Reflections of Turkish International Graduate Students: Studies on Life at a U.S. Midwestern University
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Reflections of Turkish International Graduate Students: Studies on Life at a U.S. Midwestern University Jessica Reno Burkholder
Published online: 30 April 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract A modified version of Moustakas’ (1994) method of analyzing phenomenological data was used to illuminate how full-time, single, Turkish international graduate students conceptualized their experiences as international students. The participants detailed common and salient aspects of their experience: personal growth, decisions regarding participation in the Turkish community, interaction with Americans, future career opportunities, loss of time with family and significant others, the importance of English language skills, and the significance of Turkey’s political history. Implications of the study are specifically applied to the practice of university administration, counselors and counselor educators. Keywords International students . Turkey . Phenomenological analysis
Introduction In 2011, over 690,000 international students chose to study in institutions of higher education in the United States (Institute for International Education 2011). Turkey ranked tenth in place of origin with 12,184 students, being one of only four non-Asian countries in the top 10, and holding the top European position (Institute for International Education 2011). The demand for higher education in Turkey is great; far beyond what local universities can accommodate. Beginning in 1993, the Turkish government responded to this demand by sponsoring a program to create 23 new state universities to add to the then existing 29 universities (Matthews 2007; Seferŏglu 2001). Through this program, Turkey sponsored 7,000 students to pursue graduate studies in the United States to provide faculty for these universities. Notwithstanding small fluctuations, the number of Turkish international students in the United States has continued to increase (Institute for International Education 2011), regardless of Turkish government support. Despite this scenario, few studies exist that examine the experiences of Turkish international graduate students. This qualitative study contributes uniquely to the literature by providing a rich description of Turkish international graduate students’ This manuscript is adapted from the author’s doctoral dissertation. J. R. Burkholder (*) Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Int J Adv Counselling (2014) 36:43–57
experiences. It adds to previous quantitative studies on Turkish students’ adjustment experience (Bektaş et al. 2009; Duru and Poyrazli 2007; Kilinc and Granello 2003) by illuminating the “why” behind their findings. Often representing the best educated of their home country (Mori 2000), international students bring many benefits to the campuses where they study (Lee and Rice 2007). International students typically have distinct strengths, including bilingualism, a bicultural openness, and diverse cultural backgrounds (Yoon and Portman 2004) that benef
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