Are we listening? An intersectional perspective on the experiences of female international students

• In Event: Higher Education, Internationalisation, and Students

Proposal

The experiences of female migrants have often been neglected in prior studies due to an erroneous view that, especially when evaluating migration for economic advancements, male migrants are at the forefront and often outnumber female migrants, with female migrants often migrating as companions to their male counterparts who seek economic and educational opportunities abroad (Bastia, 2014; Donato et al., 2006; Zlotnick, 2003). Looking at international students as a specific group of migrants, between 2004 and 2016, there were 208,000 males and 156,000 females identified as part of the newly enrolled international students in tertiary institutions across the US (PEW Research, 2017). However, although a higher number of international students are males, the existence of female international migrants cannot be ignored.

Although there have been several studies conducted about international students in general, there is limited research focused on the experiences of female international students, especially those who migrate with their families. The lack of research on the lived experiences of female international students creates a gap where researchers miss out on the unique perspectives of females living out various aspects of their identities as migrants, students, spouses, mothers, and individuals generally pursuing higher levels of education for economic or self-actualization purposes. This knowledge gap creates challenges where institutions are unaware of the unique experiences of women who decide to pursue further education in the United States which could constrain how they provide direct supports and create inclusive environments for them. In response to the theme for this year, the study suggests that without knowing about female international students’ experiences, we cannot know what to advocate and protest in order to create change for them. There have been several research approaches employed in studies on the immigrant experience (e.g., neoracism theory in Lee & Rice, 2007; Hill’s ABCX model in Myers-Walls et al., 2011; ecological framework in Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007), but few studies have employed feminist inquiry as an approach to study the experiences of international students with families.

The purpose of this study is to take a step in the direction of highlighting the experiences of female migrants to understand their wholistic experiences not just as a subgroup of migrants in general but as international students, as mothers, as spouses, as daughters, and as breadwinners for their families. In this study I explore and emphasize the voices and experiences of female international students. Specifically, I provide a focus on female migration through the use of feminist inquiry as an approach to highlighting the experiences of female international students who migrate with their families. The overarching research question asks “what are the lived experiences of female international students in the US?” I employ an intra-categorical intersectional approach to feminist inquiry (McCall, 2005) as the theoretical framework for this study. In line with Christensen & Jensen’s (2012) suggestion that the goal of an intersectional analysis under feminist inquiry is to assess overlapping aspects of power in society as well as the position and positioning of individuals within that society (Leavy & Harris, 2019), I use intersectionality as an interpretivist lens to make meaning of the experiences of participants.
Intersectionality as a lens in this study allows me to explore how the multiple facets of the identity of a female international student who migrates with family (e.g., student, foreigner, mother, wife, etc.) are defined and shaped by societal norms, as well as the ways in which the individual defines and positions herself in relation to these societal norms and classifications. This theory allows for an examination of the similarities and differences in the lived experiences of these women in order to highlight their strengths and the challenges that they face and also provide recommendations on the possible ways in which institutions of higher education can better support international students.

The data for this study comes from interviews with seven women who were international students at a university in Midwestern United States. All participants were graduate students, either pursuing either Masters’ or Doctorate degrees in different programs at the university, and all interviews were conducted in the Summer of 2020. Some participants migrated with either their spouse or their children and others migrated with both their spouses and children. The length of stay in the US was between one and five years. Participants were from different countries, specifically: Pakistan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Guatemala, Palestine, and Turkey. As a former international graduate student who migrated to the US with my spouse to pursue a degree in higher education, I belong to the population that I research in this study. I have had prior experience as a single international student in a different country, and that experience was similar yet different to my experiences as a student, married with children in the United States. Patel (2016) proposes that researchers should cultivate openness and answerability in their research by constantly reflecting on the fluidity of their own identities, especially in relation to the knowledge and experiences that they gain by participating in research. As part of the ethics of representation in feminist research (Leavy & Harris, 2019), I acknowledge that (re)presentation of the experiences of the participants in this study is intertwined with my positionality and experience, yet my experience served to enrich our collective stories and experiences as female international students.

Preliminary themes suggest that migration affects the family roles, relationships, and family processes of female international students who migrate with their families. I found that female agency in decisions related to immigration and its pursuance also emphasizes the effects of migration on families and family processes as these women explore and engage with various aspects of their identities, norms, and classifications in their societal contexts.

Author

• Vida Nana Ama Bonney