Share Your Voices: Capturing the perspectives of international students
Keywords:
International Student Voice, Constructivist Grounded Theory, Student VoiceAbstract
International students have been a growing cohort in UK universities and remain a significant presence despit the impact of policy changes. However, the picture for international students joining UK institutions is complex, and their voices often unheard: little of the data on international students is drawn from international students themselves. Furthermore, there is little by way of a coordinated strategy to support the necessary adjustment processes of international students andtheir institutions. This paper argues that it is ethically important that universities understand how to better support these students, as well as culturally and economically vital for the continued growth and success of UK higher education.
The aim of this research was to give voice to the international students on an MA programme at one post-1992 university; to find out more about their experiences with a view to informing future teaching and support practices. This aim is reflected in the project methodology, Constructivist Grounded Theory, which can be a powerful catalyst by which to amplify voices and foster agency in change processes. The project team consisted of an academic member of staff and two international students currently undertaking the MA, the presence and insight of the latter has been instrumental in shaping the data collection and analysis. Though small-scale in nature, the project has succeeded in its aim of 'demuting' the voices of some of the students, going onto to not only inform subsequent developments on the programme, but reaching a wider audience across the institution and its hierarchy.
Downloads
References
Akhtar, M. and Kröner-Herwig, B. (2015) Acculturative stress among international students in context of socio-demographic variables and coping styles. Current psychology, 34, pp.803-815.
Bolton, P., Lewis, J. & Gower, M. (2024) International students in UK higher education [online]. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7976/CBP-7976.pdf
Charmaz, K. and Belgrave, L. (2012) Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis. The SAGE handbook of interview research: The complexity of the craft, 2, pp.347-365.
Chen, H.C., Jensen, F., Chung, J., & Measom, G. (2020). Exploring faculty perceptions of teaching cultural competence in nursing. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 15(1), 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.teln.2019.08.003
Cook-Sather, A. (2002) Authorizing students’ perspectives: Toward trust, dialogue, and change in education. Educational researcher, 31(4), pp.3-14.
Clough, Y., Gibbons, S., Gibson, H., Sum, K., & Yue, Y. (2024). Challenges and barriers for first-year home and international students in Higher Education in the UK and Ireland: A scoping review. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 5(2), 185–202. Retrieved from https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/1200
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2015) The systems model of creativity: The collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. New York: Springer.
etio (2023) The global student experience [online]. Available from: https://info.etioglobal.org/hubfs/International%20Student%20Barometer/2024%20Whitepaper/The%20Global%20Student%20Experience%202024.pdf (Accessed 24 April 2025).
Findon, M. & Malik, R. (2025) Global voices: empowering students for world-class education. In: Taylor, S. and Bracken, S. eds. (2025) Learner Voices, Perspectives, and Positionings: Providing Agency to Empower Learning. Taylor & Francis.
Florida, R., Mellander, C. and King, K. (2015) The Global Creativity Index 2015. Toronto: Martin Prosperity Institute.
Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin books.
Jones, E. (2017). Problematising and reimagining the notion of ‘international student experience.’ Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 933–943. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293880
Knight, J. (2011) Five myths about internationalization. International higher education, (62).
Kosny, A. (2003) Joint stories and layered tales: support, contradiction and meaning construction in focus group research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), pp.539-548.
Lomer, S., Mittelmeier, J. and Courtney, S. (2023) Typologising internationalisation in UK university strategies: Reputation, mission and attitude. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(5), pp.1042-1056.
Malay, E.D., Otten, S. and Coelen, R.J. (2023) Predicting adjustment of international students: The role of cultural intelligence and perceived cultural distance. Research in Comparative and International Education, 18(3), pp.485-504.
Markey, K., Graham, M.M., Tuohy, D., McCarthy, J., O’Donnell, C., Hennessy, T., Fahy, A. and O’Brien, B. (2023) Navigating learning and teaching in expanding culturally diverse higher education settings. Higher Education Pedagogies, 8(1), p.2165527.
Mittelmeier, J., Lomer, S., Al Furqani, S. and Huang, D. (2022) Internationalisation and students’ Outcomes or Experiences: A Review of the Literature 2011-2021.
Page, A.G. and Chaboun, S. (2019) Emerging empowerment of international students: How international student literature has shifted to include the students’ voices. Higher Education, 78, pp.871-885.
Phillipson, B. (2024) Bridget Phillipson's speech at the Embassy Education Conference [online]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/bridget-phillipsons-speech-at-the-embassy-education-conference (accessed 03 August 2025).
Rasler, K.A., & Thompson, W.R. (1989). War and State Making: The Shaping of the Global Powers (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003120094
Ravi, M., de Blacquière-Clarkson, R., & Chong, B. (2024). Co-creation in a safe space: Listening to the international student voice. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2438353
Shkoler, O. and Rabenu, E. (2023) The motivations and their conditions which drive students to seek higher education in a foreign country. Current Psychology, 42(29), pp.25403-25416.
Streitwieser, B.T. and Light, G.J. (2018) Student conceptions of international experience in the study abroad context. Higher Education, 75, pp.471-487.Universities UK, 2023
Tavares, V. (2021). Feeling excluded: international students experience equity, diversity and inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(8), 1551–1568. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.2008536
UCAS (2022) Where next? The experience of international students connecting to UK higher education [online]. Available from: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-reports#where-next-the-experience-of-international-students-connecting-to-uk-higher-education-%E2%80%93-january-2022 (Accessed 14th February 2025).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
