Chinese Focus Group Executive SummaryTam Do 13 th July 2016

Purpose

The focus group was conducted by Careers and Employability Centre (CEC) to

understand Chinese students' perspectives, wants, and needs about careers support at

Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and find out better ways to improve engagement,

experience, and quality of careers support for Chinese students during their time at

SHU.

Method

A focus group was used to gain feedback and insights from Chinese students. It is the

best method to understand not only perspectives of the students but also why those

perspectives were formed. Probing interview techniques and open questions were used

to encourage students to be open and to share ideas/arguments.

The focus group was consisted of three Chinese students and moderated by a member

of staff. Questions are grouped into two big themes: before using the service and service

consumption and evaluation.

Findings

The findings were interesting due to the differences of participants. Participant 1 is

frequently using the service of CEC. Participant 2 had used the service in the past but

not frequently. Participant 3 had no idea about CEC and careers support available at

SHU. Participants studied BA (Hons) Business Management Top Up; BSc (Hons)

Property and Business Development (Top up); and BA (Hons) Business Studies.

Findings are grouped into two themes: before using the service and service usage and

evaluation.

Before using the service:

Participants started thinking about careers a few months before finishing their

courses. They did not seek support before that and was quite panicked as of

what to do and how to get a job in the UK. All participants expressed confidence

regarding their job prospect in China.

Careers Service was not seen as an important factor when students decided

which university to study.

Students knew about the CEC at SHU by the centre's presence during Induction

Week and started using the service when their friends and lecturers

recommended.

Service usage and evaluation:

Students used CEC service for careers guidance, job fairs, and CV check. Feedback

for the services used was positive. Participants who used the service found it

helpful. Participant 1 who used the service most frequently said he would be

interested to find out more about other services and would use them in the

future if appropriate. Participant 3 who did not use the service at all was

surprised to know all services that CEC offers. He said he did not have any

communication. He admitted that he did not check his email that often.

Participant 2 said that he only attended the job fairs, and was not aware of other

services on offer.

Participants did not have any career planning or support regarding this area.

They were not aware of this service within CEC at SHU. They did not know that

they could talk to CEC regarding further study as well.

All participants emphasised the importance of the English language skill. They

identified it as the differentiating factor of them studying in the UK, especially for

Chinese employers. Critical thinking and independent studying were important

to participants of the focus group.

Participants emphasised the importance of work experience and used Careers

Hub to find part-time jobs. They said that the website did not offer enough part-

time unskilled jobs such as waiters, sales associates, etc. On the other hand, they

felt intimidated by the job descriptions. They felt that they would not be able to

fulfil the requirements of such advertised jobs.

Participants were not aware of goinglobal.com which is offered by CEC at SHU.

Participants felt that there was not enough support for Chinese students due to

cultural difference. They understood that British culture is all about autonomy

and independence but Chinese students like/need to be pushed. They felt that

the university in general and CEC did not push information/support intensively

enough. They also mentioned that lecturers played a great role in their

personal/professional developments. They said if something was mentioned or

recommended by lecturers, they would follow up quickly.

Chinese students were under great pressure studying in the UK. Due to lack of

confidence and language skill, it took them twice or three times longer to

finish/do their coursework or assignments compared to home students. As a

result, they felt that they did not have enough time to develop skills, attend job

fairs, or gain work experience.

Participants recommended:

Continuously shout-out about the services that are offered for

Chinese/international students. "We were told about it in the induction week,

but then too much information at the same time and we forgot about it" -

Participant 1

Have part-time jobs for Chinese students only on Careers Hub

Recruit Chinese student career ambassadors who could go into courses and talk

to students on regular basis adopting a proactive and "pushy" approach.

Be more proactive in promoting about what the CEC has to offer by liaising with

lecturers and using WeChat. Due to cultural and political climates, Chinese

students do not (rarely) use email, FB, or Twitter to communicate, but they all

use WeChat.

Have programmes that help Chinese students to blend in and understand British

culture. Participants raised the issues of not being able to make friends with

home students as well as not being able to have "casual conversations".

Interestingly, Chinese students really want to make friends with home students

and get to know the British culture and ways of living. For example, what home

students normally talk about, their interests, how to make small talks, what to

say in a certain situation, etc.

Recommendation

Based on students' suggestions and concerns, recommendations are hence provided for

CEC at SHU to improve Chinese students' employability and experience.

Have (a) career ambassador(s) who frequently communicate with international

students regarding career planning and future career possibility. The

ambassador(s) do(es) not need to be Chinese, but should maintain contacts with

most Chinese students and work closely with course rep.

Collaborate/liaise with lecturers in all faculties to promote CEC service and

offering.

Develop links with employers who would want to employ Chinese students

exclusively (i.e. people like Jerry Cheung, etc.).

Adopt WeChat as a communication channel for CEC at SHU.

Develop a thorough personal and career development programme for Chinese

students which will require an application process. The training programme can

be designed similarly to other leadership/skill development programmes (such

as PGR Skills with Jonny Douglas, or Common Purpose) but perhaps tailored to

the needs of Chinese students/international students, emphasising on career

planning and other soft skills.

Limitation & conclusion

Although the focus group's results resonated with other reports previously done by

other universities, it cannot be generalised. As the focus group's participants were all

undergraduate students, more cautions should be taken if such results are used for

future references where postgraduate students are concerned.

The findings of this focus group can be used to explain some behaviour of Chinese

students and to understand their perspectives regarding careers support at SHU. The

focus group also identified different approaches to better engage Chinese students,

especially undergraduate students.