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Challenges Faced by International Students in Adapting to Chinese Universities Life: A Case of Zhejiang Normal University
Abstract
This research explores the challenges encountered by international students at Zhejiang Normal University, employing a qualitative methodology to gain insights into their adaptation to Chinese universities within the larger framework of global education integration. Through comprehensive interviews, the study highlights crucial challenges such as variations in academic standards, teaching techniques, evaluation methods, and linguistic hurdles. Cultural differences, particularly regarding social interactions and authority deference further obstruct students’ engagement and social assimilation. Environmental factors, such as subtropical weather and the local living environment, also add to the adaptation challenges. Despite these difficulties, international students demonstrate perseverance and adaptability, actively working to enhance their language proficiency and build supportive networks. The research suggests that educational institutions should facilitate tailored academic assistance services, improve cultural sensitivity training for both staff and students, improve accommodation options, and create programs to orient students to the local environment. By promoting intercultural engagement and fostering a more inclusive atmosphere, educational establishments can better assist international students, enriching their academic journeys and cross-cultural encounters while contributing to the ongoing discussion on global education and intercultural comprehension.
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There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant stress worldwide and impacted practically every aspect of human activity. The impacts of this deadly virus on education are not seen as gaining much-needed focus from the scientific research community. The majority of educational institutions globally switched to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there were considerable differences in the technical readiness of various nations. In this regard, the study's attempt to provide a way forward for how the educational sector ought to manage the challenges brought on by COVID-19 issues in support of online educational activities. Since some of the consequences that resulted have an impact on the educational sector, the answers presumably also should have included innovations that would improve scientific research to lessen its effects. Particularly, it appears there is still much that has to be done about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational sector. Hence, this perspective review study aims to explore the potential relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the educational sector while suggesting a way forward.
Social adaptation of social dormitories residents to independent living
With the closer China-Africa relations and the vigorous development of the country’s education for international students, the number of African students studying in China has surged, and the difficulty of education management in colleges and universities has increased accordingly. Many scholars have conducted in-depth research on the educational management model, educational management policy, educational management status and optimization strategy for international students in China. However, the existing research dimensions are relatively single and lack of comprehensiveness. This study takes the educational management practice of African international students in Zhejiang Normal University as the breakthrough point and introduces the investigation of international students’ cross-cultural adaptability. A sample of African students coming to China is selected from Zhejiang Normal University (n = 475). This study designs a questionnaire based on the dimensions of enrollment management, teaching management, and daily management combined with the teaching satisfaction, cultural adaptability, and emotional attitude of African international students in China. After data analysis with SPSS 26 and AMOS 24, it can be found that enrollment management is significantly positively correlated with the time in China. Teaching management is positively correlated with age, educational background and it is positively correlated with enrollment management. Differentiated management is positively correlated with Chinese proficiency, and it is positively correlated with enrollment management and teaching management. The recognition of management staffs is positively correlated with enrollment management, teaching management and differentiated management. Teaching satisfaction is positively correlated with enrollment management, teaching management, differentiation management and recognition of management staffs. Cultural adaptation is significantly positively correlated with Chinese proficiency, enrollment management, teaching management, differentiated management, recognition of management staffs, and teaching satisfaction. Emotions and attitudes are significantly positively correlated with age and time in China, and it is positively correlated with teaching management, the recognition of management staffs, teaching satisfaction, cultural adaptation, and academic qualifications. Through in-depth analysis, it can be found that there exist problems in the current education management of African international students, such as insufficient enrollment channels, incomplete enrollment promotion, unreasonable curriculum settings, inadequate implementation of the tutorial system, and excessive differentiated management. In order to further improve the quality of educational management for African international students in China, countermeasures such as adhering to the idea of “a community with a shared future for mankind” to optimize the enrollment management; advocating the value of “harmony but different” to improve teaching management; implementing the “people-oriented” service tenet to improve daily management; deepening community value identification to promote students’ cross-cultural adaptation should be implemented.
