Page 13 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

Understanding the experiences of international students is critical due to the important benefits they bring to their fellow students, the institutions in which they are enrolled, and even the nations in which they study. This research aims to identify and understand some of the factors that influence the experiences of international students. The focus is to explore the factors that shape their experiences both inside and outside the classroom, from which the research questions and resulting studies in this dissertation arise. The central research question is, “What factors influence the experiences of international students and how do they influence them"?
Research on international students requires a definition of the group to which the term refers. In this research, international students are defined as "those who left their country of origin and moved to another country for the purpose of study" (OECD, 2021). Some institutions and organizations, including the OECD and UNESCO, use the term “international student” to refer to students who cross borders for study purposes and the term “foreign student” to refer to students who are enrolled in an educational institution outside their home country but who have not necessarily crossed a border for study purposes (Clark, 2009). For example, a student with Malaysian citizenship enrolled in a university in Australia would be considered an international student if they came directly from Malaysia to enroll in the university, or a foreign student if they were already living in Australia before enrolling because their parents were employed there. However, not all institutions make this distinction when collecting data on students. There is no universal standard for what an ‘international student’ is or how to count them (Clark, 2009). The different definitions and methods of data collection can sometimes make measuring and comparing international student mobility difficult, inaccurate, and/or misleading.
Understanding the factors that drive international student enrollment is critical to gaining insight into their motivations, expectations, and experiences. The drivers of international mobility are often conceptualized as ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors (Altbach, 2004; Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002; Li & Bray, 2007; Wilkins & Huisman, 2011). Push factors
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General Introduction
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