Page 90 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

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Chapter 4
institutional dimensions. Benckendorff, Ruhanen, & Scott (2009) posit that the factors found in the literature that appear to influence the student experience can be grouped broadly into four dimensions: institutional, student, sector-wide, and external. The ISB instrument captures only the first dimension comprehensively. Furthermore, the fact that the survey is intended for student feedback rather than research purposes reduces the validity of the responses as well as content analysis of comments (Cohen et al., 2011). Comment sentiment may have been mostly negative in part because students were being prompted for feedback which they hoped would be acted upon and used to make improvements.
This study opens pathways for several areas of future inquiry. For example, what role does cultural distance play in international student satisfaction, and does it help explain the apparent difference in satisfaction? It would be intriguing to compare data from new IBCs to mature ones, as this might shed light on what factors lead to long term success. Finally, the effect of COVID-19 on international student decision-making and experience must be explored. A “push-pull” perspective of study abroad highlights the notion that certain factors “push” a student away from their home country to seek study abroad, and other factors “pull” the student toward certain universities and countries (Altbach, 2004; Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). These push-pull factors may change as a result of this global pandemic, and would be worth exploring in the context of international branch campuses.
Overall, this study suggests that universities must carefully consider and prioritize the academic experience of both their domestic and international students to ensure their satisfaction. The ever-changing landscape of transnational higher education attracts a mix of students—international and domestic alike—that share in their desire to know what academic experience is in store for them. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing uncertainties will likely heighten the need to provide an academic experience at IBCs that is carefully designed and thoughtfully controlled by the university.