Post-COVID Experiences in International Education: Examining Students' Discourses through a Decolonial Approach

• In Event: International Student Experience

Proposal

Title: Post-COVID Experiences in International Education: Examining Students' Discourses through a Decolonial Approach

Relevance:
This study delves into the post-COVID digital society and international students' experiences. As international students return to Canadian universities post-COVID, they navigate a transformed digital society. This research explores the post-COVID experiences of international students in Canada, focusing on their motivations, social and academic challenges, and the broader concept of being an international student. Adopting a decolonial lens, it examines the colonial legacies and power dynamics that shape their educational journeys. Using qualitative research, employing critical discourse analysis, the study draws on interviews with international engineering master's students, highlighting the contrast between imagined expectations and lived experiences, both on and off-campus. The findings emphasize the importance of amplifying international students' discourses and understanding their experiences to foster more inclusive global education environments.

Theory/Context:
This study explores the dynamic landscape of international students in Canada, examining the diverse factors that shape their motivations, and academic and social experiences while studying abroad. It adopts a decolonial approach (Quijano, 2007; Grosfoguel, 2013), recognizing that analyzing educational experiences through the lenses of power and identity offers a deeper understanding of student experiences. Rather than focusing on assimilation gaps, this approach considers broader socio-cultural factors, including colonial legacies in education. The decolonial approach is crucial because it acknowledges and dissects the power dynamics and colonial patterns that shape international students' learning experiences in Canadian universities. By examining their experiences through this lens, the study identifies and addresses issues related to power imbalances, cultural disparities, epistemic ignorance, and unequal access to resources. These insights contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of their needs, informing future research and program development.

Modes of Inquiry:
This study portrays the discourses of international students, specifically how do international students construct worlds with words. It examines who plays a role in their study abroad experience, identifying key agents and the main elements that shape their academic and social environments. To meet the research objectives, the study employs a qualitative research methodology, utilizing semi-structured interviews as its primary tool. The interview data is analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Parker, 1992). The study engaged 12 international engineering master’s students from India, Nepal, Brazil, Colombia, Mauritius, and Ghana, all studying at an English-speaking university in Quebec, Canada.

Findings:
Participants' responses reveal a stark contrast between their experiences on and off campus. On campus, interactions primarily involve professors, supervisors, classmates, and friends, often from similar national backgrounds. Beyond viewing the university as a bubble, participants highlighted several other significant contrasts. For instance, they noted the disparity between their imagined and lived experiences of international education, the tension between the Canadian imaginary and its reality, including cultural differences, and their varied perceptions of professors and the campus environment. Additionally, the gap between theory and practice in their studies emerged as a central theme, despite the interview questions not directly addressing it. When discussing their experiences or motivations for studying in Canada, participants frequently emphasized the appeal of practical opportunities over theoretical learning, often comparing this to the education they received in their home countries.

Reflecting on the lens of decoloniality within the discourses of international students, the coloniality of power becomes evident - referring to the global hierarchy where certain regions dominate others (Quijano, 2007). This is apparent in the preferred study destinations of international students, which tend to be Western countries like the UK, USA, Germany, Ireland, and Australia. The coloniality of knowledge, where Western knowledge traditions are prioritized (Stein, 2017), is reflected in both the choice of these destinations and the preference for English-language instruction, highlighting the dominance of English in international education. Additionally, the similarity in educational content and textbooks across countries, alongside global university rankings and the transferability of degrees, further exemplifies this coloniality. Ultimately, these factors lead to the coloniality of being, where international students are marginalized, and their contributions are often overlooked by society.

Scholarly Contributions:
This study highlights the diverse body of international students and emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing and developing comprehensive studies that move beyond marginalizing practices. It challenges the common portrayal of international students as objects of internationalization rather than as active subjects, recognizing their crucial role in international mobility. The study suggests that only by obtaining accurate insights into these experiences can we effectively create an environment that fosters equity and inclusivity.
This research stands out by applying a decolonial lens to the experiences of international students, a relatively novel approach. Traditionally, decolonial research has remained largely theoretical, with limited practical applications to lived experiences. Moreover, CDA has predominantly been used to analyze textual data, such as policy documents and websites. In contrast, this study employs CDA to systematically explore international students' perspectives, worldviews, and ideologies, offering a structured analytical method that holds value for future research.
In alignment with the CIES 2025 conference theme of "Envisioning Education in a Digital Society," this study contributes to the discourse by reimagining international education post-COVID, using a decolonial exploration of international students’ discourses on their experiences.



References
Grosfoguel, R. (2013). The structure of knowledge in westernized universities: Epistemic
racism/sexism and the four genocides/epistemicide of the long 16th century. Human
Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, 11(1), 73–90.

Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353

Parker, I. (1992). Discourse Dynamics Critical Analysis for Social and Individual Psychology.
Routledge. London.

Stein, S. (2017). Contested Imaginaries Of Global Justice In The Internationalization Of Higher
Education, UBC Dissertation.

Authors

• Ezgi Ozyonum, Concordia University Montreal, CANADA

• Tanja Tajmel, Concordia University (Montreal, CANADA)