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RECONSIDERING GRADUATE STUDENT INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE: FROM A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Jiro Takai, PhDDepartment of Educational PsychologyNagoya University
Exemplary statistics of international graduate students in advanced countries In the United States:
15% of all grad students are international (temporary residents)
242,061 in number (2009) More men (58.9%) than women (41.1%) Dominantly majoring in Science, Engineering,
Technology fields About half of all grad students in Engineering, and
Mathematics/Computer Science are international International students require 7.5 median years to
a PhD, compared to 7.7 for US citizens/permanent residents
US graduate students by gender and ethnic group 2009 (Council of Graduate Schools, 2010)
Other
Temporary Residents
White
Hispanic/Latino
Black/African Am
Asian/Pac Islander
Am Indian/Alaskan Nat
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
MenWomen
US graduate students by field and residential category 2009 (Council of Graduate Schools, 2010)
Other
Soc/Behav Sci
Public Admin
Phys/Earth Sci
Math/Comp Sci
Health Sci
Engineering
Business
Biol/Agric Sci
Arts/Humanities
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
US citzn/perm resTemporary res
Synopsis
International graduate students tend to concentrate in the applied sciences
They waste little time in degree attainment, perhaps because they cannot afford to
The hardships of the international graduate student
Graduate students are placed in a highly stressful climate in which they must compete for resources amongst their peers, be it scholarships, research funding, assistantship positions, and even time they receive from their faculty advisor.
Given such a climate, graduate students have less time and energy to allot to befriending international students, as compared to undergraduates.
Graduate student
Undergraduate student
International graduate student needs
International students have special needs to be met, above and beyond those of ordinary graduate students. These include academic, financial, living, social, and identity needs.
They also have needs not shared with their undergraduate counterparts
Academic needs Language and communication Learning how to learn
Learning styles may not be congruent with what courses offer
Tutoring needs in area of major International students may not be coming in
with the necessary theoretical and methodological foundations
Faculty guidance Academic writing needs
Writing research reports and manuscripts in the particular language of education
Financial needs
Some typical tuition rates for 2011 U of Oxford $22,000 US U of Tokyo $9,200 US first year UCLA $34,000 U of Adelaide $26,000
Living costs Can run another $1500 or more a month in
most advanced nations The same financial concerns are shared
with local graduate students, but perhaps to a lesser extent with lower tuition rates
Social needs
Social adjustment needs Cross-cultural adjustment (culture shock) Role adjustment (role shock)
Social support needs (House, 1981) Emotional support Appraisal support Informational support Instrumental support
Matching hypothesis of social support (Cutrona, 1990) says the right kind of support is needed from the right kind of supporter International students need support from hosts and
compatriots matching their needs
International student social support needs and desired source at Time=0mos. (Takai, 1994)
Emotional Companionship Academic Instrumental0
10
20
30
40
50
60 CompatriotOther interna-tionalHost
Data based on international students in Japan within 1 month of start of studies. Fig-ures are per-centage of sample choos-ing the support source as the most important source
International student social support needs
and desired source at Time=12mos. (Takai, 1994)
Emot
iona
l
Compa
nion
ship
Acad
emic
Inst
rum
enta
l0
10
20
30
40
50
60Compatriot
Other interna-tional
Data based on international students in Japan within 12 months of start of studies. Figures are percentage of sample choosing the support source as the most important source
Identity needs
Maintaining individual identity Self-concept formation, self-esteem
issues Maintaining cultural identity
Integrating own culture identity with identity as a resident of the host culture
Maintaining cultural identity: Berry’s (1997) typology of acculturation
INTEGRATION SEGREGATION
ASSIMILATION MARGINALIZATION
Is it important to maintain good relations with hosts?
NO
YES NOYE
S
Is it
import
ant
to m
ain
tain
ow
n
cult
ura
l id
enti
ty?
The issue
What social, cultural, institutional, and interpersonal forces might be there which may impede the international student from attaining his/her goals and needs?
Factors hindering academic need fulfillment
Competition amongst grad students for faculty attention and time
Communication (in)competence Adjustment to a different learning
culture Academic writing deficiencies Lack of theoretical and
methodological foundations for conducting research
Factors hindering financial need fulfillment
Scholarships and fellowships may be exclusive to nationals
Currency fluctuations Lack of language ability to serve as
teaching assistants Competition amongst grad students
for very limited resources
Factors hindering social need fulfillment
Lack of time to build interpersonal relationships, hence social support networks, especially host networks
Reliance on existing home networks for support, thanks to internet technology (Skype, online chat, e-mail) These are cyber relationships, not face-to-face
Fellow graduate students are not interested in socializing, unlike the undergraduate level
Overall, social support acquisition may pose a burden, and international grad students may likely turn to existing home networks, or to internet to meet support needs
Factors hindering identity need fulfillment
If host supporters are not required, there is little need to place importance on learning and respecting the host culture, so compatriots and home networks become the most important support providers = segregation
Adjustment to the cultural, social, and institutional environment may induce psychological overburden, hence identity issues = marginalization
In most cases, graduate school life leaves little spare time for cultural and social exchange
The result of needs being unfulfilled
The stress from attempting to fulfill academic needs, combined with the lack of time for social needs to be addressed, and furthermore, the air of competition for securing financial resources may hamper positive intercultural interaction between host and international students
Subsequently, both hosts and internationals may increasingly become aware of the “us” versus “them” distinction, which we call the ingroup/outgroup distinction
This has implications toward identity needs, i.e. social and individual identities
Would these graduate students be able to mingle and support each other?
