A Qualitative Exploration on the Challenges of Transfer Students in an Asian Educational Context

Shirley Siu Yin Ching, Kin Yuen Tam, Lillian Weiwei Zhang, Jeremy Ng and Kin Cheung
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Shirley Siu Yin Ching: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Kin Yuen Tam: Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Lillian Weiwei Zhang: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Jeremy Ng: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Kin Cheung: School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Limited research has been conducted on community college (CC) transfer students’ (TS) experiences in four-year universities, particularly in Asian contexts. To fill this research gap, in this qualitative study, 124 TS from various disciplines in a Hong Kong university participated in 39 focus groups and seven individual interviews. Unlike their Western counterparts, our TS were relatively better prepared and more academically adaptive. Nevertheless, their social integration was restricted by a lack of time for extra-curricular activities, a sense of inferiority and incompetence, and restricted social circles that did not enable interaction with non-TS. These challenges and their implications are discussed. In particular, this study has highlighted differences between the special education systems for CC transfer in Hong Kong and those in Western CC models. The study has also highlighted the study-induced stress, and poor self-perceptions that TS experience, despite their academic abilities.

Keywords: transfer students; academic adjustment; social integration; self-identity; psychological well-being; higher education in Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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