Exploring the challenges experienced by international students during work-integrated learning in Australia

This study explores the challenges experienced by international students during Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in Australia. Student participation in WIL not only enhances individual student employability but also the attractiveness of Australia as a study destination. WIL, in particular work placements, is in high demand by international students who seek to gain relevant experience in their host country and increase their chances of employment post-study. Data were gathered from employers, academics and students on the challenges faced by international students during the WIL experience and how WIL is currently being managed for the international cohort. Stakeholders identified a number of challenges which impact on student performance and the success of their WIL experience. These include cultural differences, inflated expectations, difficulties managing assessment tasks, relatively weak language skills and an imbalance in the support needed by international students in comparison to what is on offer. Stakeholder strategies to manage these challenges are discussed.     

Returnees,student-migrants and second chance learners: case studies of positional and transformative outcomes of Australian international education

There is a clear need for new research into the work and life outcomes for graduates of Australian international education. Drawing upon divergent post-study transitions, this article aims to present a multi-faceted, qualitative foundation for the consideration of both positional and transformative impacts of international education on graduates’ post study lives and careers. We compare three divergent study and life pathways for international students via three case studies of different models of Australian international and transnational education provision. The findings show that positional and transformative outcomes were often intertwined in surprising ways in participants’ stories. The pathways that they followed after graduation were strongly influenced by their engagement with international education as a life as well as a learning experience. All three case studies also suggest that concepts of the prestige of the Western degree need further consideration.     

Incorporating formative assessment in Iranian EFL writing: a case study

Undergraduate students' experience of assessment in universities is usually of summative assessment which provides only limited information to help students improve their performance. By contrast, formative assessment is informative and forward-looking, possessing the leverage to inform students of their day-to-day progress and inform teachers of how to better tailor their instruction to students' immediate learning needs. Despite these potentials, studies carried out on the use of formative assessment in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts are somehow rare. The current study reports on incorporating formative assessment in an L2 writing course in Iran. The analysis of data from pre- and post-study writing tasks, pre- and post-study questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews revealed that first-year undergraduate students were offered opportunities to improve various aspects of their writing and to develop positive attitudes toward writing as well as formative assessment. However, the students reported several challenges that could have implications for the further implementation of formative assessment in similar contexts.     

Gender differences in the Australian undergraduate STEM student experience: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

In Australia, the number of female graduates in some science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is as low as 15%. Previous reviews exploring the issues affecting female undergraduate STEM students are primarily based in North America and there is yet to be an Australian focused review. This review identifies the factors contributing to the gendered experience of Australian undergraduate STEM students. A systematic review was conducted in November – December 2018 using ERIC, PsycInfo, ProQuest and Scopus databases. From this review, 36 papers that focus on gender differences and university STEM students in Australia were identified. The Australian research suggests the most prominent issue for female STEM students is their lower self-efficacy. Gendered preferences for learning, gendered motivations to pursue STEM degrees, the masculine culture of these fields and gender differences in science identity were also themes identified through the review. This review indicates some gaps in the Australian literature, namely that identity, and other emotional factors, are understudied in the Australian context and an avenue for future research. The findings suggest that science educators should be aware of the gendered experiences of their students to ensure female persistence in university STEM degrees.     

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.     

The problem with international students' ‘experiences’ and the promise of their practices: Reanimating research about international students in higher education

The increasing number of people studying abroad has drawn significant scholarly attention to the experiences of international students. While these works have productively informed policy and practice regarding how international students may be better supported, they have not always considered the active ways international students contribute to higher education. This article suggests that adopting the notion of experience as a conceptual starting point is problematic because it only partially illuminates international students' agency and reproduces understandings of them as a vulnerable group. The more active notion of practice, by contrast, suggests a more agentive subject who is a pivotal actor in spaces of education. The main argument in this article is that the abiding focus on international students' experiences will be productively unsettled by orienting attention to their practices and theorising the notion of practice in more fluid and dynamic ways. After critically engaging with the existing literature, the article outlines four ways that a focus on international students' practices may reanimate debates. A focus on practice will: (1) show how international students actively contribute to spaces of higher education, including classrooms, campuses and other sites of sociality; (2) demand that researchers theorise agency in more expansive ways and consider the practices of a broader set of social groups; (3) encourage researchers to make use of a wider set of qualitative research methods; and (4) create a stronger political foundation from which to defend the interests of international students in a post-COVID-19 world.     

Study Abroad as Self-Development: An Analysis of International Students’ Experience in China and France

This article explores the real life experience of international students’ and the importance of study abroad for their personal and professional development. The empirical data drawn upon for this article came from the author’s master’s research, with field research conducted in the 2010/2011 academic year. It begins with the study focus and research objectives and reviews the relevant theoretical literature and the methodology adopted in the research. In the third section, data from interviews with 16 international students in Capital University (pseudonym, China) and Romance University (pseudonym, France) are analyzed following in chronological order the experiences of their sojourn in their host country. The final section of the article sums up the results of the research and points out the complexity of the question of international student mobility and different perspectives that can be adopted in seeking to understand and interpret this phenomenon.     