Foreign students’ satisfaction with the service quality of Chinese universities is essential for the sustainable internationalization of China’s higher education system. The present study employs a survey research method to bring in the foreign students’ perspective of the various aspects of service quality in seven key Chinese universities. Accordingly, 618 valid questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study findings posit that, although foreign students affirm that teachers are supportive and well qualified, they have concerns about the English proficiency of instructors. Likewise, foreign students were not satisfied with the frequency of formal research meetings with their advisers and the assistance with research techniques and relevant literature sources. Overall, female foreign students were less satisfied than their male counterparts. Moreover, foreign students reported higher satisfaction from teaching services and learning resources, moderate satisfaction from advisory services, and meager satisfaction from the administrative and support services of their respective Chinese institutions. Besides, we found significant differences between sample Chinese universities on various constructs of service quality. Likewise, arts and social sciences students were less satisfied with the service quality of the institution as compared to their natural sciences and engineering counterparts. The policy implications of this research for various stakeholders are discussed.
Academic performance is taken as the process of carrying out academic activities and discourses by faculty members to enhance their academic activities and discourses. The purpose of this research was to identify the faculty member's level of academic performance in higher educational institutions. To conduct this research, a quantitative methodology was employed. The tools to measure the academic performance of faculty members were developed using Delphi method. The data were collected with 445 sampled respondents from four universities. The factor analysis was used to explore the dimensions of academic performance. The factor analysis identified four factors of academic performance i.e., research and publication, innovation, interactive learning, and capacity building. To analyze the level of academic performance, mean and the standard deviation was used. It was found that individual differences and the organizational environment, culture, and technological infrastructure were crucial to influence the pace and level academic performance in academia.
kistan. The ultimate goal of this research is to explore the correlation between social adjustment of international students and their self-esteem (SE). Sample of the study comprised international students (N=204) who studied there in different institutes of Pakistan. For measuring social adjustment, Student Adjustment to Collage Questionnaire (SACQ) developed by R. W. Baker and B. Siryk in 1989 was adapted. To measure students self-esteem (SE), Renieose questionnaire (2017) was adopted. The findings of this research show that the international students had high self-esteem with the highest score on self-regard and lowest with social relations. They had high level of adjustment with the highest score on attachment and lowest on academic adjustment. Finally, there was a significant relationship between Social adjustment and self-esteem of international students.
China is advancing in its bid to internationalize higher education, but little is known to date about the life satisfaction of overseas students in that country. Life satisfaction can be understood as the extent to which individuals’ experiences in a host country help them achieve their personal goals and satisfy their expectations regarding acculturation. This paper examines past research, especially international literature, to provide an overview of factors that may influence the life satisfaction of international students in countries other than their own, and looks particularly at those matters that may also affect overseas students in China. Comparisons are made between variables identified in general and those in Asia, and specifically China. The findings have implications for policy-makers and university practitioners seeking to improve educational quality and counseling support services for international students.
The paper analyzed the current status and policy evolution of international education industry in China based on statistical data of the education market scale, source countries, education levels and study subjects. It is found that the international education in China has undergone three major stages, including the stage of “unified national management dominated by politics”, the stage of “exploration of the model for self-financed study abroad”, and the stage of “all-round open development”. The achievements of international education industry are closely related to the key policies in the 3 stages. The research shows that the scale of international education in China is basically the same as that in the developed countries but there exists a big import and export deficit since China has slightly smaller international market share. Asian and African countries are the main sending countries of international students, and students from these countries prefer to receive academic education in China than those from Europe and America. In terms of major subjects, Chinese language and literature are still the main subjects, but engineering, economics and management are becoming more popular. Finally, suggestions are made on how to further expand the international education market and optimize the international education structure in China.
