Understanding the mental health experiences of international students in Canada from non-western cultures

• In Event: Belonging and inclusion in higher education: Students' experiences at home and abroad (I)

Proposal

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and research shows that mental health disorders account for a large proportion of the disease burden in Canada, preventing nearly 500,000 employed employees from attending work each week (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH], 2023). 4, 000 Canadians die by suicide each year, an average of 11 per day, and the economic burden of mental illness in Canada is about 51 billion each year when accounting for lost productivity, health care costs, and the impacts on quality of life (ibid). These numbers are mirrored in the Canadian education system, where mental health and mental illness have become a pressing concern as Higher Education Institutions across Canada, and the United States, are not only reporting an increase in the demand for supports and services, but also an increase in the severity of cases that students are presenting (Ng & Padjen, 2019). Unfortunately, research still suggests that mental health supports within higher education institutions are still underdeveloped, unsustainable, and do not meet the demand in need that students are experiencing (CASA, 2014; Lunau, 2012). Students’ needs are more complex than ever and despite the expansion of supports, they still surpass what institutions are able to realistically provide (Ng & Padjen, 2018). In fact, research indicates that one of the most pressing concerns that wellness centres are facing are a lack of culturally relevant supports and resources to meet the increasing diversity of students’ needs (Ng & Padjen, 2018; DiPlacito-DeRango, 2016), yet one of the most significant forces shaping higher education today is Globalization. It has become an unescapable power in the molding of higher education, with almost all institutions around the world engaging in internationalization to some degree. In 2012, the Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy recommended that Canadian post-secondary institutions double international student (IS) enrolment within the next decade (Advisory Panel, 2012). By 2014, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), now Universities Canada, reported that 95 percent of Canadian universities identified internationalization as part of their strategic planning with undergraduate IS recruitment noted as their highest priority by 45 percent of institutions, and as among their top five priorities by 70 percent of institutions (AUCC, 2014). This commitment to internationalization and IS recruitment has proven very productive as the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) reports that at the end of 2022, 807,750 IS were enrolled in Canada across all levels of study, representing a growth of 170 percent over the last decade (CBIE, 2023), contributing significantly to the Canadian economy. However, in addition to being an important source of revenue, IS are also wanted for the talent, and global knowledge and awareness that they bring to their academic environments and are seen as “cultural agents capable of helping small communities evolve toward values of openness to and respect for cultural diversity (as cited in Leary et al., 2016, p. 103).

Despite all this, research indicates that the presence of IS on Canadian campuses does not automatically equal integration. According to Ren et al (2007), “in addition to the routine pressures domestic students face during their first year of university or college, international students are also faced with a new culture, education system, and significant language barriers” (as cited in Leary et al., 2016, p. 110) which makes them an especially vulnerable population for mental health concerns (Mossaic et al. 2020; Calder et al. 2016). IS often report feeling isolated, and experiencing significant challenges adjusting to the cultural, linguistic, and social and academic environments including isolation, alienation, marginalization, and low self-esteem (Guo, Y. & Guo, S., 2017 & de Mossaic et al. 2020). Yet, IS are often treated as a homogenous group in literature, negating the impact that differences in gender, racial and ethnic identities, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and religion have on their experiences which may actually serve to worsen their mental health (Liu, 2017). Understanding how those from non-western cultures perceive issues of mental health and the consequent impact is of pertinent relevance in society, both for mental health practitioners, and also for policy development. Research indicates that postsecondary institutions are an integral line of defense in addressing this societal issue (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2009) as the onset for most mental health disorders is between 15 to 24 years of age, a significant portion of that being during the time when most students are pursuing undergraduate education, making postsecondary institutions a critical intervention vehicle in addressing this crisis. This is of prime importance because research shows that the psychopathology in youth is likely to persist through late adulthood and is correlated with substance abuse, academic achievement, employment and the prevalence of other mental health disorders later in life (Eisenberg et al., 2007; Valliancourt et al. 2021).

As such, this research study will seek to understand how students from non-western cultures perceive mental health and illness, and how this impacts their abilities to seek and engage with support. It will centralize Intersectionality (1991), which remains a crucial starting point in the development of culturally-sensitive mental health resources and supports for students as it addresses intersections of gender, class, race, sexual orientation, nationality, amongst others, and provides “a lens for understanding how the intersecting identities of individuals contribute to development and how development unfolds within the broader societal context of interlocking systems of privilege and oppression” (Collins, 1991, as cited in Patton et al. 2016). The research questions that drive this study are: 1. How do undergraduate students from non-western cultures understand mental health and mental illness? 2. How does this impact their ability to seek and engage with mental health services? This study will be conducted with a mixed methods research design approach. The first stage of the study will be a survey sent out to IS at one research University in Ontario. Participants of the survey will be then asked to opt to participate in a 60–90-minute semi-structured interview. Preliminary findings of this study will be presented at the CIES 2024 Conference.

Author

• JesusMiracle Chiadika, University of Toronto