Lead: Chinese Students Who Study Abroad Used

Lead: Chinese students who study abroad used to be among the most sough-after workers in China. Now, they are increasingly facing barriers to employment. Negative stereotypes and the rising quality of domestic education have Chinese employers turning their backs on the once-venerated "sea turtles.' In many ways, their story encapsulates the cultural conflicts internal to China as the nation continues its rapid pace of globalisation.

As recently as a few years ago, Chinese students who traveled abroad in pursuit of higher education were known as 'sea turtles'. This was seen as high praise - the turtle is revered as a symbol of luck in Chinese culture -- and these students were viewed as among the most fortunate of their generation. Today, these students are known by the much less flattering sobriquet of 'seaweed'.

When they were sea turtles, Chinese students who studied in the West were virtually guaranteed to have the best job prospects upon their return to China. Today, "seaweed" students have no such guarantees. Degrees from Western universities have decreased significantly in value in the past few years. Coming home from the West with freshly-inked parchment no longer offers the same employment prospects. Indeed, many such students now face significant barriers to finding work in China.

Tony studied at the University of Birmingham in England, returned to China two years ago with a degree and has struggled to find gainful employment since his return. He relates that when he left China six years ago, Chinese businesses generally viewed a diploma from the West favourably. Chinese companies at the time preferred to hire those who had studied abroad. Not only was the quality of the education perceived as superior, but graduates of Western schools generally had better command of English or other foreign languages, giving them an advantage over students at Chinese universities.

The expectation, Tony says, was that the degree was by itself a strong qualification, and most who returned from the West with degrees were virtually guaranteed a high-paying job on their return to China. His experience tells another story, however, one that has left him disappointed and pessimistic about his experience.

Tony's view is that the change in the perceptions of Chinese managers towards foreign-trained students relates to two issues. The first is that the value of a Western degree has diminished in the eyes of Chinese managers in the wake of substantial negative publicity in the Chinese media. Stories have circulated widely in the domestic media, citing stories of wealthy students purchasing degrees rather than earning them, about how Western schools take unqualified Chinese students simply to make money, and about students who use agencies to qualify them for a good university. The Nottingham scandal, where an agency falsified grades and reference letters to have students admitted to universities for which they were unqualified, is among the incidents that have left a big impression on Chinese managers.

While these scandals diminished the perception of Western education among Chinese managers, China's own universities were improving the quality of their educational offerings. In particular, an emphasis on language studies has effectively removed one of the most significant competitive advantages that who with a Western degree had -- language. Foreign language qualifications, especially English, are considered almost mandatory for high-level jobs in some Chinese companies, and a Western degree was a guarantee of language competency. Strong improvements in the language programs at Chinese universities now mean that students who have studied in China will also have strong foreign language skills. Without this competitive advantage, students who have studied abroad are forced to compete on the basis of the quality of their degrees. Given the high level of publicity surrounding the scandals, that has proven to be increasingly difficult.

"I talked with one employer who told me directly that he wasn't going to hire a student with a Western diploma," Tony relates, explaining how the new negative stereotypes affect him. "He had bad experiences in the past working with students who had studied in the West. He said that their performance was poor and that their salary demands were excessive. When that is how Chinese managers think, how can a student with a foreign degree compete?"

Now, unable to find gainful employment, Tony worries about his future. The cost of his Western education, including tuition and living costs, was over RMB 1 000-000, but most jobs that he has been offered in Beijing only pay around RMB 4 000. "How can I pay off what my parents invested in me, making only 4000 kuai?"

Tony's story is not unique. Many of his friends and classmates from the UK have had the same experience upon returning to China. In contrast, his friends who studied domestically have all found work. In part, the cost of the education is a problem -- Chinese universities do not cost much, so students are willing to accept relatively low wages and they also tend to have fewer requirements of the company.

There are other problems that the once-mighty sea turtles face as a consequence of choosing to study abroad. Lisa, a second-year student at the University of Melbourne, has had significant problems adjusting to life in Australia. A product of the one-child policy, Lisa's middle class family invested heavily in her education, bypassing the national exam in favour of a foreign degree. There was also the hope that she could integrate with local society in Australia and settle down in the country after graduation.

The reality for Lisa has been anything like that vision. Despite learning English, she says, language remains a significant barrier to integration in Australian life. "English is very different in practice from what we learn in school," she laments. Language, however, is not the biggest problem. Lisa argues that the biggest challenge is fitting in with the locals, in particular making local friends. "It's hard to make Australian friends. Most of my friends are Chinese, and we always speak to each other in Chinese, so in that way it's no different than at home."

She relates that her experience is typical for Chinese students living abroad. There are significant cultural differences in almost every aspect of life. Chinese and Westerners use different social networking sites, have different hobbies, and consume different news and media sources. There is little common ground, creating significant barriers to integrating in Western culture. Xiao Lu, who is studying in Iowa in the United States, echoes Lisa's sentiments. In her third year in the U.S., she has never been able to fully integrate. She tried unsuccessfully to integrate in her first year, but since has spent most of her time with Chinese friends, even eating mainly at Chinese restaurants. "Many students like me," she says, "return to China early because they are lonely. It affects their confidence and even their grades."