Shaping Scholars Across Borders: The Journey of Chinese Doctoral Students in Malaysia

There has been a surge in the number of individuals from China undertaking their doctoral studies in Malaysia. However, it is complicated to cultivate international doctoral students in an intercultural environment. Current research has been widely conducted to explore the experiences and qualities of international doctoral learning, but there is little attention paid to the transformation of the intercultural academic identity of the students. This study takes a perspective of acculturation theory to examine how Chinese international doctoral students reconstruct their academic identity in a new environment in Malaysia to complete their research goals. A qualitative semi-structured interview method was adopted to gain an in-depth perception, and 8 Chinese doctoral students in a Malaysian research-intensive university were interviewed. Themes are analyzed by using the software ATLAS.ti 24, and intercultural communication competence (ICC), intercultural supervision, and learning community influence the academic identity construction. Moreover, ICC is the core element, from which other relevant factors can play a more effective role in intercultural academic identity transformation. This research forms a model of how international doctoral students’ academic identity can be functionally constructed. Furthermore, it has implications for international students to improve their overall learning experiences and ultimately complete their PhD successfully.