Multi-dimensional Transitions of International Students to Higher Education

Divya Jindal-Snape, Bart Rienties

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317396475
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

International students experience multiple and multi-dimensional educational and life transitions: moving to a new country, moving to a new educational system and moving to higher educational degree programmes. Within these transitions, they experience differences in the social and organisational cultures, languages, and interpersonal expectations, realities and relationships. Their transitions also lead to, and interact with, transitions of professionals, home students and their families.

Multi-dimensional Transitions of International Students to Higher Education provides up-to-date literature, research and theoretical constructs that underpin international students' transitions to Higher Education. This book will help you to understand the opportunities, issues, social-emotional-psychological dimensions and evidence-based interventions that are vital to support an individual through these educational and life transitions. Split into four sections, topics include:

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• Theoretical Underpinning

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• Research in Different Contexts

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• Impact of Educational Practice and Social Systems

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• Interventions and Strategies Used to Enhance International Students' Affective, Behavioural and Cognitive Transition Experiences

This book is essential reading for professionals, students and policy makers and provides significant research insights to academics and researchers in the area of education, psychology and sociology.

1
Understanding Multiple and Multi-Dimensional Transitions of International Higher Education Students

Setting the scene

Divya Jindal-Snape and Bart Rienties

Increasing numbers of students are travelling overseas to pursue higher education. The number has gone up from 0.8 million in 1975 to 4.3 million in 2011 (OECD, 2013). International students enrich the host country and university academically, culturally, and economically. They enhance other students’ and staff’s experience by exposing them to diversity and multiculturalism (Burdett and Crossman, 2012; Peacock and Harrison, 2009; Rienties and Nolan, 2014; Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping, and Todman, 2008; Zhou, Todman, Topping, and Jindal-Snape, 2010). International students themselves benefit from studying abroad but can also face some issues as a result of their transition to a new country and educational system. There is a need to raise awareness amongst academics, researchers, professionals, and policymakers of the positive effects of transitions, to build upon them, and of the negative effects, to successfully resolve them.

This book brings together expertise from around the world and is a comprehensive resource for different aspects of transitions experienced by international students and ways of understanding them; theoretical underpinnings, research, systemic enablers and barriers, and interventions to enhance transition experience. This chapter sets the scene for this book and other chapters. We will explore the concept of transitions and briefly outline some of the theories that can help us understand the multiple and multi-dimensional transitions of international students in higher education. These will be set in the context of current research and policy, followed by an outline of each part and chapter and how they link to the affective-behavioural-cognitive (ABC) theoretical framework (Ward, 2001; Ward, Bochner, and Furnham, 2001; Zhou et al., 2008).

Conceptualisation of transition

Transition is an ongoing process that involves moving from one context and set of interpersonal relationships to another (Jindal-Snape, 2010). We conceptualise transition as a positive process, which in the case of international students, is in the main reflective of a fulfilment of their aspiration to study abroad with experts of their choice and, in cases where they receive scholarships and gain admission in a highly competitive environment, an indicator of being held in high academic esteem. Therefore, international students’ attainment motivation and attainment value can be high (Eccles and Wigfield, 2002; Wigfield and Eccles, 2000). However, there can be substantial social and emotional costs resulting from isolation, fear of failure, and impact of their choices on their personal and academic life and employment.

International students experience multiple contextual transitions – moving to a new country, moving to a new educational system, and moving to programmes for a higher educational degree – as well as associated changes in interpersonal relationships such as leaving family and friends behind, making new friends, and forming new relationships with staff and the local community. Within these transitions, international students might experience differences in the (sometimes unspoken) social and organisational cultures of the country and institutions, the language, academic as well as interpersonal expectations and realities, along with dealing with daily life issues (Jindal-Snape and Ingram, 2013; Rienties, Beausaert, Grohnert, Niemantsverdriet, and Kommers, 2012; Rienties, Hernández-Nanclares, Jindal-Snape, and Alcott, 2013). The new identity of being an international student can be satisfying but also incur a sense of loss. Furthermore, the student is going through not only educational transitions but also life transitions. There is evidence that international students’ expectations prior to leaving their home country and the reality (whether educational or related to daily life) when they are in the new country can have an influence on their adaptation (Zhou et al., 2010).

