scholarly journals Exploring the Role of the Student Affairs Office in Enhancing the Cultural and Social Experiences of International Students in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-152
Author(s):  
Robert Lucas Kaniki ◽  
Hilda Lukas Kaniki

Many universities are hosting and enrolling international students as an important aspect of their internationalisation mission of higher education. However, many international students experienced significant problems adjusting into a host culture and social milieu. Informing this qualitative study were 45 international students in a top-tier comprehensive research university in Southeast China. The study focuses on the experience of international students towards the role played by international Fu Da Yuans (Counsellors) in enhancing the students’ cultural and social experiences at the university. The results indicate that the four most significant adjustment issues for international students are the language challenges, social interaction with Chinese students, cultural orientation programmes, and counselling services for international students. Building on the U-Curve adjustment theory (Oberg, 1960), the study revealed the importance of international Fu Da Yuans to provide cultural and social support to international students for easy adjustment into a new culture and social setting. The study bears practical implications to providing international Fu Da Yuans with important insights that can help to create an environment conducive to enhancing the cultural and social experiences of international students.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Ridley

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of Muslim women in economic activities. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a historical account on the important role played by Muslim women in business and governance during the Islamic formative years. Findings – While women in the West still struggle with the rights to equal position and pay till today, Islamic teaching provides Muslim women with the rights to earn and spend as they wished as well as selected to lead economic activities based on their personal merit and wisdom. Practical implications – The paper highlights that Islamic Sharia does not discriminate Muslim women economically nor socially as often portrayed in the Western media. Islam outlines the specific rights and obligations of men and women to ensure development of a healthy society. Social implications – Society should appreciate that Islamic Sharia work out favourably for women. They are trusted to lead based on their own merit and wisdom and not for their beauty. Originality/value – This is a keynote speech delivered at the Islamic Perspective of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Management (IPAFEM) 2015 conference: 7th-9th April, Adam Smith Business School, The University of Glasgow – on the economic role played by early Muslim women.


2021 ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Christelle HOPPE

This article presents the highlights of the learning experience within the teaching-learning scheme of French as an additional language as it was proposed to international students at the university to ensure pedagogical continuity during the health crisis between April and June 2020. Through vignettes that give an overview of the course, it proposes, on the one hand, to reflect on the pedagogical choices that were made in order to measure their effects effectively. On the other hand, it looks at the role of the tasks and the way in which they stimulate interaction, articulate or organise the cognitive, conative and socio-affective presence at a distance in this particular context. What emerges from the experience is that the flexible articulation of a set of tasks creates an organising framework that helps learners to shape their own curriculum while supporting their engagement. Overall, the pedagogical organisation of the device has led to potentially beneficial creative and socio-interactive use.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesare Amatulli ◽  
Matteo De Angelis ◽  
Giovanni Pino ◽  
Sheetal Jain

PurposeThis paper investigates why and when messages regarding unsustainable luxury products lead to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) through a focus on the role of guilt, need to warn others and consumers' cultural orientation.Design/methodology/approachThree experiments test whether messages describing unsustainable versus sustainable luxury manufacturing processes elicit guilt and a need to warn others and whether and how the need to warn others affects consumers' NWOM depending on their cultural orientation.FindingsConsumers experience guilt in response to messages emphasizing the unsustainable (vs sustainable) nature of luxury products. In turn, guilt triggers a need to warn other consumers, which leads to NWOM about the luxury company. Furthermore, the results suggest that two dimensions of Hofstede's model of national culture – namely individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity – moderate the effect of the need to warn others on NWOM.Practical implicationsLuxury managers should design appropriate strategies to cope with consumers' different reactions to information regarding luxury brands' unsustainability. Managers should be aware that the risk of NWOM diffusion may be higher in countries characterized by a collectivistic and feminine orientation rather than an individualistic and masculine orientation.Originality/valueConsumer reaction to unsustainable luxury, especially across different cultural groups, is a neglected area of investigation. This work contributes to this novel area of research by investigating NWOM stemming from unsustainable luxury manufacturing practices in different cultural contexts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
Anke Li ◽  
Chi Nguyen ◽  
Jinhee Choi

This ethnographic study examines how participation in a Christian church community shapes Chinese international undergraduate students’ social experiences in an American university. Our findings reveal that Chinese international undergraduate students identify the church and its fellowship as (1) a social support community and (2) an informal learning community, one which fills in the gap in counseling services and interpersonal activities that the university fails to offer. Recommendations are made for higher education institutions to provide stronger support for international students, regardless of their nationalities and religions.


