Understanding aspirations and expectations of international students in Australian higher education

The aspirations and expectations of the growing international student cohort in Australia are implicitly incorporated into recruitment and internationalization strategies but have received little academic analysis. To address this gap in the literature, this paper develops a conceptual model built upon earlier research by Tim Mazzarol and Geoffrey Soutar, which focuses on the push and pull factors relating to home country and country of destination, respectively, in relation to students' decisions to seek international study. Focusing predominantly on Chinese and Indian students, we conceptualise, extend and place the push and pull factors within a social psychological framework in relation to students' aspirations and expectations of international education, indicating factors that can be influenced by higher education (HE) institutions and their programmes, and those which cannot. We then interrogate the model and its applicability in Australian HE through the case study of an Indian international Study Tour conducted in our Australian HE institution in 2009. In the present context of decreased international student enrolments in Australia in 2010, where we seek to better understand our international students, the proposed model provides a basis for identifying international students' expectations and aspirations and developing prospective international relations.     

Academic practice as explanatory framework: reconceptualising international student academic engagement and university teaching

This paper joins growing interest in the concept of practice, and uses it to reconceptualise international student engagement with the demands of study at an Australian university. Practice foregrounds institutional structures and student agency and brings together psychologically- and socially-oriented perspectives on international student learning approaches. Utilising discourse theory, practice is defined as habitual and individual instances of socially-contextualised configurations of elements such as actions and interactions, roles and relations, identities, objects, values, and language. In the university context, academic practice highlights the institutionally-sanctioned ways of knowing, doing and being that constitute academic tasks. The concept is applied here to six international students' ‘readings’ of and strategic responses to academic work in a Master of Education course. It is argued that academic practice provides a comprehensive framework for explaining the interface between university academic requirements and international student learning, and the crucial role that teaching has in facilitating the experience.     

Responding effectively to the mental health needs of international students

Drawing on the data from HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council) sponsored project `Responding Effectively to the Mental Health Needs of Students,' this article describes the difficulties academic staff experience when responding to students with mental health problems. The views of academic staff are also recorded concerning what was helpful to them when considering these needs. This data is linked to research on working cross culturally with international students and set within a national framework. Research data is also accessed from focus groups which centred on the mental health needs of international and home students. Identical questions were posed to both groups students and similarities and differences recorded. International students voiced experience of a range of economic, social and academic pressures which appear to be different in degree and often in kind from those experienced by `home' students. These factors in extreme cases may trigger and/or exacerbate mental health problems. Whilst these findings are mainly qualitative, they have a resonance with and help illustrate existing research. Finally this paper considers the potential of academic staff, student groups and the policies of the institution of higher education to contribute to improvements of the welfare of international students.     

Challenging Performative Fabrication: Seeking authenticity in academic development practice

While extensive discussion has been devoted to internationalising the curriculum in a response to the presence of international students, little is known about how academic staff members perceive the presence of this student cohort. Using data collected through semi‐structured interviews with 80 academic staff from four different faculties in one higher education institution, this study investigates staff understanding regarding international students, with particular attention given to how disciplinary differences shape their responses. Findings indicate that staff from ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ disciplines hold different instructional beliefs, which then affect their teaching and learning practice. Discussions are provided on how these differing conceptions of teaching fit into the context of academic development with respect to international education.     

A holistic approach to international students, institutional habitus and academic literacies in an Irish third level institution

This qualitative study examines the interplay between academic staff and international students with regard to developing academic literacies at university. Higher education has traditionally responded to increasing student diversity with the expectation that students will conform to institutional norms or habitus. In this context international students arrive with cultural capital which may not fit such norms, and would benefit from developing their academic literacy, as indeed would home students given an increasingly diverse student body in Irish higher education. Findings reveal a gap between academics expectations and international students’ capabilities. Academic staff remained within the remit of the research in contrast to the 22 international students who were interviewed. They did not separate the totality of their campus experience from academic literacy practices. These ranged from uncertainty around writing in another language to a mismatch between diversity management in class and students’ own expectations. International students found difficulty to making friends on campus which could benefit their integration into the academic literacy practices of their respective disciplines. Findings point towards a whole institution response to student diversity which transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.     

Academic stress of international students attending U.S. universities

This study investigated factors associated with the academic stress experienced by international students (N=412) attending graduate school in the United States. The study was grounded in a cognitive framework in which academic stress is understood as the consequence of students' appraisal of the stressfulness of role demands and their perception of their ability to cope with those demands. These two appraisals, in turn, were posited to be a function of cultural distance, students' social support network, and their role competencies. Results indicated that the primary determinants of the two types of appraisals differed. While self-perceived English-language skills and, to a lesser degree, cultural distance were the predictors of primary appraisal, self-perceived English-language, academic, and problem-solving skills and social support network were the main determinants of secondary appraisal. Implications for how universities might work more effectively with international students are discussed.     

