The Lived Experience of Internationally Mobile Students
A Longitudinal Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/xcsqf896Keywords:
hermeneutic phenomenology, international student mobility, U.S. higher educationAbstract
In response to calls for more individualized research on international student mobility (ISM), this article reports on a hermeneutic phenomenological study into the lived experience of two participants, one from Inner Mongolia and one from Ecuador, who migrated internationally for higher education. Within a constructivist epistemological framework, this study reveals how these participants describe and interpret their international mobility experience across four semi-structured interviews over a ten-year period. Four key themes were identified through interpretive data analysis: (1) study abroad as self-initiated and self-fulfilling; (2) key moments shaping the experience (10-year lens); (3) self-actualization via international student mobility; and (4) complex perceptions relating to “home.” A key contribution of this research is substantiating how individuals display agency within the context of ISM, both in their practical responses to circumstances and in their growing sense of self-actualization.
References
Altbach, P. G., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3-4), 290-305. https://doi-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1177/1028315307303542
Andrade, M. S. (2006). International students in English-speaking universities: Adjustment factors. Journal of Research in International Education, 5(2), 131-154. https://doi-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1177/1475240906065589
Bista, K., Allen, R. M., & Chan, R. Y. (Eds.). (2022). Impacts of COVID-19 on international students and the future of student mobility: international perspectives and experiences. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003138402
Brunsting, N. C., Zachry, C., & Takeuchi, R. (2018). Predictors of undergraduate international student psychosocial adjustment to US universities: A systematic review from 2009-2018. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 66, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2018.06.002
Choudaha, R. (2017). Three waves of international student mobility (1999-2020). Studies in Higher Education (Dorchester-on-Thames), 42(5), 825–832. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293872
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (Fourth edition.). SAGE.
Crumley-Effinger, M. (2023). ISM policy pervasion: Visas, study permits, and the international student experience. Journal of International Students, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v14i1.5347
Deuchar, A. (2022). The problem with international students’ ‘experiences’ and the promise of their practices: Reanimating research about international students in higher education. British Educational Research Journal, 48(3), 504–518. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3779
Fakunle, O. (2021). Developing a framework for international students’ rationales for studying abroad, beyond economic factors. Policy Futures in Education, 19(6), 671–690. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210320965066
Gutema, D. M., Pant, S., & Nikou, S. (2023). Exploring key themes and trends in international student mobility research—a systematic literature review. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, (ahead-of-print).
Inouye, K., Lee, S., & Oldac, Y. I. (2023). A systematic review of student agency in international higher education. Higher Education, 86(4), 891–911. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00952-3
Koo, K. K., Baker, I., & Yoon, J. (2021). The first-year acculturation: A longitudinal study on acculturative stress and adjustment among the first-year international college students. Journal of International Students, 11(2), 278–298. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v11i2.1726
Lo, W. Y. W. (2019). Beyond competition: A comparative review of conceptual approaches to international student mobility. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 17(3), 261–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2018.1525283
Marginson, S. (2014). Student self-formation in international education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313513036
Marginson, S. (2023). Student self-formation: An emerging paradigm in higher education. Studies in Higher Education (Dorchester-on-Thames), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2252826
Mazzarol, T., & Soutar, G. N. (2002). “Push-pull” factors influencing international student destination choice. International Journal of Educational Management, 16(2), 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540210418403
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. Jossey-Bass.
Oldac, Y.I. (2023). International student mobility: The need for a more agential approach. Journal of International Students, 13(3), i–viii. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v13i3.6098
Page, A. G., & Chahboun, S. (2019). Emerging empowerment of international students: How international student literature has shifted to include the students’ voices. Higher Education, 78(5), 871–885. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00375-7
Shkoler, O., & Rabenu, E. (2023). The motivations and their conditions which drive students to seek higher education in a foreign country. Current Psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 42(29), 25403–25416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03619-5
Siczek, M. (2018). International students in first-year writing: A journey through socio-academic space. University of Michigan Press.
Smith, R. A., & Khawaja, N. G. (2011). A review of the acculturation experiences of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(6), 699–713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004
Sullivan, C., & Kashubeck-West, S. (2015). The interplay of international students’ scculturative stress, social support, and acculturation modes. Journal of International Students, 5(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v5i1.438
Tran, L. T. (2016). Mobility as “becoming”: A Bourdieuian analysis of the factors shaping international student mobility. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(8), 1268–1289. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2015.1044070
Tran, L. T., & Vu, T. T. P. (2018). “Agency in mobility”: Towards a conceptualisation of international student agency in transnational mobility. Educational Review (Birmingham), 70(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2017.1293615
Van Manen, M. (2016). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Routledge.
Verbik, L., & Lasanowski, V. (2007). International student mobility: Patterns and trends. World Education News and Reviews, 20(10), 1-16.
Zhang, J., & Goodson, P. (2011). Predictors of international students’ psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States: A systematic review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(2), 139–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.11.011
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The findings, interpretations, conclusions, and views expressed in Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education (JCIHE) are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to CIES, HESIG, or the sponsoring universities of the Editorial Staff. These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute articles that appear in JCIHE as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and JCIHE, it is distributed for non-commercial purposes only, and no alteration or transformation is made in the work. All other uses must be approved by the author(s) or JCIHE. By submitting a manuscript, authors agree to transfer without charge the following rights to JCIHE upon acceptance of the manuscript: first worldwide serial publication rights and the right for JCIHE to grant permissions as its editors judge appropriate for the redistribution of the article, its abstract, and metadata associated with the article in professional indexing and reference services.
