International students' sense of belonging

<p>Student sense of belonging in universities is tied to increased retention rates and satisfaction with university experience. However, international students may be experiencing low levels of belonging, especially with American students. From a survey that asked students about their sense of belonging to the university, with American students, and with other international students, it was found that ethnic background had an impact on the level of belonging and connection. Through interviews with four Chinese females and two Caucasian males, further information was gathered about their experiences that contributed to or inhibited their sense of belonging. Themes such as discrimination, levels of English fluency, and participation in groups on campus emerged as some factors for why some students felt a high sense of belonging when others felt a low sense of belonging. Suggestions for how to improve university services to increase sense of belonging were addressed at the end of the study.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Administration and Leadership

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Wolff, Lauren

Contributors dc:contributor

• Linda Webster

• Social psychology
• Individual & family studies
• Higher education
• Social sciences
• Psychology
• Education
• International students
• Sense of belonging
• Educational Administration and Supervision
• Educational Leadership

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Identifier

9781321285154

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1212