Dr Paola R. S. Eiras

Higher education (HE) is rapidly changing, and perhaps nowhere faster than in China. In addition to outbound Chinese student mobility, there has been an increase in various forms of transnational education (TNE) within the Chinese HE environment over the last 10 to 15 years. This thesis makes an original contribution to the literature in the sociology of education by unpacking Chinese students’ experiences in a TNE environment in China which, in turn, impacted on constructions of their cultural identities. The fieldwork included 31 semi-structured, arts-based, face-to-face interviews with students at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) as the case study. The study is grounded in double-analytical lenses: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Discourse Analysis, whereby cultural identity constructions were examined through the meanings of embodied experiences, as well as in and through discourse. Choosing XJTLU was a complex culturally-driven process, and was seemingly the second best alternative among other domestic choices. The transition period from a Chinese educational system to XJTLU has significantly impacted on the construction of the participants’ personal and HE learner identities and, although Confucian values still form the fabric of Chinese social ethics, new family values and relations are emerging. It is further argued that constructions of students’ cultural identities, analysed in relation to the articulation between their personal and cultural values, and their embodied self and agency, suggested potentially conflicting forces between values related to culture, educational backgrounds, and desired identities. This ongoing process of identity construction may have a profound impact on how these students see themselves, as HE students and Chinese youth, and their place in the world into the future, and by extension on the way China as a nation will image itself in its engagement with the rest of the world, particularly in a post-COVID-19 era.

With a background in Biomedicine and Linguistics, Paola has approximately 15 years of experience in teaching in higher education (HE), mostly in intercultural contexts (China, Australia, South America and the UK). Her most recent experience in China has inspired her PhD research. It is expected that upon completion of her PhD, further research in higher education, under an interdisciplinary approach, can be undertaken to contribute to education policies and practices, positively impacting the most important stakeholder in this scenario – HE students. Paola is also interested in cross-disciplinary research between the Social Sciences and Biomedical areas.