Ann H. Kim

This introductory chapter highlights the present phase of internationalization as the federalization of education migration period to reflect the importance of federal strategies and the coordination of multiple sectors and levels of government for facilitating the recent growth in the numbers of postsecondary students from Asia in Canada. It assesses the ways in which the success of internationalization has been conceptualized and measured in terms of enrolment, countries of origin, and revenue (tuition fees), and argues for conceptualizing success in terms of inclusion, equity, and Indigenization, and tackling anti-Asian racism. The chapter provides a rationale for the three sections of the book and an overview of key themes and topics, which include institutional policies and discourse with respect to internationalization, the EDI framework, and the construction of international students from Asia, and students’ mobility decisions, along with their experiences and understandings of inclusion, exclusion, race, and racism.

International students are reshaping the postsecondary landscape in Canada. This chapter examines how students from Asia evaluate institutional resources and their views on adjustment, inclusion, and safety, using the 2018 national survey conducted by the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE). By country of citizenship, we show the views of students from China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Overall, students from India and the Philippines were more positive about their university and about adjustment, inclusion, and safety than students from China, South Korea, and Vietnam. Despite these differences, less than half of students from Asia strongly agreed with the statement that teaching staff helped them to feel included in the classroom. Thus, Canadian universities and their non-international students, staff, and faculty have much work to do to meet the goals of diversity, and inclusion.

The federal government’s 2019 Building on Success strategy provided a renewed vision for Canada’s approach to international education. To fully grasp the scope of the institutional challenges faced by Canadian universities, this concluding chapter proposes a bottom-up approach, which builds on an understanding that Canada’s local contexts shape the experiences of international students from Asia, and it conceives of universities as microcosms of Canadian society. Canadian universities must bridge their internationalization strategies with priorities like anti-racism, move beyond deficit-thinking in delivering support services, and understand the international status of students as a source of cultural diversity and vulnerability, all of which will improve the academic and social integration of international students from Asia. The chapter also offers avenues for future research such as understanding local student experiences amid online learning, linking systematically the study of migration, racialization, and educational journeys, and situating such examinations within Canada’s political economy of international education.

The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic spurred a historic rise in blatant anti-Asian violence and microaggressions rooted in a dominant ideology of whiteness and belonging. This chapter focuses on international university students from South Korea to provide an important perspective for understanding the meaning and impact of racialized encounters. Student descriptions of racial incidents and interactions during the pandemic are examined using data from focus groups in four cities: Toronto, Saskatoon, Halifax, and Albany. International students’ experiences of racism and racialization were similar across Canada and the United States during the pandemic and racial encounters occurred in public spaces, with comments and behaviors that illustrate the enduring trope of fear and disease. At the same time, students recalled incidents in different ways, shaped by race relations, race ideology, and race discourse.