How Do International Students Support Campus Internationalization?
What Is Your Campus Doing?
Engaging in Research to Find Better Solutions
Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills
International students coming to the U.S. impact or can impact the internationalization that takes place on our campuses. On many U.S. campuses, a large percentage of U.S. students don't get the opportunity to study abroad. If U.S. students don’t study abroad, what other opportunities are there for international learning on campus? Some institutions require a minimum language requirement, others have a General Education requirement that focuses on issues that are global, international, and intercultural. There are also majors and minors with an international focus (international business, international relations, international education, etc.).
Although we talk about the potential for international students to provide an international perspective on our campuses, how many of us really maximize that potential? Are we bringing in students from a broad range of countries and regions around the world or only from a limited number of countries and regions? Are U.S. and international students given enough opportunities to interact in and out of the classroom? Do faculty on campus see international students in their classroom as a strength for international learning or a challenge because of limited English language skills?
Data on International Students in U.S. Colleges and Universities
According to the 2013 Institute of International Education Open Doors Report, for the 2012/2013 academic year, the largest number of international students coming to the U.S. were from (https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/Leading-Places-of-Origin/2011-13):
| Total | 819,644 |
| China | 235,597 |
| India | 96,754 |
| South Korea | 70,627 |
| Saudi Arabia | 44,566 |
| Canada | 27,357 |
| Taiwan | 21,867 |
| Japan | 19,568 |
| Vietnam | 16,098 |
| Mexico | 14,199 |
| Turkey | 11,278 |
| Brazil | 10,868 |
| Germany | 9,819 |
| United Kingdom | 9,467 |
| Nepal | 8,920 |
| Iran | 8,744 |
| France | 8,297 |
| Hong Kong | 8,026 |
| Indonesia | 7,670 |
| Nigeria | 7,316 |
| Thailand | 7,314 |
| Malaysia | 6,791 |
| Colombia | 6,543 |
| Venezuela | 6,158 |
| Kuwait | 5,115 |
| Spain | 5,033 |
What has changed isn’t just which countries are sending the most students to the U.S. to study. For many years, India and China sent the largest numbers of students to the U.S., but their numbers were close. What stands out in the 2012/13 data is that more than 25 per cent of all international students studying in the U.S. are from China. Looking back ten years to the 2002/03 data, you can see that at that time, India was sending 74,603 students to the U.S., while China was only sending 64,757. Neither Saudi Arabia, Iran, nor Kuwait was in the top 25 countries sending students to the U.S. This reflected some of the issues at the time following 9-11.
Looking 10 Years Earlier (https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/Leading-Places-of-Origin/2001-03):
| Total | 586,323 |
| India | 74,603 |
| China | 64,757 |
| South Korea | 51,519 |
| Japan | 45,980 |
| Taiwan | 28,017 |
| Canada | 26,513 |
| Mexico | 12,801 |
| Turkey | 11,601 |
| Indonesia | 10,432 |
| Thailand | 9,982 |
| Germany | 9,302 |
| Brazil | 8,388 |
| United Kingdom | 8,326 |
| Pakistan | 8,123 |
| Hong Kong | 8,078 |
| Kenya | 7,862 |
| Colombia | 7,771 |
| France | 7,223 |
| Malaysia | 6,595 |
| Russia | 6,238 |
While the overall numbers show more than 25% of all international students coming from China, on some U.S. campuses, that percentage is even larger. It used to be that the largest number of international students at U.S. campuses were graduate students. Now, of the 819,644 international students, over 50% (339,993) are graduate students (https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/By-Academic-Level-and-Place-of-Origin/2012-13).
Potential for Internationalization
Potential for International Learning in Residential Communities:
On a residential campus, where most freshmen students live on campus, many new students will live with someone they don’t know for at least one year. The potential for interactions between U.S. freshmen and new international students is great. What better way to get two 18 year-olds together than by having them live together their first year in college. However, the matching of international and domestic students doesn’t always result in a positive connection supporting international learning.
