Asia: Quality, Excellence and Governance. Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-95-2531-7_3
Noman, M., Kaur, A., Mullick, J., & Ran, L. (2023). Navigating new terrain: First-year Chinese students’ transitionary experiences in a Sino-US joint venture university in China. International Journal of Chinese Education, 12(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X231175167
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (1st ed.). Mcgraw-Hill College.
Okura, K. (2019). There are no Asians in China: The racialization of Chinese international students in the United States. Identities, 28(2), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2019.1663053
Oleksiyenko, A. V., Chan, S.-J., Kim, S. K., Lo, W. Y. W., & Manning, K. D. (2021). World class universities and international student mobility: Repositioning strategies in the Asian Tigers. Research in Comparative and International Education, 16(3), 295–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/17454999211039298
Ren, Z., & Wang, F. (2021). Socialization towards internationalization: Survey research on university students in China. Journal of International Students, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v12i3.3603
Richardson, D. J., & Bowen, N. E. J. A. (2023). Grade variations across EFL, CLIL, and EMI platforms: A longitudinal case study in an English language teaching department. System, 119, 103163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.103163
Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash, & R. Robertson (Eds.), Global Modernities (pp. 25–44). SAGE.
Tran, N. H. N., Amado, C. A. D. E. F., & Santos, S. P. D. (2023). Challenges and success factors of transnational higher education: A systematic review. Studies in Higher Education, 48(1), 113–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2022.2121813
Velazquez, L., Atenas, B., Hernández, N. C., Palacio, J. C. C., & Monsoriu, J. A. (2025). Diagnosing grade inflation: A curriculum analytics approach to quality assurance in higher education. Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2025.2572513
Wang, B. (2022). Immobility infrastructures: Taking online courses and staying put amongst Chinese international students during the COVID-19. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(11), 2540–2558. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2029376
Wang, X. (2024). Caught in the geopolitical tensions between China and the United States: Impacts on Chinese students pursuing American higher education. Journal of International Students, 14(4), 1009–1028.
Wilkins, S. (2021). Two decades of international branch campus development, 2000–2020: A review. International Journal of Educational Management, 35(1), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2020-0409
Wilkins, S., & Rumbley, L. (2018). What a Branch Campus Is: A Revised Definition. International Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.0.93.10416
Wilkins, S., & Rumbley, L. E. (2019). What an International Branch Campus Is, and Is Not: A Revised Definition. In Intelligent Internationalization (pp. 172–175). BRILL. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004418912_036
Wu, S., Zhou, S., Huang, M., & Chen, W. (2022). Employment Prospects of Graduates from Sino-Foreign Cooperative Universities in China. Journal of Studies in International Education, 26(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315320957433
Yang, L., Borrowman, L., Tan, M. Y., & New, J. Y. (2020). Expectations in transition: Students’ and teachers’ expectations of university in an international branch campus. Journal of Studies in International Education, 24(3), 352–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315319861348
Yu, J. (2025). The racial learning of Chinese international students in the US: A transnational perspective. Race Ethnicity and Education, 28(1), 154–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2022.2106878
Yu, J., Li, X., & Zhou, W. W. (2022). Disrupted or sustained? Chinese international students’ perceptions of transnational hybrid learning amid politics and pandemic. Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration, 6(1-2: Politics, Perils and Privileges: Immobilities in the Time of Global Pandemics), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1386/tjtm_00040_1
Yu, J., Rai, R., Lim, M. A., & Li, H. (2024). The post-racial myth: Rethinking Chinese university students’ experiences and perceptions of racialised microaggressions in the UK. Higher Education, 88(5), 1695–1710. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01126-5
Yu, J., Yang, Y., & An, N. (2026). The Geopolitics of Transnational Higher Education: Strategic Rationales and Spatial Practices in China. Geopolitics, 0(0), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2026.2645123
Zhou, N., Li, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Why do Chinese high school graduates choose Sino-Foreign cooperative universities? A grounded theory approach. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241240303
Zou, B., Wang, X., & Yu, C. (2022). The impact of Sino-foreign cooperative universities in China on Chinese postgraduate students’ learning performances in the United Kingdom and United States. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1012614. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1012614
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Liam Duffy, Min Li
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
