International Students’ Social Network: Network Mapping to Gauge Friendship Formation and Student Engagement on Campus

Abstract

Addressing the importance of international student engagement on campus and creating friendships with host-country nationals during their time abroad, this small-scale study explores the question of, “Are there trends in how or through what means international students are making connections with co-national, multi-national, or host-national students?” Semistructured, qualitative interviews, data collection, social network analysis and a data-representative social network diagram were used to explore this question. Understanding these trends can help with developing student programming that encourages friendship making, cross-cultural workshops, or even provide the foundation and reasoning to strengthen support systems for international students.