A Duoethnographic Exploration of Race and Gender: A Dialogue Between Female International Students in Canada

Abstract

The number of international students in Canadian universities has dramatically increased since 2000. International students are believed to contribute significantly to education and research, as they bring a rich variety of perspectives, experiences, and languages. However, international students should not be categorized into one homogenous group. In particular, international female PhD students have many different reasons to immigrate and undertake a rigorous academic program. Whether to pursue high academic goals, gain personal knowledge, develop research skills, or widen employment opportunities, each student carries a different cultural background that informs their decisions prior to their arrival, their transitions, their adjustments, and subsequently their participation in the new culture. Using a duoethnographic dialogical approach and ideas about bonding beyond race and culture, this article focused on the experiences of two female international PhD students from Costa Rica and Nigeria as we answered questions regarding the intersections between race and gender within our processes behind mobility to Canada. Key words: duoethnography, international students, race, culture, gender Le nombre d'etudiants etrangers dans les universites canadiennes a augmente de facon spectaculaire depuis 2000. On estime que les etudiants etrangers contribuent de maniere significative a l'education et a la recherche, car ils apportent une riche variete de perspectives, d'experiences et de langues. Cependant, les etudiants etrangers ne doivent pas etre classes dans un groupe homogene. En particulier, les doctorantes internationales ont de nombreuses raisons differentes d'immigrer et d'entreprendre un programme universitaire rigoureux. Qu'il s'agisse de poursuivre des objectifs universitaires eleves, d'acquerir des connaissances personnelles, de developper des competences en matiere de recherche ou d'elargir les possibilites d'emploi, chaque etudiante possede un bagage culturel different qui influence ses decisions avant son arrivee, ses transitions, ses ajustements et, par la suite, sa participation a la nouvelle culture. En utilisant une approche dialogique duoethnographique et des idees sur la creation de liens au-dela de la race et de la culture, cet article porte sur les experiences de deux doctorantes internationales du Costa Rica et du Nigeria alors que nous repondions a des questions concernant les intersections entre la race et le genre dans nos processus qui sous-tendent le deplacement vers le Canada. Mots-cles : duoethnographie, etudiants internationaux, race, culture, genre.