An investigation of male Chinese international students’ university choices and their acculturation process: with a particular focus on those students who attend sports club sessions on a regular basis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gain an empirical understanding of why exactly the male recreational athlete amongst Chinese international students chooses to study at the University of Glasgow, as well as how they acculturate to a new cultural and social environment by participating in a range of organized sports clubs. Specifically, this study employed a qualitative method to interview eight male Chinese students individually who participated in sports clubs in Glasgow on a regular basis. Student responses were interpreted and evaluated by utilizing thematic analysis. The results indicated that firstly, Chinese sports participants’ overseas university choices are predominantly motivated by educational reasons, especially the worldwide ranking of the target university, while their decisions tend to be less affected by economic reasons as well as other people’s recommendations, in comparison with the decisions of non-athletes. The results also suggest that, secondly, sports participation can help Chinese international students improve target language skills as well as facilitate their understanding of the host culture. In addition, physical activities can also benefit students in making new friends, coping with loneliness, and relieving their accumulated academic pressures, all of which in turn minimizes their stresses derived from acculturation.

Findings from this study highlight the importance of the role that sporting activities play in Chinese international students’ cross-cultural adaption—from the process of choosing a university to while they are students. The study results, additionally, can offer a more customized strategy for boosting the university’s marketing effectiveness and can offer a more culturally appropriate strategy to facilitate the Chinese international students’ adjustment with the assistance of sports involvement.