Culture Shock And Stress Among International Students

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Culture, Technology, Nations, grade: 60, Sheffield Hallam University (Sheffield Hallam University), course: Sociology planing and Policy, language: English, abstract: The main aim of this research is to describe the culture shock and stress, to explore the means of reducing the cultural shock and pressure that is experienced by international students in the United Kingdom and to explain the benefits of studying abroad. In addition, the research design employed a qualitative methodology. After getting consent, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with male participants and the data gathered from three interviewees chosen on the basis of different demographic backgrounds, being from the United Kingdom. The thematic analysis method is to analyse transcribed data. The results of this exploratory research of culture shock and stress; many themes have been specified and explained; such as language, food, weather, dress, education system, technology, and transportation. They are related to the sources of the culture shock, the effect of shock on the international students and the attempts to reduce the culture shock. Also, several themes have been specified, explained and analysed below in terms of sources of pressure, that influence of international students in the UK during studies such as language, academics, differences of culture and homesickness. Also, some benefits of study abroad and methods to decrease stress have been given.

Incorporates over a decade of new research and material on coping with the causes and consequencs that instigate culture shock, this can occur when a person is transported from a familiar to an alien culture.

The population of international students at community colleges in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. International students play a big role in building the cultural diversity on campus by bringing over different cultures and sharing their global perspective to the local community. However, they often face challenges adapting into American culture due to cultural differences in education system, language, lifestyle, etc. By looking into the acculturation process of international students to analyze the culture shock and cultural identity changes they experienced, this paper intends to seek ways to help this group of students to ease their acculturative stress and to maximize their study abroad experience. Two focus groups with a total of eight international students were held at a community college in California to gather ideas, opinions, and stories about their college life in the United States surrounding the topic of acculturation, culture shock, and self-identity. Results from our participants indicated that international students experience significant changes in everyday life and various level of culture shock. The results are greatly depending on the students’ personality and social support network. At the same time, results also suggested that the acculturation experience would strengthen international students’ cultural identities provided with a supportive multicultural learning environment. The acculturation experience is both bitter and sweet giving students acculturative stress yet an eye-opening global adventure.

Crossing cultures can be a stimulating and rewarding adventure. It can also be a stressful and bewildering experience. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Furnham and Bochner's classic Culture Shock (1986) examines the psychological and social processes involved in intercultural contact, including learning new culture-specific skills, managing stress and coping with an unfamiliar environment, changing cultural identities and enhancing intergroup relations. The book describes the ABCs of intercultural encounters, highlighting Affective, Behavioural and Cognitive components of cross-cultural experience. It incorporates both theoretical and applied perspectives on culture shock and a comprehensive review of empirical research on a variety of cross-cultural travellers, such as tourists, students, business travellers, immigrants and refugees. Minimising the adverse effects of culture shock, facilitating positive psychological outcomes and discussion of selection and training techniques for living and working abroad represent some of the practical issues covered. The Psychology of Culture Shock will prove an essential reference and textbook for courses within psychology, sociology and business training. It will also be a valuable resource for professionals working with culturally diverse populations and acculturating groups such as international students, immigrants or refugees.

This book presents research that seeks to understand students' experiences of transnational mobility and transcultural interaction in the context of educational settings confronted with linguistic diversity.

This book explores how Chinese students abroad may suffer stress, and how they conceptualize and adapt to stress in the American higher education environment. To do so, it adopts a mixed methods design: the sequential explanatory design, which is characterized by the collection and analysis of quantitative data followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the stress and coping processes of Chinese students in the United States. This book addresses that gap, enriching the body of literature on international students’ adaptation process in foreign countries.

Annually thousands of international students attend US colleges and universities which requires them to adjust to a new environment, often accompanied by a culture shock experience. This study analyzes to what degree cultural background, gender differences, language proficiency, self-confidence/self-efficacy, and social support networks impact the adjustment process of international students to the US culture. Forty-five international students attending a Michigan community college were surveyed and interviewed to assess the relationship among self-confidence/self-efficacy, cultural background, gender and social support networks. Western students reported more positive cultural adjustment (M=29.0) than non-western students (M=29.0). Males adjusted better (M=29.4) than their female peers (M=25.4). A significant positive correlation was found between cultural adjustment and the experience of culture shock symptoms. English usage of English as a primary language in the students' home countries accounted for a stronger social support network. These results have implications for college and university personnel in working with international students.

This book is about culture shock and the writing process. For a student, the relationship between writing and the challenge of living in a foreign culture may not be obvious. The purpose of Writing Across Culture is to aid the student in documenting and analyzing the connection. If culture can be broadly defined as the unwritten rules of every-day life, one effective method for learning these rules is to write about them as they are discovered. In this way, it is possible to see writing as a tool for cultural inquiry and comprehension, and, hence, an antidote for culture shock. Writing Across Culture encourages its readers to become writers engaged in a dialogue - between the individual and the new society - about everyday cultural differences.

School belonging should be a priority across every facet of education. The research on school belonging for positive student outcomes has been widely accepted and findings demonstrating its role as a protective factor against mental ill health and youth suicide are too compelling to ignore. In an age where it has been argued that academic achievement is prioritised over wellbeing, the editors bring the importance of school belonging back to the fore in educational policy and planning. This book is the most comprehensive compendium of its kind on the topic of school belonging. A foreword by Professor John Hattie of The University of Melbourne sets the scene for an engaging look at how school belonging is quintessential in contemporary schooling. Contributors are: Kelly-Ann Allen, Christopher Boyle, Jonathan Cohen, Crystal Coker, Erin Dowdy, Clemence Due, Jonathan K. Ferguson, Sebastian Franke, Michael Furlong, Annie Gowing, Alun Jackson, Divya Jindal-Snape, Andrew Martinez, Daniel Mays, Vicki McKenzie, Susan Dvorak McMahon, Franka Metzner, Kathryn Moffa, Silke Pawils, Damien W. Riggs, Sue Roffey, Lisa Schneider, Bini Sebastian, Christopher D. Slaten, Jessica Smead, Amrit Thapa, Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Lea Waters, Michelle Wichmann, and Holger Zielemanns.