Enriched or latent cosmopolitanism? Identity negotiations of female international students from Japan in the US

Drawing from a qualitative study with 13 female international students from Japan to the United States, this article examines ways in which studying abroad has impacted the students' social and ethnic identities. Findings indicate that while the students did experience social marginalization, they did actively resist it and individually and collectively tried to find ways to integrate in their new social context. Furthermore, and while the students' discussions expressed a strong ethnic identity upon relocation, they did not plan to go back to their native country upon graduation. The discussion centres on the theoretical contributions of this work and attempts to identify directions for institutions of higher education that enroll international students.     

Enhancing the work placement experience of international students: towards a support framework

This article reports the findings from an institutional case study into the work placement experience of undergraduate international students studying at a UK-based university. Given the centrality and importance of the employability and internationalisation agendas in higher education, little published literature considers both and how they impact upon the work placement experience of international students. With past increases in international student recruitment numbers and the drive for students, regardless of their nationality, to gain work experience, there is a need for institutions to better understand work placement from the international students’ perspective. Findings revealed that challenges exist in finding and securing work placement, with critical themes emerging to include placement information, visa rules, culture differences, prior work experience, academic preparation for placement and academic writing ability. A support framework is proposed to assist institutions to consider how they could align their practices to meet international students’ work placement and employability needs.     

Context-related problems and university students’ dropout intentions—the buffering effect of personal best goals

This study investigates the effects of contextual and motivational factors as well as, crucially, their interaction in predicting university students’ dropout intentions. We focus on context-related problems in students’ degree program as contextual factors and students’ personal best goals (PB goals) as motivational factors. The sample of this study comprised 432 university students (74.3% female) enrolled in master’s degree programs at Austrian universities. Data was analyzed by means of structural equation modeling and latent moderated structural equation modeling. The results indicated that PB goals were negatively associated with dropout intentions, while context-related problems were positively associated with dropout intentions. In addition, the context-related problems × PB goals interaction effect proved significant and negatively predicted dropout intentions. By showing that the positive relation between context-related problems and dropout intentions can be reversed by increasing PB goals, we provide empirical evidence of the buffering effect of PB goals in the face of context-related problems.

     

Students’ intentions towards studying science at upper-secondary school: the differential effects of under-confidence and over-confidence

Understanding students’ intentions to study science at upper-secondary school, at university, and to follow science careers continues as a central concern for international science education. Prior research has highlighted that students’ science confidence has been associated with their intentions to study science further, although under-confidence and over-confidence (lower or higher confidence than expected, given someone’s attainment) have not been considered in detail. Accordingly, this study explored whether under-confident, accurately evaluating, and over-confident students expressed different attitudes towards their science education, and explored how under-confidence and over-confidence might influence students’ science intentions. The questionnaire responses of 1523 students from 12 secondary schools in England were considered through analysis of variance and predictive modelling. Under-confident students expressed consistently lower science attitudes than accurately evaluating and over-confident students, despite reporting the same science grades as accurately evaluating students. Students’ intentions to study science were predicted by different factors in different ways, depending on whether the students were under-confident, accurate, or over-confident. For accurately evaluating and over-confident students, science intentions were predicted by their self-efficacy beliefs (their confidence in their expected future science attainment). For under-confident students, science intentions were predicted by their self-concept beliefs (their confidence in currently ‘doing well’ or ‘being good’ at science). Many other differences were also apparent. Fundamentally, under-confidence may be detrimental not simply through associating with lower attitudes, but through students considering their choices in different ways. Under-confidence may accordingly require attention to help ensure that students’ future choices are not unnecessarily constrained.     

Exploring the links between mentoring and work-integrated learning

The role of work-integrated learning (WIL) is a popular focus at many universities, including among academics in the business disciplines in Australia. This article explores whether a mentoring programme provided for female business and law students results in similar benefits as those reported for WIL activities and, hence, provides career- and study-related benefits for the participating students. While research into mentoring is not a new phenomenon, this qualitative study focuses on mentees as students who are assigned mentors from a range of organisations, rather than the typical studies which have both parties employed in an organisational context. The study explores the career-related and psycho-social benefits reported by students in a mentoring programme, including increased confidence, improved knowledge about their chosen profession, stronger career focus/understanding and, for some, opportunities leading to employment post-study. These benefits are then considered in relation to how they mirror the outcomes of WIL. While the sample size is small, the findings have implications for academics and career development professionals in higher education seeking to better integrate theoretical knowledge with the realities of the workplace, thereby helping to prepare students more effectively for their careers.     

The attitudes of male student teachers towards a career in special education

This study considers the reasons why so few male student teachers are entering the special education sector. This comes as recent statistics reveal that the percentage of male teaching staff in special education in Northern Ireland is much lower than in England. The article first critically considers the international literature on male students’ perceptions of entering the teaching profession. The study then examines the opinions of the post‐primary student cohort at one major initial teacher education institution in Northern Ireland and contrasts male and female responses in terms of students’ confidence in their knowledge of special educational needs and their relative willingness to consider specialising in this area. The study reveals significant differences in the cohort between male and female students’ perceptions, and through individual interviews it explores further the reasons why male students are reluctant to specialise in special educational needs.     

