Chinese Students in America Policies, Issues, and Numbers (1988) / Chapter Skim
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5. Statistics on Trends and Characteristics of Exchange Participants from China
5. Statistics on Trends and Characteristics of Exchange Participants from China
Pages 87-113
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From page 87... ...
"students and scholars," which makes possible some general conclusions about everyone involved in the exchange programs; (2) "students,n which allows comparisons between the J-1 and F-1 visa holders in this category; and (3)
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From page 88... ...
For the period under discussion, only in 1980 were there more F-1 than J-1 visas issued, reflecting a rapid surge in applications by privately sponsored students in the immediate postnormal~zation period, while it took more time (and red tape) to start up the flow of governmentsponsored scholars.
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From page 89... ...
SOURCE: Record of issued visas. TABLE 5-3 Number of F-1 Visas Issued by Each U.S.
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From page 90... ...
While In absolute numbers the amount of funding from the Chinese government increased almost every year, there has been a drastic decrease in the share it provides (down from 54 percent in 1979 to 17 percent in 1985) and a corresponding increase in the support provided by American universities (up from 18 to 57 percent)
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From page 91... ...
corporation -- -- 1 1 1 -- 1 International organization 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Other 13 9 7 8 7 9 9 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 NOTE: The symbol " -- " indicates a value less than 0.5 percent. SOURCE: USIA data tapes.
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From page 92... ...
who have accumulated adequate savings to send an offspring abroad. For privately sponsored students, the location of the U.S Embassy or Consulates in their city would also greatly facilitate the visa-filing process.
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From page 93... ...
Because of deficiencies in the primary and secondary school systerrrs, young people from the interior still find it difficult to compete for the limited slots available in domestic four-year universities especially the more prominent key institutions and rural youth find it to be an almost insurmountable hurdle. At this stage In China's development, however, and juxtaposing her goals and priorities with the shortage of trained professionals, Beijing cannot yet afford the ~luxury" of giving much more than lip service to educational egalitarianism.
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From page 94... ...
The extremely large number of F-1 visas issued since 1985 is somewhat surprising in view of Beij~ng's stated desire to eliminate most of the privately sponsored graduate education abroad. Financial support sources for the J-1 students, as derived from USIA data tapes, were discussed above, but there is also some financial assistance information available from the visa data, which permits some comparisons between the J-1 and F-1 students (see Table 5-9~.
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From page 95... ...
looking for opportunities to spend a year or two abroad to catch up with developments that had taken place in their fields during the isolation years of the Cultural Revolution. Now the average age for the holders of J-1 visas is significantly lower, with about two-thirds TABLE 5-9 Percentage Distribution of PRO J-1 and F-1 Students by Stated Source of Financial Support, 1983-1985 Year Visa Issued 1983 Stated Source of Financial Support Visas 1984 F-1 J-1 F-1 J-1 Visas Visas Visas 1985 F-1 J-1 Visas Visas Self, savings, or family in China Chinese government or work unit U.S.
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From page 96... ...
Whereas most of the men are enrobed in engineering and the physical sciences, the largest proportion of women choose American studies, library and archival science, and health sciences, in that order.3 While there is no significant difference in the ages of the J-1 and F-1 students and scholars, there ~ a large discrepancy in the marital status of the two groups (Table 5-12~. Marriage and family ties are presumably paramount considerations in making the decision to return or remain in the United States, so that it is probably easier for married individuals to receive approval for foreign study; thus the large proportion of married J-ls.
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From page 97... ...
97 Go be :^ in $ P4 3 ho ·L.
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From page 98... ...
1982 17 18 n.a. 1983 18 17 37 1984 20 19 45 1985 24 20 41 SOURCE: J-1 figures for those entering a new program are from USIA data tapes; F-1 figures are from records of issued visas.
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From page 99... ...
TABLE 5-14 Percentage Distribution by Educational Background of PRO F-1 Students, 1983-1985 Highest Level of Education Completed Year Visa Issued 1983 1984 1985 Middle school or less Technical school College/university, no degree College/university, degree Graduate study 15 14 13 6 8 56 75 64 3 4 14 11 6 8 Total 100 100 100 (N)
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From page 100... ...
Most of the F-1 students also have college degrees and an increasing proportion have done graduate work, but some of these privately sponsored individuals have not gone beyond middle or technical schools (see Table 5-14~. Among the more interesting and important information contained in the visa records and the USTA tapes is the distribution of students by field of study (see Tables 5-15 and 5-16~.
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From page 101... ...
If combined into the broader categories shown in Table 5-15, the percentages derived from the Chinese figures seem to correspond fairly closely to ours. The PRO Embassy figures shown in Table 5-17 are for the latter part of 1986 and include all major fields with more than 100 scholars and students.
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From page 102... ...
haps most striking about the figures is that over 20 percent of the students and scholars are in physics and chemistry; if only graduate students are considered, almost 20 percent are in physics alone. As discussed in the first part of this report, it is just this overemphasis on the physical sciences that is, at least in part, responsible for the complaints of returnees about facilities, equipment, and the inability to do research of their own choosing.
