Additional information
by The Racialization of Asian International (Author), Firrisaa Jamal Abdulkarim (Contribution by), Elizabeth Buckner (Contribution by)
International students have long been seen as cash cows by Canadian universities, a revenue stream of high tuition fees for the same education received by lower-paying domestic students. While in the past their inclusion has been lauded as "recruiting global talent" to Canada, more recently these students have been blamed for social issues from housing shortages to spreading disease -- both reductive framings that instrumentalize student migrants for political purposes. Meanwhile, student migrants are often surprised to face isolation, poverty and racism, and disappointed by lacklustre university services meant to help them navigate life in Canada.
This book places the international student within the larger context of edugration, or student migration, to examine the everyday vulnerabilities arising from this immigration status. It gathers insights about racialization from over 120 nationwide interviews with student migrants from Asia, revealing how student migrants cope with prejudice, create networks and manage their own integration. Collectively written by postsecondary educators, researchers and students, including student migrants themselves, this book features evidence-based, critical and antiracist recommendations toward holistically supporting student migrants from Asia to Canada.Author Biography
The Racialization of Asian International Students (RAIS) Collective is a team of racialized and non-racialized postsecondary educators, researchers and students, including student migrants from Asia, all located in Canada. Our research collaboration stems from the observation that international students, particularly those from Asia, have differing experiences in the Canadian postsecondary education sphere, compared to students from other places. Launched in 2018, our project was initially to document and compare the treatment of international students from Asia at five Canadian universities. Deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this national team turned to unpacking the vulnerabilities of student migrants and their resiliency amid the simultaneous rise of anti-Asian racism, instrumentalization of international students by Canadian institutions, and growing xenophobia in public discourse regarding international students and their integration into Canadian society. Dedicated to understanding the connections between the experiences of student migrants and other Canadian realities, including settler colonialism, racism, sexism, classism and ableism, the RAIS Collective and its individual members are committed to advocating for better support for this student migrants, within universities, in the media and through activism.
The RAIS Collective is composed of Firrisaa Abdulkarim, Elizabeth Buckner, Elic Chan, Soma Chatterjee, Ann H. Kim, Eun Gi Kim, Yifan Liu, Sophie Xiaoyi Liu, Yazhi Luo, Marie-Odile Magnan, Jean Michel Montsion, Ajay Parasram, Shirin Shahrokni, Roberta Soaresand Lori Wilkinson.
