The impact of ethnicity on the sociocultural adjustment of international students in Thai higher education
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The impact of ethnicity on the sociocultural adjustment of international students in Thai higher education Douglas Rhein1 · William Jones1 Received: 29 April 2019 / Accepted: 8 April 2020 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
Abstract International tertiary student mobility will continue to rise as governments and universities support diversity in education and prioritize international experience. With this mind, it should be a priority to study the impacts and impediments of student adjustment in their chosen countries. The authors advance a line of inquiry, which seeks to explore personal experiences of four distinct groups of tertiary students and identify the positives, and in particular the negative aspects of their study abroad experience. The central argument which heretofore has been understudied is that student ethnicity and incompatibility of ethnic group identities and their expressions mark the central feature inhibiting student adjustment within the Thai context. Keywords Thai higher education · Internationalization · Student adjustment · Habitus
1 Introduction Academic studies of international student adjustment have been a prominent area of crosscultural educational research since the 1950s (Smith and Khawaja 2011). Due to the increased effects of globalization on higher education, it has become apparent that international student mobility has also increased. This has led to greater empirical attention of the adjustment or acculturation experiences of international students (Wang et al. 2012). The USA is the largest host nation for international students with approximately 20% of the total international student enrollment (Andrade and Evans 2009) while China continues to be the largest exporter of international students (Gu 2009). An increasing number of Western students who are attracted to educational opportunities in Asia are now challenging this Western dominant flow, and this has led to a rise in the number of international students coming to Asia for study abroad experiences (Lin and Kingminghae 2014). For example, Lavakare predicts that India is likely to be an educational center for international students in Asia (Lavakare 2018). Yet studies
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Douglas Rhein [email protected] William Jones [email protected]
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Mahidol University International College, Salaya, Thailand
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D. Rhein, W. Jones
on the international student adjustment to India are rare (Amblee 2018). India is not alone in these phenomena whereby there is a steady increase in the number of international students yet limited empirical data on the quality of their experiences be they academic, social or cultural. Many non-native English-speaking countries have begun the process of creating programs and policies to attract students outside of their home markets (Hu et al. (2014). For the purposes of clarity, the authors define “international programs” as universities in Thailand which offer both professional certifications, short-term study academic certification and traditional academic degrees taught in the E
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