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From page 103... ...
Thus, even though TABLE 5-18 PRC Citizens Awarded Science and Engineering Doctorates by Major Field Year of Doctorate Tot al Major Field 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1980-86 Total, science and engineering 1 - 2 8 Total, sciences Physical sciences Physics and astronomy Chemistry Earth, atmospheric and marine sciences Life sciences Agricultural sciences Biological sciences Mathematics Computer/information sciences Social sciences 39 90 137 277 1 5 23 60 95 184 1 1 10 25 52 89 - - 7 19 42 68 1 1 3 6 10 21 3 2 1 6 10 8 1 9 7 13 20 15 17 21 2 19 42 6 11 2 4 Total, engineering 1 - 1 3 16304293 Chemical - - - - -325 Civil - - - - -224 Electrical - - - 1 571125 Mechanical - - - 2 1101023 Material science - - - - 52310 Total, nonscience and engineering - 2 - 1 1-26 Total, all fields 1 2 2 9 4090139285 1L T ~ ~1~ TO ~ ~, . low An: ~ nere are some discrepancies between the annual figures and the totals reported in the source.
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From page 104... ...
1983 1984 1985 New York California Massachusetts Pennsylvania Illinois Ohio Indiana Michigan Texas New Jersey All other states Total (N)
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From page 105... ...
1983 1984 1985 California New York Texas Illinois Massachusetts Pennsylvania Ohio Michigan Washington New Jersey Utah All other states 24 20 18 20 6 5 5 2 3 3 2 3 2 27 20 17 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 26 2 2 2 33 Total 100 100 100 (N)
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From page 106... ...
City College City University of New York, Queens College Hunter College Columbia University University of California, Los Angeles San Francisco State University University of Maryland, College Park University of Houston LaGuardia Community College The Loop College (two-year) 117 91 90 88 74 67 60 57 57 56 SOURCE: Records of issued primal.
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From page 107... ...
SOURCE: USIA data tapes. TABLE 5-24 Percentage Distribution of PRC J-1 Research Scholars Entering a New Program, by Occupation in China, 1979-1985 Year Program Began Occupation 1979 198019811982198319841985 Government 12 ~71012118 University teaching 69 757471716973 or research University graduate student 2 111113 Business -- 112222 Other organizations 17 141615131613 Total 100 100100100100100100 (N)
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From page 108... ...
This concentration of visiting scholars is quite predictable, with the possible exception of the large proportion in the health sciences. It is possible to argue that the transition from an emphasis on barefoot doctors during the Cultural Revolution to having some 19 percent of the scholars in the United States doing advanced research in the medical field was too rapid and more responsive to the desires of individuals in the upper echelons of the medical profession than to the current needs of the society.
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From page 109... ...
SOURCE: USIA data tapes. sciences are strong and are credited with a number of breakthroughs that have received international recognition; the 19 percent of the scholars who are In the health sciences translates to fewer than 600 individual; and the medical schools in China are training large numbers of personnel to staff the health facilities that serve the daily needs of the public.
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From page 110... ...
Total by Year 1979891134 1,025 523 0 523 1,548 19801,854866 2,720 2,338 502 2,840 5,560 19813,2102,358 5,568 2,341 2,631 4,972 10,540 19823,0783,907 6,985 1,153 4,254 5,407 12,378 19833,8825,897 9,779 1,003 4,188 5,191 12,931 19844,6316,874 11,505 1,677 3,553 5,230 16,735 19856,3406,559 12,899 3,001 3,478 6,479 19,378 NOTE: J-1 figures are based on USIA data tapes. They differ from those in Table 5-1 because USIA data are based on program years, while consular reports are for calendar years.
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From page 111... ...
Although the method does not exclude from the totals individuals who adjusted their status in the United States, these numbers have been very small and can be disregarded.5 What cannot be disregarded, however, is that in addition to students and scholars, the J-1 visa holders include teachers (below the college level) , trainees (usually sponsored by U.S.
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From page 112... ...
Taking all these facts into consideration, it is estimated that at the end of 1987 there were about 21,000 Chinese students and scholars In the United States with J-1 visas.6 Since there ~ no reliable way of keeping track of the activities of F-1 students once they come to the United States, any estimate of the number of privately sponsored Chinese students in this country is questionable. The figures in Table 5-26 are based on the replanned length of stay" information, which ~ entered by each individual on the visa application.
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From page 113... ...
In other words, when considering F-ls, a triple distinction has to be made between those who returned to China, those stiD in school, and those who remained in the United States, either by legally changing their status (before or after graduation) or hiding as undocumented residents.8 The inclusion of F-ls in Table 5-27 is therefore only illustrative and a point of departure for the following, carefully considered yet speculative estimates: Of the 22,000 F-1 visas issued to Chinese students between 1979- and 1987, approximately on~th~rd returned home, one-third are still in school, and one-th~rd have managed to remain in the United States in a nonstudent capacity.
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