Parent-Student Relationship
Did You Know?
Chinese parents continue to have a major impact on their children and their life decisions. Parents’ opinions factor more into their lives than in US culture and they should be respected and acknowledged.
How Can You Help?
Encourage and promote communication and transparency between your Chinese international students and their parents.
In cooperation with your students, take every opportunity to keep parents involved and informed.
Consider additional options or course work that may satisfy parent expectations while complementing the student’s own discipline.
Understand that students from a Confucian culture may be independent in many areas of their lives even though it may appear, from an American perspective, that they are over-reliant on their parents.
A Student’s Perspective
“For( my) career, Mom and Dad are more concerned about me having a stable life… When I decided on Documentary Film Studies, it was the first sign of doing something different. My parents are not that stubborn about it because it’s my life; they have embraced the possibility… Something that has helped is sharing daily with them…They don’t want me to be depressed or anxious or my life to be hard. They see I’m enjoying myself and catching up (with others in my field).”