Responding to the challenges of student-staff partnership: the reflections of participants at an international summer institute

This article contributes to the growing scholarly literature about students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education by describing an initiative designed to support partnership and a study investigating international staff and student perspectives. The initiative – an international summer institute – is a four-day, professional development experience that brought together students and staff from seven countries to learn about partnership and develop specific partnership projects. Participants in the institute were invited to contribute to a qualitative study exploring their experiences of students as partners work and their perceptions of the institute’s capacity to support it. Given that much existing research on this topic tends to be celebratory, we focus here on the challenges participants ascribed to student-staff partnership, and on the features of the summer institute they thought particularly useful in helping them to navigate these difficulties. Looking beyond the summer institute, we consider the implications of these findings for those looking to support partnership more broadly.     

International experience and graduate employability: stakeholder perceptions on the connection

This paper reports the findings of an Australian qualitative study (N = 45) concerned with the way that employers, academics and students perceived connections between international experience and graduate employability. Drawing on the literature, the authors argue that increasing globalisation and internationalisation has heightened the need for graduates with the ability to operate in culturally diverse contexts. Universities have focussed upon exchange as part of internationalisation to prepare students for work but there is still limited literature on the nature of the relationship between international experience, more broadly and graduate employability. The findings suggest that all stakeholders identify clear connections between international experience and employability given outcomes associated with the forging of networks, opportunities for experiential learning, language acquisition and the development of soft skills related to cultural understandings, personal characteristics and ways of thinking.     

“Crossing the Rubicon”: Understanding Chinese EFL students’ volitional process underlying in-class participation with the theory of planned behaviour

An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign language classroom anxiety and face-saving) frequently discussed in the literature about Chinese EFL classroom dynamics. A total of 199 Chinese students enrolled in a Sino-American international branch campus were surveyed. The results of a partial least squares (PLS) path modelling analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy, and face-saving explained 46% of the variance in intentions to participate in English in class. Perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy fully mediated the negative indirect effect of foreign language classroom anxiety on intentions. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed for implementation purposes.     

The Role of Pets in the Lives of College Students: Implications for College Counselors

The roles that pets play in the lives of college students have received little attention in the college counseling literature. This article will review four topics related to college students and pets that have implications for counselors: (a) the separation anxiety that students experience from not having their pets at college, (b) the devastating impact of losing a pet, (c) requests from students for emotional support animals, and (d) the use of animal-assisted interventions on campuses.     

International student satisfaction with,and behavioural intentions towards,universities in Victoria

International students make a vital contribution to the Australian economy. Due to their importance, a number of studies have been undertaken to examine the living experiences, attitudes and behaviours of international students in Australia. However, very few studies have examined international students' overall satisfaction with their university experience. The primary objective of this paper is to measure the influence of six individual university service factors on international students' satisfaction, and its subsequent impact on behavioural intentions. The results from the structural equation modelling analysis revealed that overall student satisfaction is influenced by the level of satisfaction with academic services, courses offered, access and augmented services. In contrast, administrative services and physical evidence were found to have a non-significant impact on overall satisfaction. Analysis also revealed a strong relationship between overall satisfaction and behavioural intentions.     

Learning outcomes and dropout intentions: an analytical model for Spanish universities

The dropout rate among Spanish university students is very high compared to the European mean, creating a pressing need for the introduction of policies and programmes aimed at increasing rates of persistence. In this article, we study this problem by combining students’ perceived learning outcomes with their dropout intentions, and we propose a research model that considers subjective factors that might impact this decision. The model is estimated for two degree courses: Business Administration and Nursing. The estimation method uses structural equations based on the partial least squares algorithm. This allows the construction of indices for the variables of interest, enabling us to make comparisons between courses and over time. To reduce dropout intentions, efforts need to be focused on obtaining better cognitive outcomes, as well as on achieving a higher level of student satisfaction with their university experience.     

A “research” into international student-related research: (Re)Visualising our stand?

This paper uses Tight (High Educ Res Dev 23(4):395–411, 2004; High Educ Res Dev 31(5):723–740, 2012; High Educ Res Dev 32(1):136–151, 2013)’s journal analysis and review framework to review a sample of 497 journal articles on researches concerning international students over the past 30 years. It was found that a majority of the articles focus on the students’ in-campus, academic and social experience. Even with different conceptualisation of the terms “international student” and “international student mobility”, international students undergo similar challenges throughout their sojourn duration, and much of the responsibilities in managing international students fall on universities and respective faculty members within the institutions. It might seem as if we are going in circles in terms of the issues and concerns in managing international students, but the silver lining out of this observation is the increased ethnical awareness among countries and higher education institutions in hosting and safeguarding the students throughout their international higher education experience, albeit rather slowly. The analysis brings to attention how much have we achieved in internationalisation of higher education in general and international student-related research in particular, and the potential for greater expansion and focus on managing the student population within a comprehensive “life cycle” approach.