Understanding international student experiences and complexities

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday IV)

Group Submission Type: Refereed Round-Table Session

Proposal

International students move for survival, for opportunity, and for learning depending on push and pull factors of mobility in higher education. Whether we call it “study abroad” or “overseas study”, students are constantly pursuing their dreams of studying in a foreign country—because of its culture, or a scholarship or a relationship. International students and scholars are real people with real life experiences that encounter issues and challenges while staying and studying in another country whether they are of Asian or European, African or American origins. The journey of international students is riddled with a spectrum of both positive and negative experiences (some of them life changing and transformational). The international student population is not a single, uniform group rather it is heterogeneous by nature and that requires a greater nuance in service delivery and a comprehensive approach towards diversity and socio-cultural inclusion (Jones, 2017). Thus, for any institution of higher learning that attracts international students, it is important to understand these experiences so that they are better able to serve the international student population. Some fundamental questions to understand are: What does it mean to be an international student? What are international students’ social, emotional, and academic experiences? What constitutes their successful stories of social and academic transition? What are their post-study experiences at home or abroad?

This session collectively answers the above questions within three thematic areas of scholarship about international student experiences—social identities, academic experiences, and personal experiences. Each presentation explores unique issues and experiences of international students from multiple perspectives.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Study Abroad and International Students (SAIS)

Individual Presentations

• International students’ experiences developing leadership capacity on host campuses - David Hoa Khoa Nguyen, IUPUI

• Headbump or Headway? American Students' Engagement with their International Peers on Campus - Uttam Gaulee, Morgan State University.; Benjamin Welsh, Morgan State University

Discussants

• Krishna Bista, Morgan State University

• Chris R. Glass, Old Dominion University