INTERCULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ADJUSTAMENT IN MIGRANT STUDENTS

1. INTERCULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ADJUSTAMENT IN MIGRANT STUDENTS Università degli Studi di Palermo divita@unipa.it A. M. Di Vita, P. Miano, A. Ciulla

2. 1. teoretical framework QUALITY OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS PERSONAL WELL BEING good mental functioning capacity to find protective factors in the environmental

3. 2. teoretical framework WELL BEING Health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life; where they learn, work, play and love. Health is created by caring for oneself and others, by being able to take decisions and have control over one’s life circumstances, and by ensuring that the society one lives in creates conditions that allow the attainment of health by all its members. Caring, holism and ecology are essential in developing strategies for health promotion. (Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986)

4. 3. Teoretical framework UNIVERSITY IS … … a new place with a new goals between adolescence and adulthood (1° critical event) … a multicultural place where students live, study and – those who come from other country - find their place in a new city (2° critical event) to live in a new places to be in the intercultural relationships SELF CONSTRUCTION

5. 4. Methodology AIMS OF RESEARCH a) To asses in migrant students the level of satisfaction and perceived well being about interpersonal relationships with colleagues b) To evaluate emotional bonds to place c) To analyse the self-representations and emotional reactions

6. 5. Methodology 15 migrant students (12 female, 3male), aged between 19 - 49 (M = 29, SD = 9.13) PARTICIPANTS they came from: Africa (10), Mauritius (2), Europe (2) South America (1), they study: Literature and philosophy (8), Education (3), engineering (2), Politics (1) and Economy (1) they live: in university accomodation (6), with their family (5), in an apartment with other students (2), in a religious institution (2)

7. 6. Methodology MEASURES • a sociodemographic questionnaire • a semi-structured interview to analyse what does interculture mean to students (Halualani, 2008) • a questionnaire to asses emotional dimensions (adapted from Giani Gallino, 2007) • a semantic differential to evaluete self image in the new place (adapted from Di Nuovo, 1990)

8. FIVE DIMENSIONS 7. Findings and discussion 1. Motivation 2. Difficulties 3. Emotional reaction in new places 4. Intercultural relationships 5. Feelings and self-representations

9. 8. Findings and discussion MOTIVATION Family reunion (N = 7) “I came because my parents work here, I wanted to be close to my parents while I was studying: this is the reason I came here. Before leaving I lived with my grandmother and grandfather and they took care of me” (20 years, Tunisia) “My parents were here … and I was there! My mother felt so tired … She said: no, my family can’t live separeted!” (19 years, Mautitius)

10. 20 palermo 2 10 madre 3 2 8 5 padre 1 1 3 7 32studiare 6 1 4 2 4 facolta 2 4 16 2 21 voglio 2 3 5 22 famiglia 3 6 rapporto Cluster “Family – to study” 9. Findings and discussion

11. 10. Findings and discussion DIFFICULTIES AND EMOTIONAL REACTIONS Languages and communication – fear and disorientation “First period was very hard. Before leaving I never spoken italian … I was fearful. I thought they will never understand me. I was nervous too, because I was always looking for something to do!”(29 years, Perù) “Well, how does I’ve to walk in this university? I still don’t know how I’ve to walk … how to do an examination, and lessons. There are a lot of new things! And I know this change I did from my native country to Italy, it’s a 100% trasformation … I’m always late and I’ve dizziness. I arrive to university and I look around becouse I don’t understand well enough and if I find a written communication I’ve to understand it or I do something blindly” (23 years, Marocco)

12. 9 professore 3 mensa 3 1 2 26 COT 2 2 10 8 1 7 25 sola 2 3 20 6 ersu 9 17 4 5 31 AIUTA 9 11 segreteria 11. Findings and discussion cluster ”help” To overcome their difficulties, students appreciate …

13. respect reciprocity identification knowledge shared resources plurality availability cultural decentration 12. Findings and discussion INTERCULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS Interculture is described with “Intercultural relationships means … to share the way of life amoung all differnt cultures” (32 years, Togo) “…it means to have got to do with an other person who came from different culture…and to make decentration (49 years, Mauritius)

14. 13. Findings and discussion PROFESSORS, COLLEAGUES AND FAMILY: SOME VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE “At university my professors were very patient and very available … they helped me a lot. If I had a problem it was sufficient to go to their offices and they explain me everything. My professors taught me a lot and my colleagues helped me and we became friends. They tried to keep pace with me… they were very close to me and helped me a lot”. (32 years, Kenya) “My family, my mother and my father made my way” (25 years, Tunisia)

15. 4 importante 5 3 23 relazione 18 intercultura 14 6 1 2 5 interazione 2 4 condividere 14. Findings and discussion cluster “interculture - relation”

16. 15. Findings and discussion FEELINGS AND SELF-REPRESENTATIONS Positive feelings (N = 9) • Negative feelings (N = 6) • Anxiety • Homesickness • Surprise • Satisfaction • Joy • Enthusiasm Students show a good image of themselves, such as:

17. CONCLUSIONS Migrant students we met seems to be able to recognize risk factors in themselves or in the context but they maintain a good self-representation. They define “intercultural contact” as something that could be recognized through interactions with other people and that could result in new possibilities.

18. Thank you divita@unipa.it