加强中国对外政策的政治学研究

在中国对外政策的研究成果中,从政治学途径所进行的研究相对不足。加强中国对外政策的政治学研究,既是中国外交实践提出的新要求,也是中国的国际关系和中国外交研究面临的新课题,具有明显的学理、政策和学科层面的意义。如何进行此项研究,本文初步提出国内政治系统的结构、进程和最高领导人三方面结合进行研究的基本框架。     

Classroom management,school staff relations,school climate,and academic achievement: testing a model with urban high schools

Urban learning environments pose distinct instructional challenges for teachers and administrators, and can lead to lower achievement compared to suburban or rural schools. Today’s educational climate increasingly emphasises a need for positive academic outcomes, often measured by standardised tests, on which student educational opportunities, teacher benefits and school funding can be based. By applying an ecological framework to the urban school environment, it could be possible to better understand and ultimately improve the educational context at multiple levels. This study examined how classroom management, staff relations and school climate contribute to academic achievement, as measured by ACT scores. In a large urban American public school system, 208 teachers from 38 high schools were surveyed. A model was tested in which, when academic achievement was accounted for over time, classroom management and staff relations contributed positively to school climate, and climate in turn contributed to academic achievement. Structural equation modeling revealed that the data fitted the proposed model. Results illustrate the roles of school and classroom factors related to academic performance and underline the importance of classroom management strategies and positive learning environments. Results suggest avenues for interventions to increase academic achievement by supporting students through the lens of an ecological framework.     

Higher education in a world market

Recognizing that academic, scientific and technological strengths have become increasingly important in international relations, this study hypothesizes that the flow of knowledge resources among nations is interconnected with global political, economic and cultural relationships. As a means of validating this premise, this study analyzes one component of academic interaction - international study at the level of higher education. This article outlines changes in international study patterns in the decades following World War n and explores how the postwar context affected international exchange relationships. International exchange during the 1960s and 1970s indicated strong participation by students from Third World nations and the popularity of five industrialized host nations. These relationships are explored through a statistical study of the flow of students from 18 developing nations out to the world and to the United States in particular. The findings assess the importance of key economic factors (such as involvement in global trade and concentration of trade), educational variables (including national emphasis on education and the availability of domestic opportunities) and political arenas (such as international assistance and scholarship dependency) in determining international study patterns. As current shifts in our postwar world order unfold before us, better understanding of historical factors underlying international exchange may be instrumental as we anticipate its future within the context of new geopolitical alliances.     

浅析西方近现代海权理论及其历史演变

海权理论既是国际关系学地缘政治学说的重要内容．也是军事理论的重要组成部分。学术界对于海权理论往往过于强调其军事意义的一面,实际上,随着历史的演变和时代的发展．海权更是一个内涵极为丰富的综合概念。本文就对这一理论的创立及其演变做一探讨。     

Education abroad, human capital development, and national competitiveness: China��s brain gain strategies

This is a documentary study of education abroad policy in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) between 1978 and 2009. By examining the dynamics underpinning the PRC state’s efforts to shape the flow of Chinese students and scholars from and into China, this article reveals the major strategies that have enabled education abroad to become a source of brain gain. It argues that China’s brain gain strategies feature three characteristics: a proactive diplomatic approach to international educational relations; strategic dependence on foreign higher education resources and a decentralized economic mechanism to raise foreign-trained human capital. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of Chinese experience for our understanding of the complex and dynamic relations between the state, the market, universities and international relations as relating to cross-border academic mobility, international educational relations, and national development in a globalizing world.     

Being female doing gender. Narratives of women in education management

The paper explores gender relations in academia and discusses how gender is constructed within academic institutions. It is based upon the study of a business school, part of a British university. The construction of gender relations within this institution was of special interest because the majority of managerial roles were occupied by women. All female academic managers (dean, associate deans and heads of department) and a random selection of female and male academics were interviewed. The process of construction of gender relations is investigated through the analysis of the discrepancy between the ‘masculine culture’ of high education institutions and the dominance of women managers within this organization. It is suggested that the numerical dominance of women managers may create tensions between their individual identities as women and their managerial identities, due to the predominance of masculine practices and values within the organization. Additionally, it emerged that the maintenance of masculine ideals and practices is also associated with downplaying women’s achievements.     