Social Identity Theory (SIT: Tajfel and Turner, 1979)
Social psychological theory forwarded by to explain intergroup conflict
We have both inclusion and differentiation needs, hence see ourselves in terms of group membership in social categories
Those in our group are the ingroup (“us”), those who are not are the outgroup (“them”): this functions to clarify our identity, and serve our identity needs
We gain our self-esteem depending on how our ingroup is evaluated, so we like to keep our ingroup superior to the outgroup
Because of this, we favor our ingroup while we disrespect the outgroup
Intergroup contact hypothesis
Social psychologists have delineated some specific conditions on which ingroup-outgroup contact can become constructive, and hence, successful
For example, Allport (1954) claims that equal-group status within the contact situation, common goals, intergroup cooperation, and institutional support are the antecedents to successful exchange
Amir (1976) suggested the additional conditions of voluntary participation, and intimacy of the contact
Applying SIT principles to international graduate education
Universities, or individual departments within universities, must therefore, concern themselves on how they can structure the interaction between host and international students such that the goal of international educational exchange can be realized at the micro-level
Some international education models based on SIT and contact theory tenets will be proposed
The solution: Get rid of categories
If international students see themselves differently from the hosts, and vice versa, we have intergroup contact, and they won’t be able to see each other beyond their social categories
The two groups perceive one another as competing for limited resources, and cooperation will not likely materialize
One way around this is to emphasize the fact that they are all fellow grad students, having membership in a single, mutual category
We need to induce recategorization, decategorization, or subcategorization
Decategorization model
Person-based contact as opposed to category-based
If grad students can become unaware of the categories of international and host, this can be actualized
Decategorization can be institutionally induced by increasing personal level contact between students, through collaborative projects, parties and other informal social gatherings, study groups
Decategorization model
International
Student
Host Student
International Student
Host Student
Recategorization model
Create a common-identity, superordinate group that subsumes both international and hosts
No need to deny the existence of these categories, but make students aware they are part of a larger, more important category
Emphasizing the laboratory, or the department that the students belong to should do the trick
Accentuate the notion of teamwork Students gain a common, more salient
membership within a group consisting of mutually compatible goals, and their ethnicity or nationality becomes unimportant
Recategorization model
International
Student
Host Student
Graduate Student
Inter-nation
al
Inter-nation
al
Inter-nation
al
Host
Host
Host
Subcategorization model
Respective category identities remain salient, but structuring the nature of their relationship in a manner such as to foster collaboration and cooperation is induced
Without the presence of the other group, nobody can realize any goals
Mutual interests, and dependence in pursuing them bring groups together, but if one party does not live up to the expectations of the other, this can seriously backfire
Subcategorization model
International
Student
Host Student
International
Student
Host Student
Institutionally managing positive contact and category awareness The air of competition may hamper positive
intercultural interaction between host and international students, and they may increasingly become aware of the “us” versus “them” distinction
Managing the level of awareness of the classes of students is often overlooked, and this can lead to unpleasant experiences on both international, and host students
Of course, this is easy to say, but when it comes down to doing it, it’s another story
Some suggestions
Increase personal level contact between international and hosts (including graduate students and faculty) Hold parties and get-togethers Encourage collaborative research Launch some group projects Induce “buddy systems” or tutoring systems
“International residences” should be just that, having host students live with internationals rather than being exclusive quarters for the latter
Grants and fellowship not toward individuals, but to host/international constituted groups
Conclusion
In this presentation, reference to social psychological theories of intergroup contact were made in offering some models of international exchange at the graduate student level
What can be done, at what level remains to be seen, but the scope of this presentation is to give food to thought
Reference
Berry, J.W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 5-34.
Council of Graduate Schools (2010). Graduate enrollment and degrees: 1999 to 2009. Retrieved 2010/09/25 http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/R_ED2009.pdf
Council of Graduate Schools (2010). Research report: Time to degree for doctorate recipients. Retrieved 2010/09/25 http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/DataSources_2010_03.pdf
Cutrona, C. E. (1990). Stress and social support – In search of optimal matching. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, 3–14.
House, J.S. (1981). Work, stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole .
Takai, J. (1994). Host contact and cross-cultural adjustment of international students in Japan. Intercultural/Transcultural Education: Bulletin of Intercultural Education Society of Japan, 8, 106-116. (In Japanese)