The concept of a "parallel society" is one that Vincent has witnessed for himself, and is in his eyes, one of the main reasons why it is particularly difficult for Chinese students to make non-Chinese friends.
"The Chinese community in Australia, and particularly Sydney, is so huge, and that's great but I think society should be like a bowl of salad, it should be mixed," he said.
"In the suburb of Hurstville, there is a very big Chinese community, and you don't have to reach out to other cultural communities, you have everything you need - from Chinese butchers to Chinese grocers, and Chinese staff at the post office."
"You don't even have to speak English," he added.
Tran noted that although being part of a dominant group can "create a sense of comfort and identity reinforcement," these groups also create barriers to social integration, and discourage Chinese students from venturing out of their comfort zone
"When you are from the most populous group, it's very easy to find co-nationals to socialize among," she said.
"If we look at Burmese or Cambodian international students, there are much smaller groups of these students, so perhaps they might socialize together if they had the chance but because of the limitations, they know they have to reach out in order to make friends in their host country."
The large number of Chinese international students in Australia is something that Sarah felt has impacted her willingness to "reach out" to non-Chinese students, as it makes finding a friend much simpler.
"There are more Chinese students here than international students of other backgrounds, and I think people want to make friends with someone who is from a similar background to them," Sarah said.
"If someone was the only person from their cultural group, then they would have no choice but to get familiar with other cultures."
Tran urged against students adopting a laissez-faire attitude towards interacting with those from different racial and cultural groups, and stressed that by not capitalizing on the opportunities to broaden their horizons, students could potentially be damaging their future career prospects.
"Socializing into Australian society can help the students enhance their intercultural understanding and knowledge, and even increase employability, by the simple act of expanding their network," Tran said.
Australia and other countries in a similar situation may miss out on the benefits of an internationalized education system if such barriers to social integration persist, Tran said, noting that "people connections" are fundamental to future prosperity.
"With increasing transnational mobility, as well as the growth of collaborations between countries, we could miss out on valuable resources in terms of reciprocal understanding and international knowledge," she said.
"These Chinese international students are key actors in making those important connections, and whether they choose to stay in Australia or go back to China, they have enormous potential to form future connections, and we shouldn't underestimate it."
The students' names have been altered for their privacy.