This article describes a research study determining the most significant academic challenges experienced by Chinese transfer students in engineering at an American university. The survey-based study examined eight areas where transfer students may have academic difficulty and determined that the most significant of those concern transfer credit issues, student–instructor and student–student language difficulties, and classroom culture differences. The cultural differences, related to course syllabi, classroom discussion and group work, and frequency of assignments and exams, are partially explained in terms of a theoretical framework based on Hofstede’s power distance and risk avoidance elements. Recommendations are made of ways to ease these challenges and make the intercultural experience richer for both the transfer students and their American hosts.
This qualitative study investigated academic challenges, supports and the role of readiness in academic adaptation of international students. 20 international students were recruited for data collection employing semi-structured interviews. The results showed that three types including academic challenges, socio-cultural challenges and language incompetency were affecting the academic adaptation process. In addition, three types of supports including university support, peer support and psychological motivation which helped international students cope with the challenges while readiness played a significant role in balancing challenges and supports. Pre-departure preparedness and on-campus orientation instilled readiness among international students. The study suggested that sending countries should make effective mechanism to prepare the students before their departure. It can include host country’s language, its education system, degree requirement, culture, climate and food etc. The study proposed theoretical model of academic adaptation of international students for future quantitative research.
This study examined how cultural distance, acculturative stress, and social support interacted to influence emotional responses among international students studying in the northern part of Cyprus. Acculturation models and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. The research questions involved understanding whether international students experienced more negative emotional responses compared to students from the home culture and whether social support moderated acculturative stress and reactions to being in the northern part of Cyprus. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined differences in emotional reactions between home and international students while hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the moderation hypotheses. ANOVA results indicated that Turkish-Cypriots had more positive emotional responses than international students to being in the host culture. Results did not support social support as a moderator for either international students’ acculturative stress or their emotional reactions. However, results suggested that unmet expectations, less financial satisfaction, and less social support predicted acculturative stress, while being in a relationship, higher Turkish proficiency, unmet expectations, and higher acculturative stress predicted more negative emotional responses. These results may help universities design programs to support psychological adaptation among international students, which could ultimately facilitate student retention.
Abstract: One of the main educational aims of the internationalization of higher education is to organize students to purpose in an
international and inter-cultural context. Annually a huge number of international student were coming Chinese college and
universities for their higher education which requires them to adjust to a new environment a new culture, often accompanied by a
cultural shock experience. The study focused on current situation of international student and cultural adoption of international
students and educational evaluation. This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting student’s adoption
of culture and learning system in China and we also investigate the educational evaluation about WTU’s exiting students. For this
paper we made a survey Questionnaire in Wuhan Textile University. We made this Questionnaire in several parts like family
background, past experience, current situation, studying, living, future planning and also cultural adoption. The sample consisted
of 104 international students in Wuhan Textile University. Descriptive statistics and multiple discriminant analyses were
employed for data analysis. Cultural variety on university campuses creates best social opportunities for inter-cultural learning and
its one of the major issue for an international student.
International students represent a large and increasing share of the diversity encountered on British campuses, with 19% of the student body coming from another country to study in the United Kingdom. While the concept of transition in the context of Higher Education (HE) is better understood as a process of change and adaptation to the HE culture, international transitions –undertaken by international students – present additional and specific challenges. These involve multiple additional cultural adjustments, to the host nation culture, the international student culture and the subject disciplinary culture. The scale and number of these challenges may lead to mental health issues and to students dropping out. The growing number of international students and their importance as a significant economic driver to the HE sector have been reflected in the literature, with an increasing number of publications on the topic. Various models have been elaborated to describe the process of academic and socio-cultural adjustment experienced by international students, along with concepts of acculturative stress and culture shock used to refer to the sometimes extreme emotional turmoil created by such cultural dissonances. University staff and students have different but key roles and responsibilities in supporting and facilitating international students’ adjustment, improving retention and enabling international students to reach their academic and personal goals in spite of the challenges that confront them. This literature review presents the different stage-models of international students’ acculturation and defines key concepts for international transitions such as acculturative stress and culture shock, thereby allowing for a better understanding of the international students’ academic and social journey. It describes the challenges international students meet in their transition to UK HE institutions and introduces literature identifying ways of better supporting the specific needs of those students. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations of the current international transitions discourse.
