ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
From Challenges to Growth: A Case Study of Chinese International Doctoral Students in Lithuania
Provisionally accepted
Asta Rauduvaitė*
Jolanta Lasauskienė- Vytautas Magnus University, Education Academy, Kaunas, Lithuania
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This case study explores the concerns and challenges of Chinese international doctoral students (CIDS) in Education in Lithuania. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with sixteen doctoral students and processed using thematic analysis, which revealed two main themes, each with two subthemes: (1) concerns and challenges (limited academic English proficiency, a lack of academic writing practice) and (2) academic and personal growth (sufficient support from the supervisor, experiencing growth). The results indicate that inadequate proficiency in academic English and a lack of academic writing practice are persistent challenges that impact the performance and doctoral success of CIDS. The findings also highlight the importance of doctoral supervisor's support and provide deeper insights into the academic acculturation of Chinese-background students. This study contributes to a limited body of research on CIDS experiences in doctoral studies in Lithuania, and the results of this study may contribute to the development of doctoral education and supervision practices.
Keywords: academic identity, Acculturation, Chinese international doctoral students (CIDS), doctoral studies in Lithuania, doctoral writing, Supervisor support, Thematic analysis
Received: 21 Dec 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Rauduvaitė and Lasauskienė. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Asta Rauduvaitė
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