This thesis is a study of Chinese international master’s students undertaking
a master’s degree at a UK higher education institution. This study explores
Chinese international master’s students’ perceptions of their experience of
an academic sojourn and how these perceptions can inform the
professional services of the Student Experience Division. These perceptions
are viewed through the lens of Bildung. Bildung as an educational concept
looks at the transformative educational experience in a holistic manner to
comprise the lived experience, these experiences, both academic and
social, are termed educative practices. Through the concept of Bildung, I
formulate a theoretical perspective of ‘being and becoming’ for the Chinese
international student addressing the self, motivation as an investment and
emancipation and freedom through educative practices. This study is set in
the internationalisation of student experience with a specific focus on
professional services in higher education institutions. The participants’
narratives focus on the student experience, addressing their studies and
experiences of living and studying abroad. The participants reveal
perceptions of the self that transform through this experience and are
examples of ‘being and becoming’. This research was undertaken as a
narrative study; qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to collect
the narratives of five Chinese students studying at a UK higher education
institution for their master’s degree. The interviews were analysed using
narrative analysis, and a narrative for each participant was co-constructed.
This doctoral thesis aims to provide insights and develop a theoretical
perspective in the field of internationalisation of student experience and
apply this perspective to inform the development of professional services in
the Student Experience Division.