Since the early 2000s, reports of increased rates of mental ill health among young people worldwide have received much attention. Several studies indicate a greater incidence of mental health problems among tertiary students, compared with the general population, and higher levels of anxiety, in particular, among international students compared with domestic students. Australia is host to many thousands of international students of an age when mental illnesses are most likely to surface. However, this issue has received little attention from Australian researchers. This article reports on in-depth interviews with 16 professionals working with international students at an internationalized university.
Acculturation strategy has been an integral and essential part in the field of acculturation study. The fact that an increasing number of international overseas students wave into China renders this research urgently in need; and new theoretical models emerged constantly, which have had a significant effect on the immigration policies in China. This paper, based on the exemplification of the significance of acculturation study, aims to display the setting, clarify such three frequently confusing terms as adaptation, acculturation, adjustment by comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences before fixing the acculturation as this study’s preference, then presents a brief but clear description of the history, dimensions, and subjects of acculturation study, and finally discuss two kinds of acculturation modes, four acculturation strategies in particular held by John Berry: assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization.
Over the last two decades, the concept of the internationalization of higher education has moved from the fringe of institutional interest to the very core. While gaining moral weight, its content seems to have deteriorated. There is an increasing commercialization under the flag of internationalization. This attitude has exacerbated the devaluation of internationalization and the inflation of defensive measures. While in need of more philosophy, we also require a greater sense of reality. We need to rethink and redefine the way we look at the internationalization of higher education in the present time.
International students’ enrollment in higher education in the US has expanded considerably in the last decades. In this study, international students’ experiences were examined in academic and sociocultural settings. Through qualitative interviews, the findings revealed that international students deal with academic challenges, social isolation, and cultural adjustment. Specifically, academic challenges included communication with professors, classmates, and staff. Consequently, they have to deal with social isolation when engaging in different group activities. Culturally, they need to confront the different ways of thinking and doing in the US. In order to overcome these challenges, students have adopted resources that mainly are derived from the university to overcome these challenges. Thus, as demonstrated in this study, having a better understanding of these students’ academic challenges, university faculty and staff can recognize students’ needs and effectively offer supportive campus resources and services. The university needs to be prepared to meet students not only academically but also socially and culturally. This study also suggests that some preparations need to be made by the university that will embrace international students upon their arrival.
The internationalization of higher education plays an important role in education, but from the perspective of the whole society, there is a higher level of significance. Combining with foreign experience, this paper holds that internationalization of higher education in China should be established to promote international education by establishing administrative network, shaping the international reputation of higher education, merging policy with communication activities simultaneously to reverse the brain drain situation and to encourage the internationalization of higher education institutions.
The Malaysian government aims to internationalize tertiary education in the country. In order to attract more international students, it is important to understand and develop measures to overcome the various kinds of adjustment problems they face. A quantitative survey using the ‘International Student Problem Inventory’ was conducted on randomly selected international students from five major private higher education institutions in Malaysia. Data analysis revealed that the adjustment problems related to academic, religious, personal, and social adjustment problems were rated high, with financial, and language adjustment problems showing the least impact. Based on the findings, some recommendations are provided to help international students get adjusted to the Malaysian environment and achieve academic success.
Given the receptivity of American colleges to international students, administrators and professors must recognize the diversity such registrants bring to campus in the form of achievement, age, gender, language, and national differences. The purpose of this study was to compare learning style preferences of international first year college students and to analyze the effects of accommodating learning-style preferences of first year international college students on achievement and anxiety levels over one semester. This paper focused on the identification of learning style profiles of first time visiting Japanese, Korean, and Chinese college student populations. It also assessed the anxiety and acculturation levels of these international students when they were first introduced to the American educational system which incorporated teacher facilitation and promoted student directed studies. Finally, student learning styles were assessed after a six-week summer session to see if learning styles remained the same after students were introduced to the American educational system. After the six-week summer session and two semesters, a focus group meeting with a sample population of students and a separate focus group meeting with instructors were held to confirm quantitative findings.
