CAKES (Cultural Awareness and Knowledge Exchange Scheme): a holistic and inclusive approach to supporting international students

Transition support for international students has traditionally adopted deficit models which attempt to ‘fix’ assumed academic literacy problems. This study explores a more culturally inclusive initiative which supported international students at a UK university in a holistic and developmental way. The initiative was delivered across an academic year and a mix of focus groups and semi-structured interviews were undertaken for evaluation purposes. Although small-scale, the initiative emerged as a lively learning community which was highly successful in facilitating both academic and sociocultural transition. Qualitative data illuminate a number of fruitful methodological foci, including informality of the learning space and exploration of intercultural learning and teaching practices. Findings indicate that these cultural explorations were instrumental in helping students navigate the new learning and teaching system and forge a stronger sense of academic and social belonging. These outcomes were cultivated within an ethos that valued and enhanced the diverse skills, identities and attributes that students brought, rather than one that suppressed their previous learning practices. Findings thus demonstrate how transition and academic success can be facilitated in ways that do not problematize international students and highlight the need for more holistic and inclusive ways of supporting them.     

Constructing an institutional identity in university tea rooms: the international PhD student experience

This case study profiles eight international PhD students and describes the process of the construction and negotiation of their social and institutional identities in an Australian university. Audio-recorded informal conversations of the students highlight the role of social membership, staffroom interactions and language in the construction of institutional identities. The impact of multiple identity transitions experienced by new international students is described. The data analysis uses a sociocultural perspective of second language in use, which reflects the negotiation of power, space and identity in informal multicultural institutional encounters. The article provides insight into the ways transitions are experienced by international postgraduate students. Findings also include a critique of the negatively loaded stereotype of the ‘international student’ in Australian universities and the way it underplays the heterogeneity of student experience.     

The homecoming: an investigation into the effect that studying overseas had on Chinese postgraduates' life and work on their return to China

For over a decade, 50,000 Chinese students have come to study each year in the UK, and the majority of them have since returned and settled back in China. An understanding of their return journey and how relevant their overseas learning is to their home life and work environment is a key to the re‐visioning of the internationalisation of higher education in the UK. Using in‐depth qualitative and narrative interviews carried out in China with eight Chinese postgraduates, this research explores these individuals' overall experience of homecoming, including what motivated them to return, their readjustments to life in China, and their perceptions of the impact of learning from studying overseas on their current life and work in China. This article looks particularly at the change in the graduates' sense of identity. The idea of intercultural identity is developed to explain the phenomenon of these returnees' emerging sense of self, one that is expansive and embraces sources of influence beyond the conventional cultural roots of the individual.     

Understanding the symbolic capital of intercultural interactions: a case study of international students in Australia

Intercultural interaction plays an important role in contributing to international students’ learning and wellbeing in the host country. While research on international students’ intercultural interactions reveals multifaceted aspects of personal and social factors, there is a tendency to consider language barrier and cultural differences as individual factors that constrain their interactions with the institutional community. Drawing on 105 interviews with international students in Australian vocational education and training and dual sector institutions, this paper examines international students’ intercultural interactions in host institutions and the factors that act as enablers or inhibitors for intercultural interactions. It highlights the social and structural conditions in creating symbolic capital of elitist Anglo-Australian culture and English language, and social differentiation. This paper offers insights into understanding the legitimacy of such elitism, in hope that future conceptualisation, research and practices of intercultural interactions may locate international students within their cultural diversity.     

Forms of support and challenges to developing international-mindedness: a comparative case study within a national and an international school in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper uses mixed methods to explore perceptions of international-mindedness within two case study schools in Istanbul, Turkey: a national school with mostly Turkish students and an international school with students from many nationalities. Using a conceptual framework developed by an international education programme, the authors critically analyse pillars of international-mindedness: multilingualism, intercultural understanding, and global engagement. Findings reveal that the national school was striving to overcome limitations of homogeneity, while the international school struggled to address its assumptions that a heterogeneous population alone would be enough to encourage intercultural understanding. Neither school had developed clear conceptual links among multilingualism, intercultural understanding, and global engagement. Thus, deliberate efforts are needed to provide students with experiences that foster international-mindedness. Other researchers and educators can use this framework and associated methods to examine how international-mindedness is implemented in different schools in other regions of the world.     

