This should come as no surprise. Chinese international students having not so good feedback and sentiments about studying in Australia is expected considering how racist and anti Chinese Australia was and currently is. This ABC article, discusses how the sentiments remain the same now and 50 years ago when students were asked about their experiences studying in Australia as Chinese international students.
All interviewees via ABC podcast “Chinese if you are listening”:
2021 – KELLY
“My feeling is it is not easy for me to fit in here,”
“[For people in China and Australia,] discrimination and racism just exist. There are poorly educated people everywhere, it’s the same here.”
“It’s quite difficult to find jobs related to your study, language and visa issues are also creating barriers,”
1965 (50 years ago) – Four Corners interviewed Chineses students studying in Australia on their sentiments:
“I feel a little bit rejected here,” one student told the programme, saying he had experienced multiple cases of racial discrimination.
“The majority of the people in Australia, they are nice, but very often you meet nasty people as well.”
“If you need some accommodation, or you want to get a job, sometimes you meet this kind of discrimination,”
50 years ago most Chinese students if not all came to Australia to study with intentions to stay as a permanent resident. However, the situation is different now, with more and more Chinese students choosing to return home to China after their studies.
ABC News reports that in 2018, 519,000 students returned home to China after they completed their studies. This is an increase from 135,000 students who went home in 2010.
Fran Martin has been studying the experiences of Chinese international students and tells the ABC that many go back home due to feeling homesick, but also choose to go home due to the racism they experience and witness, such as graffiti in toilets etc. In addition they feel who they are, their accent and their identity inhibits their chances of getting a good job in Australia.
You can read the entire article by clicking on: Chinese international students today echo sentiments from more than 50 years ago
Images via ABC News