Ethics Test: What grade do you deserve?

Some words set me on edge. And a sharp edge can cut: words are indeed weapons. We all know words can hurt and we are often told how especially hurtful racist words can hurt.  The racist words I just encountered indicate that in this country we need to work yet again on understanding others who are different than ourselves. If you think you now know where my words are going you might be in for a surprise . The racism I am talking about is all too often accepted and in some cases even promoted. And there are virtually no consequences for those who do so.

Yesterday I was contacted by a reporter from a major US publication to comment on a new program for educating Chinese students in American culture and education. Given that I work with or advise a number of businesses that try to help Chinese students in a variety of ways, I looked forward to learn what this new initiative might offer that could help students.

Before the interview took place I spent some time on the website of the well-known university that just launched this initiative. Well before I reached the end of the text, I was stunned at some of the statements that were put out as matters of common knowledge and as selling points to students, their parents, and other US colleges and universities.  I am not interested on this blog in naming the school; I would rather focus on the more troubling ideology behind the words. The fact that a school would not consider the racist implications of the words indicates that the cultural stereotypes contained in the text may well be common assumptions among many educators in the US. If I am correct, then I hope that US schools, in the plural, will consider providing staff, faculty and administrators with some training about international students and Chinese students in particular.

The program itself seems benign; the school hopes to train Chinese students to learn about cultural and educational practices in the US. I am all in favor of this. On the other hand, here are the words the school uses to describe all students in China:

Chinese students are not prepared to interact in classroom discussions, to share their own thoughts and ideas, or to express their knowledge qualitatively

My first response to this is to offer two thought experiments:

1.        1. Read the following assessment put out by an imaginary university in China

American students are self-involved, not focused on learning, and do not respect teachers

If you are a US citizen would you agree that all students in this country fall under this description? If not, why not? Would you be offended if a school in China presumed to know how all students from the US act? 

2. Read the university’s description again except instead of the words ‘Chinese students’ insert the words ‘African-American students’. How would you react if a school said negative things about this group as a whole? Is this an unfair analogy? If so, why?

To me, any universal assessment of all students in China is problematic starting from the initial premise.  Is there any sort of data that could support a uniform assessment of all Chinese students? If so, I hope someone will send the data to me.

I cannot speak in universal truths. But my experiential data set is long and deep. I was the director of international admission at my university well before the first Chinese national undergraduate enrolled there. Almost 20 years ago I then witnessed a tiny trickle of top students from China come to my school with the help of merit scholarships. Several of them now have Harvard MBAs, one is a published author, and others work for top banks, hedge funds, or universities. Even back then the students from China were among the most impressive set of students I have seen from any place including the US. Since that time not much has changed my assessment about the quality of the students coming from China.  What has changed is the number of them. From one or two each year there are now well over 100 first years enrolling in my former university. While I cannot say I know all 500 plus Chinese national undergraduates, I do know hundreds of them personally. I have profiled a few of them on this blog in the hopes of demonstrating that the term ‘Chinese student’ is not all that useful in a group as diverse and talented as this one is. I will continue to profile students in hopes that getting a view of individual students might provide a bit of training for people who think Chinese students are a monolithic group who have significant academic and social shortcomings. (See the quote above from the university promoting its new program).

 I have spent some of the best hours of my life talking with Chinese students on every imaginable topic. The vast majority of them are as good or better at sharing their thoughts and ideas, at expressing knowledge qualitatively, and of speaking in lectures or in groups of students as any set of students I could possibly think of. Many of these students graduate near or at the top of the class. The list of firms who have hired them this year and in years past are a who’s who of the best companies in the world; Google, Blackrock, JP Morgan. Goldman Sachs, Sotheby’s, The Smithsonian etc. etc.  The same holds true for graduate school acceptances: Yale, Stanford, Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton etc. etc. are all on the list of Chinese student graduate school acceptances.

Kang, top scholar and Olympic torch bearer for Beijing Olympics, with Gov. Huntsman and his wife

But let me just end my commentary on the irrational way we group Chinese students into a lump with a specific example from this past week. Jon Huntsman visited Virginia a few days ago. He was interviewed about his experience as a Governor, as the Ambassador from the US to China, and as a candidate for President. He was wonderfully eloquent and engaging. At the end of the formal interview he took questions from the audience. The best question, in my opinion, came from a first year international student from China. She asked Gov. Huntsman in specific terms about the future of US/China relations and how this might change in the short and long term. Gov. Huntsman immediately responded with the words, ‘that is a great question’, and also went on to praise this student and other students from China who come to the US and ask questions and participate in active learning. This first year student asked a question in front of over 250 people, including university officials, professors, and students. How many 19 year olds would have ability and courage to do something like this? I am not sure of the answer to this rhetorical question, but I am sure that at that age I certainly would not have been one to ask a tough and incisive question under such circumstances.