Interrogating Whiteness in International Student Success: A Systematic Literature Review

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Historical, Methodological, & Epistemological Perspectives of International Mobility

Proposal

Purpose
Although higher education internationalization is often framed as positive, critical scholars have highlighted its role in reinforcing colonial vestiges through globalized racism and white supremacy (Stein & McCartney, 2021). For example, within the United States, where most international students are racialized as students of Color, scholarship has examined international students’ racialized experiences, including neo-racist discrimination and racial positioning (Fries-Britt et al., 2014; Squire et al., 2024; Yao et al., 2019). While this work remains essential, other mechanisms of racism and whiteness impacting international students of Color continue to be under-researched.
One such area is the conceptualizations of student success. Definitions of success have been critiqued for perpetuating white supremacy (Weatherton & Schussler, 2021), and research shows neo-racist attitudes of academic advisors undermine international student success (Squire et al., 2024). Given these critiques, the purpose of this study is to examine constructions of race, racism, and whiteness within international student success scholarship. The following questions guide our study:
· How is the issue of race and racism, if at all, addressed within U.S.-based international students’ success literature?
· How is whiteness, if at all, reinforced in the conceptualization of international student success?

Framework
We frame our study via Yeo’s (2023) International Student Critical Race Theory (IntlCrit) and Matias and Boucher's (2023) conceptualization of whiteness. IntlCrit highlights how racialization and racism shape experiences of international students of Color in U.S. higher education, building on Critical Race Theory, which emphasizes racism as an endemic feature of U.S. society (Crenshaw, 1988; Matsuda et al., 1993; Tate, 1997). From IntlCrit, we use two tenets: (a) recognizing and humanizing international students of Color as racial bodies, and (b) challenging color-evasiveness and meritocracy in the internationalization of higher education (Yeo, 2023). These tenets help analyze how international students are racialized, how race/racism appear in the literature, and whether/how the literature is presented as race-neutral and color-evasive. To interrogate definitions of “success,” we use Matias and Boucher’s (2023) framing of whiteness as a social construction embedded in culture, ideology, and practices. Their emphasis on how people of Color “suffer whiteness” (p. 65) aligns with IntlCrit and informs our critique of student success as a construct tied to white supremacy (Weatherton & Schussler, 2021).

Methods
We use a systematic integrative review to analyze and synthesize scholarship of various methods, frameworks, and aims (Torraco, 2005, 2016; Whittemore & Knafl, 2005). We chose Whittemore and Knafl’s (2005) five-step process for integration: problem identification, literature search, evaluation, data analysis, and presentation.
We first engaged problem identification, as presented in the Purpose section of this proposal (e.g., research questions and rationale). For the second and third steps, we used the bibliometric databases ProQuest (Education and Sociological Abstracts), Directory of Open Access, and EBSCO (ERIC, Education Research Complete, APA PsycINFO). We searched each database for: [“international student*” AND “student success”], selecting manuscripts published between 2014 to 2024. We excluded conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, news media, whole books, and book reviews. We retrieved 797 manuscripts. We reviewed each manuscript’s title, removing 183 manuscripts with titles reflecting (1) higher education in countries outside of the United States AND/OR (2) levels of education outside of postsecondary education. Next, we reviewed abstracts to ensure that each manuscript centered international students and U.S. higher education. Finally, we completed an evaluation of the remaining manuscripts, resulting in a final set of 180 manuscripts.
We analyzed the 82 manuscripts that explicitly used the terms “race,” “racial,” or “racism.” Using a shared template, team members documented how each term appeared with supporting evidence. We then conducted a thematic analysis across these manuscripts. While this proposal highlights the findings on race and racism (research question #1), the full study will also include our analysis of the entire set of 180 manuscripts for constructions of whiteness (research question #2).

Findings
Given space limitations, we focus on findings responsive to the first research question (see above). Note that there was a major “textual silence” (Huckin, 2002) in the literature, as only 82 of 180 reviewed manuscripts included the words race, racial, or racism/racist.
“Race” appeared both as an analytic construct and as a demographic variable. Some studies explicitly used frameworks like CRT or AsianCrit to position race as central to understanding racism and resilience (Liu et al., 2022; Xie & Xu, 2024). Others examined how international students of Color negotiated U.S. racial dynamics (Yao et al., 2023) or how racial identity shaped belonging and relationships (Rahming, 2019; Marijanović et al., 2021). Some scholarship reduced race to a survey descriptor or statistical control (Nguyen, 2016; Katsumoto & Bowman, 2023), flattening its structural significance.
The term “racial” was used in 14 manuscripts to describe U.S. higher education contexts (e.g., campus racial climate). For instance, Yao et al. (2023) observed that “today’s international students have needed to navigate and make sense of the increased visibility of politics and racial dynamics on US campuses” (p. 79). “Racial” is used in 25 manuscripts to denote negative experiences such as microaggressions, stereotyping, or hate. Yet, labeling incidents as “racial” rather than “racist” can minimize the actions and their impact.
Eighteen manuscripts discussed “racism,” often as a structural issue. Spencer (2021), for example, argued “that gendered racism is also deeply embedded within the institutional fabric of biology undergraduate degree programs” (p. 73). About 10 manuscripts included both “racism” and “racist.” While most framed racism as something international students experienced, some scholars highlighted international students’ agency in responding to racism (Liu et al., 2022).

Significance
Our findings reveal a pattern of silence, depoliticization, minimization, and deficit perpetuation within international student success scholarship. However, findings also highlight that some scholars are deeply engaging issues of race and racism. Our analysis of international student success scholarship supports scholars and practitioners in critically reflecting on systemic injustice related to race and racism. In an increasingly divided world, attempts at social cohesion need to be rooted in understanding current wrongdoings and injustices. By challenging dominant conceptualizations of student success rooted in whiteness, our study re-examines the transformative potential of education.

Authors

• Amanda Corso, George Mason University

• Eunjin Han, George Mason University

• Chrystal A. George Mwangi, George Mason University