Education Commons^™

International Doctoral Students, Their Advising Relationships And Adaptation Experiences: A Qualitative Study, Katherine Najjar

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Thirty four international doctoral students were interviewed to determine what types of advising and mentoring experiences were effective and beneficial, and what experiences had been difficult or unhelpful. The students reported a high level of satisfaction with their advisors and with their program of studies. However, during the interviews, students began to describe other factors that contributed to their well-being and their experiences.

Issues described included language difficulties and problems developing relationships with other students. Although most students developed close, personal relationships with advisors or departmental colleagues, few students reported having large numbers of friends and associates outside of their …

Mediations Of Multiple Identities In A Private University: International Students’ Experiences In The United States, Beata Z. Dolina

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT MEDIATIONS OF MULTIPLE IDENTITIES IN A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES IN THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 2015 BEATA DOLINA, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW M.A., HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Ed. D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Theresa Austin Admitting ever-increasing numbers of international undergraduates, universities are beginning to grapple with the difficulties students experience in adapting to this new, for them, educational context. According to Glass (2012), “Given the growth of international student enrollment, there are compelling reasons to more closely examine the extent to which specific educational experiences may be associated with their learning, development, and …

The Global Competition For International Students As Future Immigrants: The Role Of Ontario Universities In Translating Government Policy Into Institutional Practice, Amira El Masri, Melisa Choubak, Rashelle Litchmore

Publications and Scholarship

This project examines the implications for the roles and responsibilities of Ontario universities in offering programs and services to international students, given Ontario’s policy imperative to target international students as permanent residents. Through a comprehensive mapping exercise, this project proposes to offer a system wide perspective on gaps in alignment of policy and practice, establish key benchmarks for international student programs and services and propose globally competitive best practices.

Three main research questions will guide this study:

• How are provincial and national policies to attract international students as future immigrants acknowledged by Ontario universities in their mission statement/goals/visions and/or strategic …

Intercultural Learning For International Students In A Cross-Cultural Environment: A Qualitative Study With A Relational Cosmopolitan Lens, James S. Budrow

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Because of market-driven globalization and reduced public funding brought on by neoliberal government policies, western universities have dramatically increased international student enrolment and consequently face pressures to internationalize educational programming. Navigating international learning environments can build cross-cultural understanding and integration, leading to a more productive university community. This research seeks to illuminate how English for Academic Purposes programs in western universities prepare students from diverse backgrounds to be globally aware individuals with intercultural sensibilities that engage new and creative ways of understanding the world in relation to others.

Cosmopolitanism provides a critical epistemological frame for understanding and engaging difference in …

Higher Education Preparation And Decision Making Trends Among International Students, Krishna Bista, Amy Dagley

Krishna Bista

International Student Support Groups: Understanding Experiences Of Group Members And Leaders, Nathaniel W. Page

Theses and Dissertations

A multi-site qualitative study explored the group experiences of 6 group leaders and 10 group members who participated in 7 different university counseling center international student support groups. Data collection and analysis phases followed the process of hermeneutic interpretation articulated by Kvale and Brinkmann (2009), which resulted in nine major themes and ten sub-themes organized into four sections: (a) Recruitment and group design, (b) Experiences of group members, (c) Experiences of group leaders, and (d) Additional considerations. Implications for international student support groups are discussed.

Everything Changed: Experiences Of International Students Affected By A Home Country Crisis, Caitlin J. Mcvay

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The population of international students studying in the United States continues to break record enrollments each year, growing to 886,052 students in 2014 according to Institute of International Education (IIE) data (IIE, 2014b). As these numbers increase, so too do the numbers of students affected by crises in their home countries. These students face a number of adjustment issues unique to their situations, and may require additional support from administrators and others at their institutions. This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the experiences of five international students who studied at two public universities in the western United States while large-scale crises …

Examining Cross-Cultural Communication Among First-Year Students At A Large, Four-Year, Research University, Haley French-Sloan

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative case study examines and explores cross-cultural communication among first-year international and domestic students at Great Plains University, a large, four-year, research university located in the Midwestern United States. Specifically, this case study examines the ways in which first-year international and domestic students make decisions about whether and how to interact with one another across culture in the classroom. The literature review discusses both international and domestic students’ experiences and perceptions regarding intercultural communication, and also introduces a variety of barriers and facilitators of cross-cultural communication. Through introducing and relating cross-cultural communication to the goals of international education, the …

