Teaching in Australia: Chinese university teachers talk about how they found teaching jobs in Australia

This article is about how a group of Chinese academics ended up teaching and researching in Australia. To explain their educational journeys since 1949, the chapter surveys (1) the chaotic end of China’s Cultural Revolution; (2) Deng Xiaoping’s “Open Up” policies; (3) the high school exit examination (GaoKao) and university entry availability; (4) the development of English language capability; (5) opportunities for Chinese scholars to go abroad; and (6) academic careers in China. The material is largely drawn from interviews conducted by one of the authors (Lu) with Chinese participants and English and Chinese literature sources. This chapter shows how socio-historical circumstances opened educational opportunities for Chinese people in the post-Mao period that enabled them to become transnational knowledge workers. The chapter concludes that despite facing significant personal and professional adjustments in order to gain permanent positions in a ‘foreign’ regional university, these academics represent the potential impact on Australian institutions of the Chinese intellectual diaspora.