Universities and colleges in the United States require international graduate students to provide certain English proficiency documents along with their admission applications before they are admitted to their programs.This study explored the language challenges faced by international graduate students at a Southern university in the U.S. The author also offered recommendations and suggestions to prepare and assist international graduate students in adjusting, adapting, and overcoming their language challenges.
More than 3 million students study outside their home country, primarily at a Western university. A common belief among educators
is that international students are insufficiently adjusted to higher education in their host country, both academically and
socially. Furthermore, several groups of international students experience considerable amounts of stress while adapting to
the culture of the host-institute. Several researchers argue that studies on adaptation of international students should widen
its focus to the underlying mechanisms that leads towards this “misalignment”. In a cross-institutional comparison among 958
students at five business schools in the Netherlands, differences in academic performance between local and international
students were identified by focussing on their levels of academic and social integration. Students’ academic integration was
measured with the Students’ Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ), while students’ social integration was measured with
a newly developed and validated questionnaire. The results indicate that the degree of academic success of international students
is multi-faceted. International students with a (mixed) western ethnic background perform well on both academic and social
integration, and also attained higher study-performance in comparison to domestic students. In contrast, international students
with a non-Western background are less integrated compared to other international students. Nevertheless, they have a similar
study-performance. Finally, academic adjustment is the main predictor of study-performance for Dutch, Western and Mixed-Western
students. Social adjustment was negatively related to study-performance. The lack of fit for predicting long-term study success
of non-Western students indicates that their academic and social integration processes are more complex and non-linear.
KeywordsInternational students–Academic integration–Social integration–Academic performance–Ethnicity
International university students often experience acculturative stress, and culturally appropriate techniques to manage stress are needed. This randomized trial tested the effects of group assertiveness training, private expressive writing, their combination, and a wait-list control on the acculturative stress, affect, and health of 118 international students at an urban, American university. Interventions were conducted at the start of a semester, and assessments were conducted at baseline and the end of the semester. Group assertiveness training was rated positively by students and led to lower negative affect, whereas expressive writing was less well received and led to higher homesickness and fear, but also higher positive affect. The combined intervention had no effects, perhaps because the two components negated each other. It is concluded that group assertiveness training improves emotional adjustment of international students, but expressive writing has mixed effects and needs further development and study.
International student mobility is an important indicator of the internationalization of higher education, and an important way to cultivate talents with global has had a huge impact on the mobility of international students. Specifically, the scale of international student mobility has decreased, changes in the geographic pattern of international student mobility have intensified, the form of international student mobility has changed, and the competition in the international study abroad market has intensified. As a major country that sends and receives international students, China has adopted a series of response measures to reduce the impact of the pandemic on international student mobility and has formulated a long-term development strategy to promote the mobility of international students. To promote international student mobility in the post-epidemic period, countries should provide support for international students from home and abroad, promote the diversification of international student mobility, and strengthen internationalization at home.
The present article reports a systematic review of the studies related to psychological well-being among East Asian international students. A total of 18 quantitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2011 were reviewed. Our review revealed three major results: (1) a majority of researchers (n=13, 72.2%) tend to choose Chinese international students as a representative of East Asian and Asian international students in their studies; (2) studies on psychological well-being of East Asian international students are closely associated with the following variables: length of stay in host country, English proficiency, attitudes toward seeking help, depression, and acculturation; (3) depression was the most frequently reported variable (n=6,33.3%), followed by acculturation (n=5, 27.8%). Recommendations for further research in psychological well-being were provided.
This article focuses on the kinds of adjustment problems that international students had while they studied at a university in the United States, as well as the adjustment behaviors they used when faced with these problems. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed for over a decade through on-going interviews with 85 international students, as well as through observation field notes and student-written narratives about their adaptation experiences. Findings show that students were challenged by academics, social interaction, and emotional reactions to their new life. To manage their problems, students made use of behaviors that can facilitate adapting to the new culture, as well as behaviors that can obstruct them from adapting. Facilitative behaviors include coping strategies, use of supportive people, observation and imitation, and reflection. Behaviors interpreted as impeding adaptation include expecting others to adapt, complaining, and withdrawing.
