抄録
In this paper, I describe how college experiences affect future life and career prospects of second-generation Chinese immigrants in Japan.
More than thirty years have passed since the rise of ‘newcomers&ｒsquo;, during which time various studies about the life path of immigrants have accumulated. Previous studies have concentrated on the college-entry phase, especially issues of access to and strategies for advancing to college. However, in recent years college enrollment rate of newcomers has increased, and it is therefore important to focus on what these individuals experience after entering college. This paper addresses second-generation Chinese immigrants as a case study to examine how their college experiences affect their future life prospects. I employ the lens of “narrative”, which is increasingly becoming an important framework in recent studies on education of newcomers.
For the purposes above, an interview survey was conducted on nine college going second-generation Chinese newcomers. Particularly, interviewees' backgrounds, reasons for going to college, and experiences at college were addressed. Then, how the interviewees’ future life prospects were modified through their experiences at college was considered.
Narratives of the interviewees reveal various stories: about how study abroad led to a positive acceptance of the interviewee's Chinese roots, which they had denied until then; about how a temporary visit to China had enriched their future prospects; about those who have limited their future possibilities in the face of their own reality in China.
Analysis in this paper leads to two conclusions. The first is on “the complementarity of colleges.“ Previous studies have noted the important role of places outside of school, such as religious institutions and local study rooms, in complementing schools. Yet, until now there have been students for whom access to these resources was not available. This study indicates that even in the case of such students, experiences at college may restore their self-affirmation in their Chinese roots and diversify their future prospects. Second, in the process of focusing on immigrants' narratives, we should understand the modifiability of these narratives as this relates to “learning which can only be experienced at college.” Previous studies have described how, in the growth process leading up to college, newcomer children modify narratives on their future prospects and career as “their own stories. By contrast, second-generation Chinese in this study modify narratives on their future prospects according to the experiences they underwent in their college days. In conclusion, it is necessary to consider the resources that can only be provided by colleges and the learning that can be experienced only at colleges.
