Critical Insights From Successful International Student Sojourners

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: Higher Education, Professional Education, and International Lenses

Abstract

Driven by globalised economies and knowledge diffusion in higher education institutions (HEIs), there is a continuous shift in the HE landscape – where student mobility not only increases steadily but is becoming the norm in many institutions in the US, UK, and elsewhere. This paper contributes to further appreciation of the challenges and distinct experiences that typically characterise international students’ academic journeys. Through a reflective visual metaphor approach, which was instrumental in prompting in-depth introspection from postdoctoral academics’ of their international PhD experience, we report lessons and critical insights from a selected group of highly successful student sojourners. Such insights will be discussed in conjunction with our proposed model of academic acculturation based on Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development.

Authors

• Dely Lazarte Elliot, University of Glasgow

• Vivienne Marie Baumfield, University of Glasgow

• Kate Reid, University of Glasgow

• Kara A. Makara, University of Glasgow