Asian Students in Germany

U_IntLabMig_Bd11_korr_var 01.04.15 15:32 Seite 1 11 International Labor Migration 11 For decades Germany has been one of the major host countries for inter- /// Series edited by Béatrice Knerr /// national students; at the wake of the 21st century the vast majority comes from Asian countries. With increasing international competition the students, their countries of origin as well as Germany are confronted with specific challenges associated with sometimes conflicting plans, expecta- tions, and apprehensions, amplified by uncertainties. While the students try to adapt to the conditions in Germany to make the best of their stay, their countries of origin ask whether the resources spent on the studies abroad of their nationals are well-invested, and how they might re-attract those who are graduates. As a partaker in the “global race for talents” Germany, finally, questions how it might retain those qualified in highly demanded subjects after their graduation. By contributing to answering these questions, this volume is relevant for all of these stakeholders. Béatrice Knerr (Ed.) Beatrice Knerr is a professor at the University of Kassel (Germany) where she heads the Department of Development Economics, Migration and Agricultur- al Policy (DEMAP). She holds a PhD degree from Kiel University and received Asian students in Germany her habilitation from the University of Stuttgart/Hohenheim. Among her pub- lications are ten monographs and edited and co-edited books, and around fifty articles and book chapters on labor migration and mobility. Asian students in Germany Contexts of their Studies, Among the co-authors are Zhao Xi, Tingting Ma, Rebecca Tlatlik, Sudeh Living Conditions and Future Plans Dehnavi, Robert Sibarani, Wildan Syafitri, Ranjita Nepal and Sadaf Mahmood who were all PhD students at DEMAP at the time of the survey activities. Most of them have graduated since then and have returned to their home countries; others have opted to stay in Germany or to move on to a third country. Contexts of their Studies, Living Conditions and Future Plans ISBN 978-3-86219-240-3 Béatrice Knerr (Ed.) kassel 9 783862 192403 university press International Labor Migration Vol. 11 Editor: Prof. Dr. Béatrice Knerr Béatrice Knerr (Ed.) Asian students in Germany Contexts of their Studies, Living Conditions and Future Plans kassel university press Bibliographic information published by Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISBN 978-3-7376-0006-4 (print) ISBN 978-3-7376-0007-1 (e-book) URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0002-400073 2015, kassel university press GmbH, Kassel 2., unveränderte Auflage 1. Auflage u. d. Titel: Asian Studies in Germany : Contexts of their Studies, Living Conditions and Future Plans www.upress.uni-kassel.de/ Cover illustration: Tomasz Henning Cover layout: Bettina Brand Grafikdesign, München Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................. VII Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... IX Chapter 1: Introduction into the topic Foreign students in Germany in the context of the internationalization of Higher Education Beatrice Knerr.................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Students from India Indian students in Germany in the context of the increasing shortages of a highly qualified labour force Rebecca Tlatlik and Beatrice Knerr .......................................................................... …44 Chapter 3: Students from China Human and social capital of Chinese students in Germany Zhao Xi and Beatrice Knerr .......................................................................................... 62 Chapter 4: Students from Nepal Nepalese student’s human capital accumulation in Germany Ranjita Nepal and Beatrice Knerr .................................................................................. 91 Chapter 5: Students from Indonesia Indonesian students in Germany: integration and return plan Wildan Syafitri, Robert Sibarani and Beatrice Knerr: ............................................... .110 Chapter 6: Students from Iran Educational profiles and mobility plans of Iranian students in Germany Sudeh Dehnavi and Beatrice Knerr ............................................................................. 135 Chapter 7: Students from Pakistan Social relations and human capital formation of Pakistani students in Germany Sadaf Mahmood and Beatrice Knerr ........................................................................... 156 Chapter 8: Highly qualified migrants from China Human capital, social capital and career development of Chinese in Germany in the framework of bi-lateral economic relationships Xi Zhao, Liting Ma and Beatrice Knerr ...................................................................... 176 References ................................................................................................................... 210 Authors’ Profiles.......................................................................................................... 221 V VI Introduction Over many decades, Germany has been one of the major host countries of international students. At the wake of the 21st century, the vast majority of them are coming from Asian countries. Under the conditions of increasing globalization and international competition which affects all spheres of international, national, local and individual economic development, the students, their countries of origin as well as Germany as the host country are confronted with specific challenges which are associated with sometimes conflicting plans, hopes, and worries, framed by different degrees of uncertainty. Major questions in this context from the side of the students are: How can I adapt to the study and social conditions in Germany to make the best of my stay in terms of quality of life and study success? Being part of the “global race for talents”, the Germany’s openly asks the question, how Asian students could be retained in the country after graduation, focusing primarily on those with qualifications, i.e. mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology / engineering, as well as medicine. Finally, for the students’ countries of origin, the questions arise, if the human and financial resources spent on the studies abroad of their nationals (from private or public sources) are well invested, and to which extent the graduates will return to work for the benefit of their nation. This volume intends to contribution to answering these questions, and in this sense the studies assembled in it are relevant for all of these actors. Although some general characteristics of Asian students in Germany might emerge from a highly aggregated point of view (see Chapter 1 of the volume), a closer look reveals significant country wise differences and, broken further down, differences according to gender, cohort and student’s fields of studies. For elaborating them we present a series of essentially survey-case studies VII about the situation of Asian students in Germany focusing on PR China, Iran, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Pakistan as major countries of origin. To highlight the different socio-economic contexts of the countries from where the students come, Table 1 presents some key indicators. Table 1: Key indicators of Asian students’ countries of origin India China Nepal Indonesia Iran Pakistan GNI per capita, curr. US$, 2013 1,570 6,560 730 3,580 5,780 1,360 GNI per capita, in purchasing power parity, curr. intern. $, 2013 5,350 11,850 2,260 9,270 15,610 4,840 Expenditures per student, % of GDP per capita, 2011-12 7,1 - - 11,9 12,0 - Literacy rate, adult (%), 2010-12 - 95 57 93 84 55 Progress to secondary school, male (%), 2010- 12 88 - 81 97 96 72 Progress to secondary school, female (%), 2010-12 89 - 82 96 96 78 Labour force participation male (%), 2012 81 78 87 84 73 83 Labour force participation female (%), 2012 29 64 80 51 16 24 Source: World Bank 2014 VIII Acknowledgments This book is the outcome of an idea born in 2010 by the team of young international researchers from different Asian countries at the Department of Development Economics, Migration and Agricultural Policy (DEMAP) at the University of Kassel. Considering the challenges, chances, hopes, and also disappoints experienced by them since their arrival in Germany, on the academic as well as on the private level, we entered into a discussion if the problems faced and the priorities set are similar; how far they are interested in staying in Germany, returning home, or move on to third countries. Eventually two essential questions arose a) how far are the individual experiences typical for fellow countrymen/women?; and b) are there typical differences between nationalities? We realized that the answers to these questions are highly relevant at the policy level of the students’ home countries as well as at Germany’s policy level where in a situation of perceived increasing shortages of highly-qualified labour force the issue of retaining international students after their graduation and integrating them into the German labour market is high on the governments’ economic agenda. On the basis of vivid debates we finally decided to set up a small joint research

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