Transitioning from a foundation studies program to university: a study of mainland Chinese students

ABSTRACT

Foundations studies programs (FSPs), sometimes termed pathways programs, seek to prepare international students for an undergraduate education. While enrolments in these programs continue to grow in Australia, there has correspondingly been little research exploring how FSP students experience their transition into university life and study. In seeking to fill a gap within the literature, this study investigated this issue by focusing on international students from mainland China. 23 FSP alumni were interviewed and asked to describe their expectations and experiences of secondary schooling in China, and their subsequent FSP and university studies in Australia. The analysis revealed that the most salient feature of participants’ transition into their Australian undergraduate courses was their emphasis on interpersonal relationships and social interactions. In particular, interviewees emphasised the importance of social exchanges with local peers and teaching staff, and their general disappointment or frustration with these interactions. While this study echoes previous investigations relating to international students’ (lack of positive) intercultural interactions within HE settings, it more importantly challenges the notion that FSPs can be assumed to adequately prepare international students for the nature of these relationships at university. Recommendations regarding FSP practices and policies are posed at the end of this article.     

Higher education professionals' perspectives on international student experiences of life and learning in Ireland: a qualitative study

Although numerous studies have explored international students' experiences, there is a dearth of research exploring the perspectives of professionals who have contact with international students. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by providing an analysis of higher educational professionals' (n=11) perspectives of international students' experiences and analysing the challenges which arise when working with international students. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a large Irish Higher Education Institution. Participants described a range of difficulties experienced by international students, including sociocultural and psychological difficulties, and outlined a number of challenges which exist when dealing with international students, most of which relate to cultural differences and lack of interest in internationalisation. The findings have important policy and practical implications for higher education service provision and point to the need to consider internationalisation as a process which can be enriching for international students, host students and staff members alike.     

The role of student burnout in predicting future burnout: exploring the transition from university to the workplace

Burnout is a significant problem in the workplace and recent research suggests burnout is also a growing concern for students. This study aimed to explore the transition from study to work, including exploring the impact of student burnout on work burnout. Australian health profession students (T1, n?=?86; T2, n?=?86; T3, n?=?57) from the disciplines of nursing, psychology, occupational therapy and social work were followed from their final year at university into their first two years at work. An online questionnaire which included measures of exhaustion, cynicism, professional efficacy, mental health, neuroticism, study/job demands and resources was administered at three time points, one year apart. Contrary to the hypotheses, burnout was higher in study than work for all dimensions of burnout. Study exhaustion and cynicism predicted work exhaustion and cynicism, respectively. These results demonstrate the importance of early intervention for burnout in university settings, both to decrease student burnout and to prevent future work burnout.     

The adjustment problems faced by international and overseas Chinese students studying in Taiwan universities: a comparison of student and faculty/staff perceptions

Over the last 15 years the number of international students studying at universities in Taiwan has increased dramatically; however, to date, there have been few studies that measured the cultural adjustment problems that this diverse group of students experience. To remedy this problem, this study gathered data from 1,174 international students and 189 faculty and staff members at 15 universities in Taiwan that described the extent of these problems in 12 different areas. Using independent sample t-tests and multiple regression analysis, this study found that the cultural adjustment problems experienced by international students were relatively minor, that faculty and staff consistently overstated these problems, and most importantly, problems with the English language explained more of the variation in both student and faculty and staff responses.     

The student experience and subject engagement in UK sociology: a proposed typology

This article is a contribution to the sociology of an expanded and newly diversified UK higher education system. How differentiated is the student experience? How sharply is the system polarised? Drawing on interviews and questionnaires conducted in five sociology departments in a variety of pre‐1992 and post‐1992 universities, it examines students' views on ‘what they learn’ and their orientations to study. It explores differences in curriculum content and organisation and the extent to which student narratives and identities vary with differences in institutional context. A typology of student experiences and subject engagement is advanced that as well as capturing institutional differences also locates a range of student orientations – and worthwhile student experiences – in all five departments that suggests a somewhat greater commonality of experience and outcome across institutions than the extreme polarisation of institutional experiences and outcomes sometimes suggest.     