These transitions can have an impact on not only the learner but on their families (Jindal-Snape and Ingram, 2013), friends (Rienties and Nolan, 2014), and professionals who work with them (Zhou, Topping, and Jindal-Snape, 2011). For example, when an international student moves to a new country, especially if the student is mature, the family might accompany them. Jindal-Snape and Ingram (2013) found that international students were focused not only on their own transition needs but also those of their family. For instance, an international student leaving a country having a hot climate and arriving in the UK in winter might have to deal with the minor ailments of his family as well as settling his children into local schools, where the academic cycle, language of instruction, and teaching style might be different from that in his country. His wife might take a long period away from work, leading to some dissatisfaction for her in the host country as well as having a potential impact on her employment status on return. Clearly, as a result of his move and transition, this student’s family would also experience educational and life transitions. Further, not only would he and his family experience transitions; these changes would interact with each other’s transitions, suggesting that transitions are multiple and multi-dimensional (see multiple and multi-dimensional transitions (MMT) model, Jindal-Snape, 2012, as cited in Jindal-Snape and Hannah, 2014). Similarly, Zhou et al. (2011) found that UK staff working with international students also had to adapt their teaching style and assessment on the basis of the learning styles and expectations of their students. The MMT model uses a Rubik’s cube analogy, suggesting that change in one aspect can lead to changes for the individual in several aspects; changes for one person can lead to changes for the significant others and vice versa.

Despite this multiple and multi-dimensional nature of transition, most research focuses on the learner alone, with very few studies adopting a holistic view to transitions. With increased mobility amongst the higher-education community (potentially 3.85 million international higher-education students globally by 2024, according to the British Council, 2013), these transitional issues, and the mutual interaction of changes, become extremely relevant at several ecosystemic levels, namely the learner, families, professionals, secondary schools, further and higher-education institutions, employing organisations, and national and international policies. In order to understand these aspects, we will explore some theoretical models and frameworks after considering categories of international students.

Different types of international students

There are several categories of international students. In this book, the focus is on higher-education international students who are studying in undergraduate, postgraduate-taught, or doctoral programmes. However, within these classification there can be several subcategories, such as group international students (those coming as a cohort from one international institution to another owing to agreements between the two universities), international students from outside of European Union (EU) countries, international students from within EU countries, and distance-education international students. Some students might be exchange students and/or have short-term mobility. In other instances, international students at offshore campuses or where staff make in-country visits may be identified as international students by universities when, in reality, they might never even visit the host country. This can also apply to the distance-learning programmes, where there might be no requirement for the students to leave their countries. In fact, it can be the staff who have to be internationally mobile. Further, owing to educational stages and types of programmes, the international students can be young or mature. These differences based on type of sojourn, individual/group visit, educational stage, age, and family dynamics make it important that international students not be viewed as being homogenous. For example, Zhou, Topping, Todman, and Jindal-Snape (2009) found that Chinese students who came from the same university in China to a UK university as a cohort faced fewer problems when they arrived here. However, their academic and social integration with the hosts and, subsequently, acculturation were limited compared to that of students who had come on their own. Similarly, while a large body of research on internationalisation commonly aggregates international students together, irrespective of their context, the transitional experiences of international students may be profoundly different. For example, Rienties et al. (2012) found substantial differences in academic and social adjustment between international students from different geo-cultural regions. A follow-up study with a larger cohort including postgraduate students (Rienties and Tempelaar, 2013) indicated that cultural distance significantly influenced transitions, whereby international students with small cultural distances relative to host-national students had lower transitional problems than students with large cultural distances. Furthermore, postgraduate international students had lower transitional issues than undergraduate students from the same country (Rienties and Tempelaar, 2013). Therefore, in this book we are focusing on different categories of international students studying in different contexts. However, as the largest number of international students comes from China (British Council, 2013), there is an inevitable research focus on their transitions and exploration of myths about their acculturation and networking.

