Mind the gap: Chinese diploma student views of bridges and barriers to transferring into a Canadian university

Rebecca Wilson-Maha* http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6690-0106 & Eugene Thomlinsonaa School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Royal Roads University, Victoria, Canada CONTACT Rebecca Wilson-Mah rebecca.wilsonmah@royalroads.ca ABSTRACTOne common modality of transnational higher education partnerships is programme articulations. These agreements typically include 1 + 3 or 2 + 2 or 3 + 2 arrangements, whereby students study in their home institution first, and then transfer to complete their degree studies in a partner host institution. In this type of programme articulation agreement, the transfer of students from the home institution to the host institution is not necessarily guaranteed, with many steps and challenges in the students’ decision-making process. While there may be an expectation of articulation between countries and institutions when an agreement is signed, relationships, information and communication to support student transfer from home to host institution can be underestimated. This quantitative study examines a programme articulation arrangement between a Chinese polytechnic and a Canadian university, specifically through a student view. Findings identify barriers to articulation and also the information Chinese students identify as necessary to support their decision-making on whether to progress from a diploma (China) to a degree (Canada), and what types and frequencies of communication are expected.