The impact of a university teaching development programme on student approaches to studying and learning experience: evidence from Chile

In this paper, we analyse the impact of teacher participation in a University Teaching Diploma on student approaches to studying and learning experience. A quasi-experimental and multilevel design was employed. University teachers answered the Approaches to Teaching Inventory and students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Study Process Questionnaire. In addition, contextual variables were included for both teachers and students. The total sample included 44 teachers and 686 students. Of these, 25 university teachers had completed the University Teaching Diploma and 19 had not; 373 students were in courses with a diploma teacher and 313 in courses were not. Results show that those university teachers who have completed the programme have, in their courses, students who were more likely to declare having adopted a deep approach to studying than those teachers who have not participated in the diploma. At the same time, no significant impact was found on the student learning experience. For practical purposes, this investigation provides evidence for the value of teaching development programmes in promoting deeper approaches to studying. For research purposes, it proposes the use of multilevel models to evaluate the impact of university teaching diplomas.     

Appraisal of students experience survey (SES) as a measure to manage the quality of higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: an institutional study using six sigma model

Students’ Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness is one of the most widely accepted methods of measuring the Quality of Higher Education worldwide. The University of Dammam is currently performing several evaluations by students as required for academic accreditation by the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. Of these, two of them deal with program evaluation i.e. Students Experience Survey (SES), and Programme Evaluation Survey (PES). SES denotes the experience of students halfway through in a given academic program and PES denotes the students overall experience at the end. This study was conducted among the students of Medical and Nursing programs to capture their experiences related to various aspects of the teaching and learning process adopted in their college. The students’ attitude was captured through the SES questionnaire and the data were analyzed through six sigma analytical tool using the Poisson distribution model. From the non-conformance level apprehended through the responses from the students about the various categories of teaching and learning process prevailing in the College, the corresponding sigma rating for each teaching and learning process was calculated. Consequently, an innovative six point quality rating system was developed for each sigma values.     

Pathway from vocational education and associate degree to higher education: Chinese international students in Australia

Understanding factors influencing international students' decision to engage in international education is essential for education providers to better cater for students' educational expectations and enhance their attractiveness to international students. Whilst there has been extensive research on the reasons why international students undertake cross-border higher education, international students' motivations for enrolling in vocational education and associate degree programmes are still under-researched. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 international students from China, this research found that pathway to higher education appears to be the most important factor motivating international students to undertake vocational education and associate degree programmes. In addition, prospect of immigration, English language proficiency, previous academic performance, agent's recommendations and relatives' and friends' advice are amongst the important factors that students take into account in their decision to choose vocational education and associate degree programmes. This research also examines why Chinese international students have chosen vocational education programmes in a dual-sector university over vocational education colleges. It found that the flexibility to articulate to higher education, international reputation of the programme, practical training and favourable location are key issues that these students draw on when making their decision to study in a dual-sector university.     

The legacy of Cold War anti-racism: a genealogy of cultural distance in the internationalisation of higher education

ABSTRACT

In this article, we develop a genealogy of international education studies’ tenets of culture shock and skills deficit. To trace their emergence, we map the discursive shifts which underpinned cultural anthropology’s involvement in the administration of US colonial, domestic, and international affairs respectively in the early 1900s and 1950s. These shifts are concomitantly linked to the formation of the field of intercultural communication, of which popularisation in the form of Hofstede model of “cultural distance” has structured international education when turning from a Cold War tool of total diplomacy to an export industry. Taking the development of international education in Australia as a case study, we demonstrate how the shifts in the disciplinary fields aforementioned are best understood as an anti-racist strategy, which mobilisation of the concept of culture has led to the paradoxical evacuation of the heuristic of race from the lexicon of intercultural contact between “Asian” international students and presumably white host institutions.     

Departing from the beaten path: international schools in China as a response to discrimination and academic failure in the Chinese educational system

International schools are commonly depicted in the academic literature and popular press as offering elite educational credentials to an elite, oftentimes international, student body. In this paper, I draw on a case study of a Canadian international school to argue that a new form of international school is emerging in China – one that offers a haven for domestic students from certain competitive and discriminatory features of the Chinese educational system. Fieldwork was conducted at a Canadian curriculum high school for Chinese citizens in Beijing. Most students at the school were internal migrants or children of China’s ‘new rich’ entrepreneurial class; that is, their families had economic resources but occupied precarious social positions in contemporary Chinese society. Analyses reveal that the international school offers a pathway to obtain baseline academic credentials in the absence of other opportunities for progress in the Chinese educational system. Together with evidence of dramatic growth in international schools and tracks in China, this case study suggests the emergence of a new type of international education programme that departs from a picture of international education as ‘elite’ in terms of student body, academic environment, and expected educational trajectories of graduates. The paper also develops our understanding of class and educational strategies in contemporary China.