AFRICAN STUDENTS' MOBILITY TO CHINA AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMATIC PERSPECTIVE.

• Author: Chkaif, Bouchaib

1. Introduction

   Since World War II, the mobility of international students has increased substantially (Ahmad and Shah 2018, Altbachet al 2019). According to UNESCO, by 2020, over 6 million international students were seeking degree education outside their home countries (UNESCO 2020), and this number is expected to reach 8 million by 2025 (ICEF 2012).

   Northern America and western Europe have long been the preferred destination for international students from the developing world (Altbach 2004). However, driven by its quest for internationalization and world-class universities (Wang 2014, Zhaet al 2019), China rose from an insignificant player to an emerging competitor in the international student market (Ding 2016). Many attribute this success to the Chinese government's plan to recruit half a million international students by 2020, with its subsequent encouraging policies such as low tuitions, scholarships, lower admission requirements, and flexible visas (Ahmad and Shah 2018, Ma 2017, Wen et al 2018, Yang 2020). Consequently, the latest official statistics show that 492,185 international students from 196 countries/areas were pursuing their studies in Chinese HEIs, among which 81,562 students were from African countries, accounting for 16.57% (MOE 2018). In the meantime, China is also a major source of international students (Lu et al. 2019, Pan 2013), as over 6.5 million Chinese nationals have studied abroad between 1978 and 2019 (MOE 2020).

   Moreover, as part of its 'going out' policy and south-south cooperation, China vigorously supports education in Africa and encourages outstanding African youth to study in China through several scholarship schemes (The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China 2021). China repeatedly confirms this commitment by promising 50,000 scholarships for African students for 2019-2021 (Lefifi and Kiala 2021) ergo, China is now the second-largest destination for African students (ICEF 2021).

   Notwithstanding, the exponential increase of African students' mobility to China raises a plethora of research questions where the answers are scarce. A dissent of available literature reveals a paucity of empirical research on African students' motivations and drives behind their steady mobility to Chinese higher education institutes. Besides, the available literature largely relies on the overused 'pull-push' model as the theoretical framework despite its limitations to explain the international students' mobility to middle-sized economies or emerging destinations like China (Jon et al 2014). Therefore, this paper intends to fill this void by exploring the African students' mobility to China with Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model as the theoretical framework.

2. Historical development and literature review

   The literature widely agrees that China started receiving African students in 1956, with four Egyptian students as trailblazers (Li Anshan 2018, Sautman and Hairong 2009, Snow 1988). However, since 2006 (also labeled as 'the year of Africa'), the African students' mobility to China grew exponentially. Figure 1 exhibits that in just over a decade, they increased by 21 fold (i.e. from 3737 in 2006 to 81562 students in 2018) (MOE 2018).

   Following the Sino-Egyptian diplomatic encounter during the Bandung conference in 1955, China began assisting African countries to gain their independence and achieve economic development. In this regard, education was one of China's paths to strengthen its relationship with Africa and the African people. By late 1962, some 118 African students were enrolled in Chinese higher education institutions. However, those trailblazers' experiences were were no plain sail. The typical image and the stereotypical perceptions of Africans remained present in the new communist China.

   Moreover, the still conservative Chinese society added to the harsh environmental conditions, made life in China unbearable for those trendsetters (Hevi 1963). The consequence was: "Send me back to Mother Africa!" as a young Zanzibari female student cried. Sooner, 96 out of the 118 African students left permanently for home (Snow 1988).

   The cultural revolution aggravated the situation and halt African students' mobility to China for over ten years. Once more, life and study, for African students in China in the late seventies and early eighties, was no better than that of their predecessors; at best, they were a scapegoat; at worst, they were clashing with their Chinese peers (Sautman and Hairong 2009, Sullivan 1994). Gillespie's research in the late nineties also depicted their stay in China as unsatisfactory and challenging (Gillespie 2014). The unsatisfied African students with education quality and learning experience in China often turn traders to compensate for their disappointments (Haugen 2013, Mulvey 2020). Racial discrimination and education quality appear to be central themes among the challenges facing African students in China (Bodomo 2012, Lan 2016). The rule of thumb suggests that these challenges would divert potential candidates and nip their idea of mobility to China in the bud. Au contraire, African students are flocking to Chinese higher education institutions in waves.