A recurring debate in mixed methods research involves the relationship between research methods and research paradigms. Whereas some scholars appear to assume that qualitative and quantitative research methods each necessarily belong with particular research paradigms, others have called for greater flexibility and have taken a variety of stances toward the integration of paradigms and methods in mixed-method studies. In this article, we review these arguments and stances, positioning ourselves in favour of flexible (but intentional) integration of any research method with any research paradigm. We then draw on a recent study of teachers’ experiences of professional development to provide an illustration of how a single paradigm can be used to inform the entirety of a mixed methods study, including study design, data collection, analysis and reporting. This illustration is particularly noteworthy since past mixed-method studies that have been grounded in a single paradigm have typically used the post-positivist paradigm, whereas our study involved an interpretive stance and a social constructivist epistemology. This article may, therefore, provide a useful resource for those considering the design of mixed methods studies as well as a practical demonstration to support theoretical claims in support of moving away from binary methods–paradigm associations and assumptions.
KEYWORDS: Mixed methods research; interpretivist paradigm; cross-cultural research; social constructivist research; paradigm; teacher voice; professional development
This chapter mainly examines how Chinese students manage their stress; what the coping strategies they use to deal with their stressors are; how they perceive coping, help-seeking, and counseling concepts and services; and what their expectations and suggestions on the counseling are. Results found that Chinese students engage in a wide range of coping strategies to alleviate their stress. When seeking help from others, they primarily turn to their family or other Chinese students. Most of them do not know how the counseling services work or have a hard time telling counselors about their personal problems. Students identify a lack of common language and understanding of mental health concepts, as well as fear of stigmatization, as limiting their expression of psychological needs and stress.
The relevance of this work is determined by the real problems of foreign students' adaptation to the educational environment of Russian high school. International students face certain problems, complicating adaptation to a new lifestyle, to the educational environment of the Russian high school, to a completely new social and cultural environment. Every year more and more foreign students come to Russia to get higher education, and every foreign student goes through an objective process of adaptation to college life. This article aims to develop recommendations, basic principles for an educational institution that provides educational services to foreign citizens. The leading method to the study of this problem is a qualitative method of case-study, which allows to focus on practical knowledge about real everyday situations, faced by foreign students in Russia. The case-study method provides an opportunity to pay close attention to the impact of social, cultural and academic factors on their adaptation. The article revealed that international students often face a series of transitional difficulties immediately after arriving to study in Russian universities. The problems are cataloged according to academic, social and cultural aspects. The article states that in order to overcome these problems, the students use resources provided mainly by the university. On the other hand, it is found out that these problems motivate foreign students to develop strategies to meet emerging challenges. The data obtained can be used in the practice of the university administration, faculty and staff to timely detect and eliminate academic, social and cultural challenges faced by international students at the beginning of their studies in Russia. Attention to these issues will provide more adequate support for foreign students.
Since 2006, the enrollment of African students in Chinese universities has been increasing steadily. A majority of the students have been recruited through the China Scholarship Council. Cast against that background of growth in the number of African students in Chinese universities, it is important that their educational experience in a country whose cultural landscape and political orientation are significantly different from those of their homelands be examined for evidence on their overall well-being. A total of 110 students from 32 African countries enrolled in six public Chinese universities responded to a questionnaire on their satisfaction with and adjustment and adaptation to their new cultural and academic environments. Results indicated that the students’ over-expectation of China and natural factors, particularly China’s weather as a barrier to adjustment, had negative associations with their overall satisfaction and with their adaptation to their environment. A broad network of friends, prior cross-cultural experience, and prior knowledge of cultural differences had positive associations with satisfaction and adaptation. The implications of these results for developing campus programs for acculturating the students, as well as other international students in Chinese universities, are presented.
