Comfortably “Western”: How Chinese International Students Imagine Canada.

How do students from Mainland China select Canada for their education? Beyond the customary push-and-pull explanations, we introduce a framework of comparative imaginaries that describes how students’ rational strategies are imbued with the imaginaries of their host societies and migration aspirations. Based on longitudinal interviews with 36 Chinese postsecondary students in Vancouver, we find that these students imagine Canada as a safe alternative to the United States (perceived as the best country for higher education): Western, offering quality education, ethnically inclusive, and with a less politically fraught relationship with China. The students imagine Chineseness as recognized in Vancouver’s mainstream society (not relegated to ethnic enclaves), allowing them to form Chinese-exclusive networks sprinkled with Western elements. The easy path to permanent residency and citizenship that Canada offers, compared with that of the United States, is also conducive to students’ imagination of flexible citizenship. Our study illuminates how social imaginaries are intertwined with practical concerns to shape Chinese students’ mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]