Synopsis

China is one of the leading provider countries for U.S. engineering students. In the meantime, the U.S. relies on international students in the STEM field to contribute to its economy. A series of phenomenological studies focusing on individual experiences was conducted to evaluate the impact of studying in the U.S. on Chinese engineering students’ employability. The talk will present the findings and a proposed employability model which combines different forms of capital and “agency and structure”. The social implications for engineering students, international educators, and researchers will also be discussed.

Speaker

DR QIAN HUANG (CATHY) is a Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities. She is supporting the project titled “How the lightbulb was invented: Sparking creativity with ‘deliberate- learning-from-failure’ interventions”. She received her Doctor of Education (EdD) from the University of Hong Kong in 2022. She is experienced in systematic literature reviews, semi-structured interviews, and qualitative data analysis. She has publications in international peer-reviewed journals and presents at various international conferences. Prior to her academic pursuits, Cathy had served as an executive officer in universities in Shanghai and Hong Kong. After years of administrative work in higher education, she decided to learn more theoretical knowledge and contribute to research on higher education.