‘Shi men’ as key doctoral practice: understanding international doctoral students’ learning communities and research culture in China

Dai, K. and Elliot, D. L. (2023) ‘Shi men’ as key doctoral practice: understanding international doctoral students’ learning communities and research culture in China. Oxford Review of Education, 49(5), pp. 588-603. (doi: 10.1080/03054985.2022.2123309)

Abstract

Research has been widely conducted to understand international student mobility, particularly from Global South to North. However, there is little attention paid to international doctoral students’ research and learning experiences in non-traditional destinations, particularly in the Chinese context. Drawing upon the concept of Communities of Practice, we administered semi-structured interviews with six international doctoral students and their supervisors at a prestigious Chinese university to understand how they experienced intercultural research and supervision in ‘shi men’, a culturally and pedagogically informed collective and semi-closed learning community. Our research findings help elucidate how the different social and academic practices have created various types of ‘shi men’. Each of these academic families reflects the unique features of doctoral learning in China and has implications for international doctoral students’ overall learning experience. This timely study offers distinct insights into cross-cultural learning, research, and supervision practices in China.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Elliot, Dr Dely
• Authors: Dai, K., and Elliot, D. L.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > People, Place & Social Change
• Journal Name: Oxford Review of Education
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0305-4985
• ISSN (Online): 1465-3915
• Published Online: 13 October 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Oxford Review of Education 49(5):588-603
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy