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

Thanks for your attention!

Address inquiries to:Jiro Takai

Nagoya Universityjtakai@cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

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)