Theories and models

Some theories and models will be discussed next to help explore and understand the transition experience of international students. These are acculturation theories: the ABC model of acculturation, the educational and life transitions model, ecological systems theory, and resilience theory. This is not an exhaustive list, with a variety of theoretical lenses being used in literature and, in the following chapters, other theories such as host-national connectedness (Chapter 2), need for cognitive closure (Chapter 3), and social network theory (Chapter 4) have been considered.

Acculturation

Acculturation is defined as a process of change as a result of the interaction of two or more cultures (Berry, 2005). Initial studies in this area were based on the transition experiences of migrants rather than international students. Table 1.1 summarises seven models based on a review of literature undertaken by Smith and Khawaja (2011). As can be seen, initial literature focused on stress and coping experienced by migrants, and four attitudes were proposed – that of integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalisation (for detail, see Berry, 1992; 1997). As the terms suggest, this was based on the attitude of the migrant to the host culture and whether they rejected it, accepted their own and new culture, or completely immersed themselves in the host culture, rejecting

Table 1.1 Seven models of acculturation (based on Smith and Khawaja, 2011)

Models	Key aspects
1. Berry (1992, 1997)	Stress and coping model of acculturation; four acculturation attitudes (integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalisation); cognitive appraisal of change as opportunity or challenge factor in acculturation stress; focus on migrant with host country a peripheral factor
2. Bourhis, Moise, Perreault, and Senecal (1997)	Interactive acculturation model (IAM); emphasises the acculturation attitudes of the migrant and their interaction with the acculturation attitudes of the host country; at macro-system level, government immigration policies are seen to have a strong impact on acculturation attitudes of migrant and host
3. Ward et al. (2001)	Expanded on stress and coping model; affective-behavioural-cognitive (ABC) model of acculturation; stress and coping, cultural learning, and social identification; distinguishing psychological and socio-cultural adaptation; cultural and social identities as predictor variables; perceived or subjective cultural distance can predict differences in acculturation processes; focus on migrant with host country a peripheral factor
4. Piontkowski, Rohmann, and Florack (2002)	Expanded on the IAM to develop the concordance model of acculturation (CMA); four concordance outcomes (consensual, culture-problematic, contact-problematic, and conflictual) based on different possibilities of match or mismatch between the migrant and host acculturation attitudes
5. Safdar, Lay, and Struthers (2003)	Expanded on stress and coping and ABC model; multi-dimensional individual difference acculturation (MIDA) model; individual characteristics, characteristics of the larger society, hassles or stressors are seen to be predictor variables; focus on migrant with interaction of attitudes with that of host country a peripheral factor
6. Navas et al. (2005)	Based on Berry’s taxonomy of acculturation attitudes, IAM, and CMA; relative acculturation extended model (RAEM), acknowledgment of several socio-cultural domains across which the preferred and adopted acculturation attitudes of the migrant and host can interact
7. Arends-Toth and van de Vijver (2006)	Expanded on stress and coping and ABC model; individual characteristics, characteristics of the larger society, and hassles or stressors as predictor variables; and predictor variable of characteristics of the society of origin; focus on migrant with interaction of attitudes with that of host country a peripheral factor

the previous home culture. The work in this area moved on to consider the mutual interaction of the host and migrants, different possibilities of match or mismatch between the migrant and host acculturation attitudes,...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Understanding multiple andmulti-dimensional transitions of international higher educationstudents Setting the scene
• Part I Understanding internationalstudents' multiple transitions
• Part II Understanding internationalstudents' multiple transitions Research in different contexts
• Part III Understanding internationalstudents' multiple transitions
• Part IV Interventions and strategies used toenhance international students' affective, behavioural and cognitivetransition experiences
• Part V Conclusion Understanding international students' multiple andmulti-dimensional transitions
• Index