   Researchers established four categories of African mobile students in China: the elite who explore new opportunities, the middle class who are cost-wise, the coerced to move abroad, and the unprivileged individuals (Mulvey 2021). Each sees the mobility to China as an opportunity to an end. Commonly, mobility to China is a modus operandi to escape the unfavorable socio-economic conditions at home (Hodzi 2020) and a path to a prosperous future (Brown 2012). In this respect, the availability of financial support and ease of visa access combined with hopes for better education, all provide the right incentives for mobility (Gbollie and Gong 2020).

   Although recent case studies showed that recommendations from the current African diaspora or online information were the most determinant factors in the students' decision-making process (Lei et al. 2021), a dissent of available literature still reveals a series of gaps. The interplay between the factors mentioned above in the African students' decision-making process is still unclear. Therefore, this study sought to unveil the motives and factors influencing the African students' decisionmaking process with a comprehensive approach provided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory.

3. Theoretical framework

   Tabula rasa (Latin: 'scraped tablet', i.e. 'blank slate') is a well-known theory in epistemology and psychology which assumes that individuals are born without built-in mental content. Both the Aristotelians, the stoics, and modern empiricists, believe in an original blankness of the mind, and that all materials of reason and knowledge are driven from experience. The role of the individuals' experience, namely their interaction with the surrounding environment, to explain their behavior, is one of the cornerstones in modern educational and behavioral sciences. For instance, Lewin kurts' classic equation B = f(P, E) assumes that a persons' behavior (B) is a function of the interplay between the person (P) and his/her environment (E) (Lewin 2013). In the same vein, Lev Vygotsky, in his socio-cultural theory, argues that social interactions play a critical role in the Childs' development. The role of community in 'making meaning' for the individual is made first through interactions with others before fully integrated into one's mental structure (Vygotsky 1978). Capitalizing on these two concepts, Bronfenbrenner developed his ecological systems theory which views child development as a complex of relationships and interactions within multiple surrounding environments.

   The theory approaches child development from four dimensions; Nominally micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystems. This theory was primarily utilized in the educational psychology field until its recent implication by Yu et al. to explain ISM from the developed world to China. The model was extended and refined to an international context of individual development, with four layers nominally: interpersonal, institutional, socio-cultural, and global. The refined model according to Bronfenbrenner's theory (1977) and Yu et al (2021):

1. The microsystem/interpersonal dimension is the immediate complex of relations between the individual and his/her environment (e.g. family, friends, peers, school and/or workplace).

2. The mesosystem/institutional dimension refers to the containing institutional environment that influences or provides incentives of mobility to the student (e.g. financial support, admission criteria, quality, and prestige).

3. The exosystem/socio-cultural dimension is an extension of the mesosystem that embraces the overall socio-cultural and economic environment that influences the student at home (e.g. industry, media, social services, and students' socio-economic background.

4. The macrosystem/ global dimension stands for the overarching global economic, political, educational, and social patterns which shape and influence the individuals' exo-, meso-, and microsystems.

   The ecological systems theory also contains the chronological system, which considers the significance of major historical events and their influence on the child's development. In other words, the ecological systematic theory with its micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystems encompasses how time, space, and environment co-contribute and shape the individuals' decision-making to study abroad (Kudo et al. 2017).

   In brief, the ecological systems theory, as illustrated in Figure 2 above, provides a holistic and comprehensive model with significant conceptual and practical implications for understanding students' behavior (Yu et al. 2021). Therefore, it would be enthralling to adapt this model as a theoretical framework to explore the behavior of African students' mobility to China.

4. Me...