Page 70 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience
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Chapter 3
groups of students. For example, might the reputation of a university not have a greater attractive effect for postgraduate students and shape their satisfaction accordingly?
Response bias is prevalent in surveys using self-report. With international students, many of whom do not speak English as a native language, interpretations of questions may vary. Some research has suggested that variation in response styles can be partially attributed to specific cultural traits including individualism and collectivism and power distance (Harzing, 2006; Johnson et al, 2005), as well as gender (Meisenberg & Williams, 2008). Additionally, a students’ propensity to answer the survey, which is optional, would be influenced by their own characteristics, satisfaction, level of engagement with the university, and gender—it is notable that the study sample included 58% female students and 42% male students. Trust in the confidentiality of individual survey responses would also be a source of bias. Students who have either very high or very low satisfaction may be more likely to comment on the survey than students who are neutral.
It is worth noting that satisfaction with the learning experience was not influenced by any of the variables included in the study. This deepens the desire to identify what factors influence satisfaction with the learning experience, if not the ones in this study. Previous research has lent support to the notion that a university’s learning environment plays a key role in facilitating interaction between home and international students and promoting social adjustment (Leask, 2009; Westwood & Barker, 1990). Exploring which pedagogical practices and learning environments are conducive to a positive learning experience would be a relevant path to explore.
Finally, results suggest that additional variables—which were not included in the study—would be prudent to explore. For example, while the finding that living satisfaction is influenced by the proportion of international students is intriguing, the small effect suggests that other factors which were not considered in this study also contribute to living satisfaction, i.e., type or cost of student accommodation.





























































































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