Aiding International Students to Thrive in US Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter is a review of the literature concerning the individual factors that help international students thrive in their ‘host' countries. Convergent findings indicate that being independent, participating in extra-curricular activities, having self-efficacy, cultural empathy, maintaining relations, and being open-minded are the most significant individual factors related to the adjustment of international students. However, in this study on Asian Indian international students, four unexplored factors, namely, being polite, professionalism, showing gratitude, and thinking positively, were also found crucial in cross-cultural adjustment. Such a finding warrants identification of hypothetical connections that are informative, but empirically unexplored. Based on a synthesis of current literature, the author presents the novel hypothesis that being polite, professional, showing gratitude, and thinking positively all facilitate the general international student population to thrive in the host countries. The objective of this review is to provide relevant resource material to international student counselors and university administrators to help international students succeed during their time abroad.

Diversity approaches matter in international classrooms: how a multicultural approach buffers against cultural misunderstandings and encourages inclusion and psychological safety

“…As such, the current study puts forward a novel model to understand why these psychological costs occur in international classrooms: When students do not feel understood in social interactions and/or encounter mismatches in expectations about studying, they may more easily feel that they do not belong at university and cannot be themselves, as well as may be much more hesitant to ask questions and perform other behaviors that may pose a 'risk' to their (socio-cultural, ethnic) identity. At the same time, this model may help explain why some individual level factors such as cultural empathy (Chennamsetti 2020), cultural intelligence (Presbitero 2016), and country of origin (Rienties et al 2014) help students thrive in international classroomsthey all prevent or mitigate cultural misunderstandings.…”

The impact of diversity experiences and innovative learning environments on the personal development of international students studying in China

“…Research has found that a range of personal, linguistic, professional, academic, cultural and social elements play a significant role in their professional identity formation and preparation for the labour market (Borisenkov et al, 2020;Yao, 2021). The authors note the importance of a well-designed overseas research experience to advance intercultural, intellectual, personal, professional and academic development (Schneider et al, 2023), and this is reinforced by work that underscores the importance of individual characteristics for foreign students' adjustment and success including independence, extracurricular activity involvement, self-efficacy, cultural empathy, maintaining relationships and open-mindedness (Chennamsetti, 2020).…”

Challenges Faced by Indian International Students in the US

“…The absence of social support increases feelings of hopelessness and stress (e.g., Leong, 2015). Acculturative literature reported that students' personality, such as extroversion, introversion, self-esteem, positive or negative thoughts, all impact their ability to establish new friendships and predict the sociocultural adjustment (Chennamsetti, 2020;Chennamsetti & Bista, 2019;Jackson et al, 2013). Also, students' ability to communicate effectively in the host language predicts their ability to make friends in the host country (e.g., Mahmood & Burke, 2018).…”