Intercultural Ambassadors: Foreign Students’ Conflict And Expectations Revisited, Luz Elena Cortes

College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs Presentations

The recent increase of foreign students in higher education conflicts with resource budgeting and priorities. Universities are compelled to implement diverse strategies to keep them solvent. Interestingly, one of the responses to increase revenues is to recruit out-of-state students especially international students for higher tuition returns additionally, universities posit internationalization as a necessary component to becoming a “metropolitan research university of distinction” (Task Force 2006, 1). The goal is to elevate its standing in the global market of higher education. However, these efforts compromise the education of foreign students and how thesestudents are taught. By recruiting foreign students, universities transfer …

International Students As ‘Ideal Immigrants’ In Canada: A Disconnect Between Policy Makers’ Assumptions And The Lived Experiences Of International Students, Colin Scott, Saba Safdar, Roopa Trilokekar, Amira El Masri

Publications and Scholarship

Recent policy changes in Canada highlight the strategic role International Students (IS) in the country’s economic development and future prosperity. With the release of Canada’s first international education strategy, the federal government has intimately tied international education to the domestic economy by attracting and retaining skilled workers to prepare Canada for the global market place. IS are particularly desirable candidates for permanent residency because their Canadian credentials, proficiency in at least one official language, and their relevant Canadian work experience is assumed to allow them to integrate more easily into the labour force upon graduation. Through 11 focus groups with …

Uneven Experiences: The Impact Of Student-Faculty Interactions On International Students' Sense Of Belonging, Chris R. Glass, Elizabeth Kociolek, Rachawan Wongtrirat, R. Jason Lynch, Summer Cong

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examines student-faculty interactions in which U.S. professors signal social inclusion or exclusion, facilitating–or inhibiting–international students’ academic goal pursuits. It compares narratives of 40 international students from four purposefully sampled subgroups – academic preparedness (low, high) and financial resources (low, high). Overall, international students’ interactions with professors were marked by joy, trust, anticipation, and surprise. Nonetheless, the narratives exhibit two significant sources of variation: narratives from the low financial resources, high academic preparedness subgroup reflected widely-varied experiences interacting with professors, and narratives from the low financial, low academic preparedness subgroup lacked any descriptions of positive student-faculty interactions.

Modeling The Progress And Retention Of International Students Using Markov Chains, Lucas Gagne

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

International students are a small and diverse student population present in any sizable American university. One of the greatest obstacles in their path is the acquisition of the English language. English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs, such as the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Akron, attempt to address this problem. By studying how this student population progresses in their academic studies, EAP programs and their associated universities can make well-informed decisions on how best to serve their English Language Learners. One way to study International students is through the use of a Markov model based on university …

From Dar Es Salaam To Dartmouth: A Case Study Of The Experiences Of Fogarty Aids International Training And Research Program Fellows At Dartmouth College, Lisa Anne Purvis

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

From Dar es Salaam to Dartmouth: A Case Study of the Experiences of Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program Fellows at Dartmouth

Lisa Purvis, EdD Candidate, MPH, MBA

Background

The United States (US) is a major host nation to international college students and scholars who study a variety of disciplines (Farrugia & Bhandari, 2014). Beginning in the last decade, the demand for global health training has risen (Kanter, 2008; Kerry, Ndung'u, Walensky, Lees, Kayanjas, & Bangsberg, 2011).

Since 2000, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has been one of 26 US universities participating in a global health training program, …

Leaving Home: Investigating Transitioning Challenges Faced By Boarding Students And Their Families, Kate Margaret Hadwen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Transitioning to boarding school during the middle years of childhood impacts upon the social, emotional and academic wellbeing of young people (Bramston & Patrick, 2007; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991; Earls & Carlson, 2001). Students who live at school as boarders, may experience greater transitional changes in all three components of wellbeing due to the extent of change experienced during this transition. While research addressing transitioning to school has indicated the importance of connectedness to school, bonding, friendships and a sense of autonomy (Eccles et al., 1993), there is limited research addressing the transitioning experiences …

Roles Of International Student Advisors: Literature And Practice In American Higher Education, Krishna Bista

Krishna Bista

The Influence Of Country Of Origin And Academic Level On Asian Students’ Gains Of Learning, Krishna Bista

Krishna Bista