The globalization of the economy and society has had its impact on Malaysian higher education institutions, particularly universities. The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education aims at intensifying globalization through increasing the number of international students. However, many international students struggle with adjusting to a new culture. The role of self-efficacy and social support on international students’ adjustment is important because international students encounter many academic and cultural challenges when they come to Malaysia. Thus, the present study examined the relationship between self-efficacy, perceived social support, and psychological adjustment of international students in a Malaysian public university. A total of 185 international students from various countries and regions completed questionnaires about their self-efficacy, perceived social support, and psychological adjustment. The General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995) was administered to assess the international students’ self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands in life. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988) was used to assess international students’ social support. Psychological adjustment was measured with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). As hypothesized, self-efficacy and only 1 dimension of perceived social support (support from friends and significant others) significantly related with psychological adjustment. Implications of the findings for better adjustment in university environment among international students and future research on international students; adjustment are discussed.
This study investigated international student adjustment issues and needs for social support while pursuing higher education in the United States. Data were obtained from individual interviews. Results indicate that international students experienced significant challenges in adjusting to academic stress, cultural differences, and language challenges within the U.S. higher education system. Adjustments to academic demands tended to present the greatest difficulty for international students. Friends and family were the preferred sources to seek help for personal issues. Students felt that providing academic and cultural orientation programs would be helpful to assist international students in making a successful transition to life in the United States.
There is growing concern in college management about the quality of education in tertiary institutions. For related studies, people normally encounter the problems of developing measurement indicators and identifying components of quality education. Some people use SERVQUAL, a technique making use of the gap between customers’ expectations and perceived experience as indicators of service quality, to measure quality of services offered by professionals such as physicians. Hampton applied the technique to identify and measure the significance of different components of quality education, by using the questionnaire designed by Betz, Klingensmith and Menne. Hampton’s findings sound reasonable but seem to be too simplified and confined to the characteristics of students in the USA. The expectations and perceptions of the students are often shaped and influenced by their cultural orientation and environments. Hong Kong students who are more pragmatic and instrumental may value less the significance of campus life on quality education but put more stress on assessment. This study is designed to apply the modified SERVQUAL skill to examine Hampton’s findings with reference to the students in a different social and cultural context. It is hoped that a list of quality indicators can be identified against which the performance of the higher educational institutes can be measured.
According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), there were 452,635 international students in the United States during the 1994-1995 academic year. Of these, approximately 50% came from South and East Asia. How can we best provide culturally sensitive campus and community programs and services to help Asian international students adapt and achieve academic success? Programs for Asian international students must be provided within a context of cultural sensitivity and understanding. This paper will provide an overview of socio-demographic characteristics of international students and common stressors Asian international students often experience in the United States, which can be used to help develop needed culturally sensitive programs and services. This paper will also offer examples and programming suggestions to help collaborative efforts among the campus and local community serve international students more effectively throughout their Pre-arrival, Initial, On-Going, and Return-Home adjustment stages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Drawing upon the uses and gratifications approach, the current study examined how international students' Internet use motivations affect their academic, social, and emotional adjustments in the new environment. A total of 166 Chinese students studying in Korea participated in a web-based survey. First, a factor analysis identified four distinct motivations for Internet use: homeland orientation (to stay connected to the home country), local information seeking (to learn about the host society), local social interaction (to form interpersonal relationships locally), and entertainment. After controlling for the effects of sociodemographic variables (i.e., gender, year at school, length of residence, Korean language proficiency) and personality traits (i.e., extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism), Internet use motivations were found to be significant predictors of international students' social and emotional adjustments. Specifically, those seeking to build a local social network through the Internet reported greater satisfaction with their social life, whereas homeland orientation was associated with poorer emotional adaptation. Various Internet activities, such as e-mail, blogging, and instant messaging, were not significantly related to college adjustments, suggesting the multi-functionality of Internet-based communication channels.
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