Some stereotypes and real issues deter from the potential for positive interactions between international and U.S. students that could result in international learning and lifelong friendships. I was talking to the daughter of a friend of mine. She signed up to live with someone she knew from high school for her first year in college, because: “she wanted to make sure that she didn’t have an international student as a roommate”. She was worried that the international student wouldn’t be interested in a similar college experience, wouldn’t have similar social habits, and wouldn't be able to communicate effectively in English, and would ruin her first year in college. I asked if her campus had provided her with information about support services that would support a positive opportunity of living with an international student. She said she didn’t really receive anything that made her think living with an international student was a good idea.
Many colleges and universities are struggling to find ways to maximize the potential of these interactions in the residence halls. Mentor programs, where domestic and international students are matched with support to enhance those relationships have been successful at some institutions. With the increase in the number of U.S. students studying in China, there is potential for U.S. study abroad students to connect to incoming Chinese freshmen while they are studying in China and to connect to Chinese students on campus before studying abroad to help prepare the U.S. students for study in China. However, more often, the U.S. students will receive orientation advice from other U.S. students who studied in China.
Returned study abroad students could serve as mentors for incoming international students as they may have developed cross-cultural sensitivities during their study abroad experience to allow them to be more empathetic with the issues facing international students in the U.S. and good mentors for them. However, most returned study abroad students are more interested in mentoring future U.S. study abroad students interested in study in the country and city where they studied while abroad.
When looking at the top countries where U.S. students study, some of the countries where students study abroad do match with the countries where students come from who study in the U.S. However the actual numbers nationally or on an individual campus usually do not provide an effective match with the countries and regions where international students come from.
In the 2011/12 IIE Open Doors data, following are the top 25 countries where U.S. students studied (https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Leading-Destinations/2010-12):
| Total | 283,332 |
| United Kingdom | 34,660 |
| Italy | 29,645 |
| Spain | 26,480 |
| France | 17,168 |
| China | 14,887 |
| Germany | 9,370 |
| Australia | 9,324 |
| Costa Rica | 7,900 |
| Ireland | 7,640 |
| Japan | 5,283 |
| Argentina | 4,763 |
| India | 4,593 |
| South Africa | 4,540 |
| Brazil | 4,060 |
| Mexico | 3,815 |
| Ecuador | 3,572 |
| Czech Rebpulic | 3,477 |
| Israel | 3,189 |
| Chile | 3,064 |
| New Zealand | 2,969 |
| Denmark | 2,876 |
| Greece | 2,701 |
| South Korea | 2,695 |
| Peru | 2,680 |
| Austria | 2,657 |
Challenges in Bringing U.S. and International Students Together:
Although there is some crossover but not a perfect match between where U.S. students study and where international students are from has been a challenge in making crossover mentorship relationships. For U.S. students with no study abroad or other international experience, understanding what international students may offer them in terms of international learning is not simple. Like the case of the daughter of a friend who found a way to deliberately avoid living with an international student, there is work that needs to be done to support and enhance the potential of those relationships to better the international learning of both the international student and the U.S. student. Many times, international students will maintain closer relationships with other international students, many from their home country, then they will with U.S. students. I see that as a missed opportunity for international learning for both the international student and the U.S. students.
Engaging in Research to Find Better Solutions:
As discussed in previous articles, the Center for Global Education at UCLA has developed a number of resources to support integrated orientation of international students to the U.S. (uStudy.us Online Courses for International Students) and study abroad students (GlobalScholar.us Online Courses for Study Abroad). They include some resources to help connect international students and U.S. students. However, this is an area where additional resources would be helpful.
We are engaging in further research to identify some better models across the U.S. and we are confident that institutions that use Terra Dotta software have developed interesting and innovative programs to support international student and U.S. student connections to enhance the experience of international students and enhance the international learning of U.S. students who do not study abroad.
Please send any feedback about programs on your campus or other programs you are aware of at grhodes@globaled.us. Later this year, I will write a follow-up article with models of effective practice, feedback from Terra Dotta users and others and develop documents that will be shared on the Terra Dotta Community Library to support these efforts.
We often talk about ways to internationalize the home campus and support “internationalization at home” and look forward to getting your feedback to help support that effort.