The Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes and aggression against East Asian communities were widely reported. The Guardian reported an increase in the number of “Chinese people in the UK targeted with abuse over coronavirus” (18 February 2020) and also an increase of 21% in hate crimes increased against South and East Asian communities (13 May 2020).

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We found in our previous research based on one UK university that more than 54 % of Chinese respondents experienced some form of racism or discrimination. A large proportion (77 %) of the respondents personally knew someone who experienced racism or discrimination. Our ongoing interviews suggest similar trends and revealed that students are calling for UK universities and the relevant government units to address these pressing safety issues around the Chinese and East Asian student community. Our participants shared their struggles with ‘institutional racism’ at the university, as some of them felt East Asian students were ‘really underrepresented’. 

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This study is concerned with the experiences and well-being of students with East Asian appearance. Although racist incidents are known to have taken place, our initial research finds that these students are not using official channels to inform their universities. Our study aims to investigate the experiences of students with East Asian appearance and the ways in which they communicated about racist incidents during the pandemic. We will explore with whom they shared their stories and how. Our findings will enable university staff and local communities to improve the strategies and practices of safety and well-being of these students.

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Our research team is particularly concerned that Chinese and East Asian students are not widely reporting the acts of racism and aggression they experience, leading to a mismatch between support systems offered by their host universities and security communities and their needs. Our project seeks to build upon our previous study and extend data collection across all UK universities focusing on the period of the COVID outbreak to identify the nature and scale of the issue. In addition, this study will investigate patterns of communication among and between these students.