Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Experiences of international research students in a high-ranking research-intensive Asian university

Wed, April 17, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Bay (Level 1), Bayview B

Proposal

Agenda 2030 calls for innovation across academic fields to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, ensure decent work for all, and tackle climate change, among others. Higher education therefore has an important function to serve in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals, given its focus on research that advances innovation across disciplines. To build a robust research sector, tertiary institutions need to invest resources in developing future researchers that will engage in such work. This paper presents a case of a prominent research-intensive university in Asia to investigate how it prepares international research postgraduate (RPGs) students to develop the necessary expertise for quality research work.
In addition to Agenda 2030, this study is also placed within the discourse of internationalization pursued by tertiary institutions. Internationalization is achieved through global knowledge production, sharing, and innovation, provision of international education services, and development beyond local limitations. Internationalization enhances institution’s reputation and rankings. The university under study maintains a high rank through internationalization of its curriculum and diversification of its student body. However, increasing the university’s reputation may come at the expense of personalized support for RPG students.
To examine experiences of international RPG students, a qualitative study was conducted. Student participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews that focused on their lived experiences, locating them as informants within the context of internationalization of higher education. In total, 29 RPG students from diverse geographical and disciplinary contexts participated in the study. They reflected on the key issues and challenges they faced as RPG students, their expectations prior to postgraduate studies and real-life experiences in a research program, and how community and institutional expectations affect their perceptions of self, success, and the desirability of achieving their original goals.
The study found that institutional culture and structure made many students experience disillusionment and cynicism about the University and their programs of study. Some expressed that the University lacked an understanding of the needs of international students (such as age- and culture- specific needs, and appropriate access to information), and tended toward maintaining institutional and bureaucratic cultures that international students experienced as hurdles to their success. The question of cultural difference was prominent. Participants shared that while they wanted to learn and adjust to a foreign environment, they experienced a lack of support and effective communication from the University and felt blamed for the difficulties they faced. These experiences made RPG students feel invalidated and unfulfilled. Some started opposing the University and questioning their fit within it, a development that obstructs engagement with resources for skill development in the University.
This presentation will discuss these and other relevant findings and make suggestions to promote culturally-tailored learning that may help increase the productivity of RPG students. To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first major studies on the experiences of international RPG students studying in non-Western or non-European institutions.

Authors