Author(s):  
Chiara Rinaldi ◽  
Alessio Cavicchi ◽  
Francesca Spigarelli ◽  
Luigi Lacchè ◽  
Arthur Rubens

Purpose The paper analyses the emerging role of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) universities in contemporary society via third- and fourth-mission activities. In particular, the paper investigates the potential contributions that SSH universities can offer in developing and enhancing capacities, supporting the changing conception of innovation coherently through a Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) approach. Design/methodology/approach The case study presents multiple third- and fourth-mission activities carried out by the University of Macerata (Italy). The activities are framed according to the roles universities could have in supporting S3. Findings Within third- and fourth-mission activities, SSH universities can play different and broader roles (generative, absorptive, collaborative and leadership), which could support regions in designing and implementing S3. Practical implications The paper shows the important contributions that SSH universities can make in their regions, both to support S3 and enhance the transition to sustainable development. Social implications The article emphasises SSH universities’ multiple contributions to sustainable development and to innovation in the knowledge society/economy framework. Originality/value This case study captures SSH universities’ contributions to S3 and the wider innovation paradigm, by highlighting their transformational effect on regional economies.


2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Dixon ◽  
John Barletta

The purpose of this article is to define and describe the issues relating to acculturation and acculturative stress. A proposed counselling approach for acculturative stress is presented and has been adapted from interventions for social phobia, which considers of the role of the crosscultural counsellor as well as models of cultural orientation and identity. Suggestions for counsellor preparation for dealing with culturally diverse clients are provided drawing upon resources and methods from the field of cultural anthropology. The intention of presenting these ideas and strategies will propose ways to assist minority groups, like international students, improve and maintain psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Finally, recommendations for further research in the areas of acculturation and acculturative stress are identified.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Garnett

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how transdisciplinarity is woven into the key curriculum components of individually negotiated work-based learning (WBL) programmes and to focus upon the performative value of knowledge in the work context. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws upon WBL academic literature and the authors 22 years operational experience of WBL. Findings – The paper suggests that while university-level WBL can enhance the performance of organizations and individuals it is also inherently challenging and challenged by the hegemony of subject disciplines and disciplinary-based university structures. WBL is concerned with knowledge which is often unsystematic, socially constructed and is action focused in order to achieve outcomes of significance to work. This contests the supremacy of the role of the university in curriculum design, delivery and validation of knowledge and means that work-based knowledge is often seen as transdisciplinary rather than conforming to traditional subject disciplines (Boud and Solomon, 2001). Research limitations/implications – Central to the distinctive nature of university WBL programmes is the role of the external organization as a partner with the university and the individual learner in the planning of learning activities which are intended to have significance for the workplace. For individual knowledge to become organizational knowledge, and thus fully contribute to the intellectual capital of the organization, it must be shared and accepted by others. It follows that a key concern for organizations must be the facilitation of the recognition of knowledge and this goes beyond using a transdisciplinary lens when guiding and assessing the work of individual higher education students. Practical implications – The paper has practical implications for the design and facilitation of WBL programmes at higher education level. Originality/value – Provides an informed and sustained examination of the concept of WBL and knowledge.


2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tayebeh Khademi ◽  
Kamariah Ismail ◽  
Chew Tin Lee ◽  
Arezou Shafaghat

The aim of this study was to improve the commercialization level in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). For achieving this goal various factors and issues were examined to identify how they affect the procedure of university commercialization. These factors include the role of technology transfer office /center, availability of finance, availability of potential licensee and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) among the university researchers. Among these four factors, this study focused more on EO among academic researchers and its effect on the commercialization rate. This study was based on a qualitative research method and was designed to use a case study approach. For investigating the factors and issues in this study, a total of ten face-to-face interviews were conducted. The respondents were chosen from inventors, researchers, academic entrepreneurs, and Technology Transfer Office staff in UTM. The researcher utilized the content-analysis approach to analyze the data obtained from the semi-structured interviews of the respondents. The results indicated that EO among the university researchers, the role of technology transfer office /center, the availability of potential licensee and availability of finance were significant to the research output commercialization at university. Overall, the most critical factor was availability of finance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-126
Author(s):  
Zakaria Nejjari ◽  
Hanane Aamoum

Purpose – This research discussed ethics, shared values, university image, and trust as factors of student loyalty. This investigation is performed to discover aspects that influence loyalty. Student loyalty factors were previously researched, but the bulk of the research covered only major loyalty factors such as shared values, trust and university image, but overlooked university ethics as a student loyalty determinant. Research methodology – This study is fundamentally a quantitative study using the methodology of survey research. The information is evaluated using AMOS by means of exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings – The results show how the image of the university, the ethics and the shared values of the graduates positively influence the trust, which affects loyalty. Research limitations – Regarding the limitations of the study which also reconfigure lines of future research, it is important to note, in the first place, the geographical restriction of the population under study to three Moroccan universities. Practical implications – Educational providers can use the findings to know what increase the loyalty and allocate resources to improve the determinants that affect the trust of the students, thus increasing the allegiance of the learners. Originality/Value – This research provides innovative knowledge regarding the maintenance of the university’s relations with its graduates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 262-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravichandran Ammigan

This quantitative study investigates the role of satisfaction variables as predictors of institutional recommendation for over 45,000 international students at 96 different institutions globally. Using data from the International Student Barometer (ISB), it demonstrates which aspects of the university experience are most significant on students’ propensity to recommend their institution to prospective applicants. This article also discusses key implications and policy recommendations for how university administrators and international educators could enhance the international student experience and strengthen recruitment and retention strategies on their respective campuses.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document