Understanding Academic Freedom: The views of social scientists

The current debate about academic freedom has been marked by a lack of clarity and consistency as to what academic freedom actually means. Sometimes it is described solely in terms of individual freedoms; at others in terms of an interplay between individual, collegial and institutional freedoms. Sometimes it is presented as a set of rights; at others, as a pairing of rights and responsibilities. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the range of understandings of academic freedom experienced amongst social scientists in Australian universities. The investigation was undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective and five different ways of understanding academic freedom were constituted, based on two primary dimensions of variation in views: the types of constraints regarded as an appropriate part of academic freedom; and the role of self and other (i.e., peers, institution, society) in creating academic freedom. The structural relationships found between different ways of viewing academic freedom in this study provides a broader framework within which to interpret the range of views found in the literature and public debate.     

Triple exclusion: Life stories of Jewish migrant academics from the former Soviet Union at a contested university under siege

Three decades have passed since the commencement of the largest influx of immigration in the history of the State of Israel, during which approximately one million Russian-speaking Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrated to Israel. Thousands of these immigrants held academic positions in the FSU and sought to continue their work in Israeli academia, which at that time lacked the capacity to include them. Many of the immigrants were directed to work and sometimes live in the West Bank, a contested region acknowledged by the international community as occupied Palestinian land. This study examines the life stories of scholars who emigrated from the FSU and are currently employed at Ariel University, an institution located in the Israeli city of Ariel in the West Bank. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with sixteen academics, this study explores their experiences of immigration, its effects on their academic career in Israel, and their integration into Ariel University in light of the intractable Israeli-Arab conflict. The construct of triple exclusion is used to bring together three layers of participant experiences - as Jews in Soviet society, as Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel, and as academics working at a contested institution. The study provides a nuanced analysis of each of these three layers of exclusion, offering insights for further research in the field of academic mobilities. Moreover, it reveals that many of the interviewed academics de-politicise the conflict, as a survival strategy, and thus contribute to the normalisation of the Israeli presence in the occupied territories of the West Bank.     

Talent management in transnational higher education: strategies for managing academic staff at international branch campuses

The study investigates the practices of academic staff talent management at international branch campuses, with the aim of identifying a range of practical strategies that may address the unique challenges of managing talent in campuses located far away from the home country. These strategies are intended to improve service quality and add value to institution profiles. Based on an online questionnaire, ad hoc email correspondence and publicly available information, five case studies are presented. Talent management emerges as a key strategic area, directly managed at dean/president level. Referrals and online portals are commonly utilised as channels to attract talent, and the need to sometimes uplift local packages to recruit and retain talent is recognised. It is concluded that the development of academic staff should be viewed as an investment, and the availability of research funding and teaching awards on campus may be used to attract, develop and retain talent.     

论高校教师教学发展的意义和策略

高校教师教学发展是教师发展的核心成分。无论是明晰人才培养理念、目标与模式,还是设计、实施与评价课程,优化人才培养过程,或者重建学术概念、体现自己的组织存在,高校都需要教师的教学发展。为了促进高校教师教学发展,应当注意:牢固树立教师教学能够发展的信念,认真剖析教师教学发展不足的原因,科学搭建牵引教师教学成长的平台,切实制订促进并保障教师教学发展的政策与制度,正确处理高校教师教学和科研的关系,重视教师教学发展的组织性质。     

构建和谐社会的制度经济学视角

和谐社会的构建是指一个良性运行的社会系统的构建,这个系统的结构就是制度。按照制度经济学的说法,制度是为人类发生相互关系所提供的框架。要使社会和谐有序运行,就需构建相应的制度体系,包括正式制度体系和非正式制度体系。     

Internationalisation: a new challenge for universities

Four factors have led to the evolution of the modern mass university in Europe, namely demographic and democratic developments, the university's role in economic development, the pattern in scientific advances and political developments in Europe. These trends are linked to certain developments in the labour market, and they reveal the demands which lead to the modern university's dual role as a regional as well as an international institution. The internationalisation of the university has been furthered by innovative exchange programmes which promote the mobility of students and scholars and flexibility in academic programmes and institutions. Nonetheless, the programmes add a political dimension to the existing academic and research aims for mobility, and the success of the exchanges appears to depend on the development of adequate capacity within universities to support expanded international flows of students and scholars.     

大学学术职业制度研究的现状与问题

当前,国内外学术界对于大学学术职业制度的系统研究还不多,已有的研究成果主要集中在三个方面:大学学术职业制度的比较研究;大学学术职业制度发展中的现实问题;大学学术职业制度的特征。现有研究中存在缺乏对大学学术职业制度内在构成的深入分析;缺乏对大学学术职业制度变迁历程进行研究等问题。