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Success strategies for the international Ph.D. student

Discover the key success strategies for international Ph.D. students, including overcoming language barriers, cultural adjustment, and building relationships with domestic students and faculty.

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Success strategies for the international Ph.D. student

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  1. Success strategies for the international Ph.D. student Charles Blankson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing Department of Marketing & Logistics, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

  2. Rationale for international student recruitment • Economic • Essential source of revenue by post-secondary institutions (Andrade 2006). • International students and their dependents supply over US$13 billion dollars annually to the US economy – with majority of the funds originating outside the US (IIE 2005).

  3. Rationale for international student recruitment • International students contribute to intercultural learning. • Increase understanding of diversity and global issues. • Create international business and trade connections. • Promote foreign policy interests (Schneider 2000). • In some cases, international students remain in the country after graduation to fill needed positions- • Australia, Canada, UK, USA, the EU.

  4. Challenges: - • To encourage intercultural learning, there is need for interaction of international and domestic students (Zhao et al. 2005). • Language issue [76% of ESL students in one Australian University were judged to require intensive English language support] (Ramburuth 2001). • Difficulties understanding lectures – vocabulary and speed of speaking…

  5. Challenges:- • Less social support than domestic students. • The more interaction international students had with Americans, the greater their adjustment (Hechanova-Alampay et al. 2002).

  6. Challenges:- • Preference for friendships with co-nationals. • Confidence in own abilities. • Loneliness and homesickness. • Cultural adjustment. • Faculty often misinterpret the behaviors of international students and need greater understanding of their academic, social, emotional and psychological challenges.

  7. Challenges:- • Evidence suggests that some faculty make accommodations for weak English-language proficiency in course requirements and on assessments (Ramburuth 2001).

  8. Success • In spite of difficulties with English and other challenges, international students are academically successful (Berman and Cheng 2001). • International students are generally satisfied with their experiences in English-speaking universities (Lee and Wesche 2000)... • More so with academic aspects than social aspects.

  9. Success strategies:- • Cultural adjustment is gradual. • Be self-motivated. • Put in maximum effort. • Be proactive in demonstrating your willingness to succeed academically… • Visit with faculty and let them know you better. • Be sociable and proactively develop friendship with American students. • Involve yourself in campus activities such as foot-ball games, basket ball games, Department outing, get-togethers, societies etc.

  10. Success strategies:- • Show up!!! • Be seen in the Department. • Offer to make presentations about your country…and your country’s educational system • Try to be sociable and personable...

  11. Success strategies:- • Be enthusiastic, diligent, collegial, broad-minded, professional, and loyal to your department, college, university. • Smile!!! • Have a “thick skin.” • Be humble and also, flexible. • Have Drive and work very hard. • Avoid “politics” in the Department.

  12. February 2015 survey of UNT international students’ experiences at UNT • “Difficulty in making friends.” • “I have difficulty in organizing my time – weekly assignments, journal article reading – some articles about 20 pages.” • “It is hard for me to write – the sentences and vocabularies in the right way.” • “Give more publicity to the campus groups/societies.”

  13. February 2015 survey of UNT international students’ experiences at UNT contd. • “I am currently having problems interacting with people due to being new to the school.” • “Pay more attention to assisting international students.” • “Help international students to adjust to living in the US.” • “Acknowledge that international students have multilingual skills whereas most Americans do not have these skills.” • “I want to know more about the do’s and don’t’s in America such as on all spheres of life including social, academia, Police/Law Enforcement – as ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

  14. Success strategies:- But remember….as an apprentice of the academy – a Ph.D. student… “Publish or perish” is very real in academia. No excuses are entertained!!

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