Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.
This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent to which being an international student influences the way one deals with natural hazards and risk communication.
Results show that most international students perceive their exposure to hazards but almost half of them do not know appropriate responses. Likewise, the majority do not have emergency plans. Despite these shortcomings, the overwhelming majority of international students support the idea of the university providing hazards mitigation training to them. Statistical analysis identified that variations in gender, academic degree, previous experience, age, world region and length of residency all play significant roles in how international students relate to hazards. These corroborate a recent study by Abukhalaf and von Meding (2020), who recommended that university communication plans must accommodate the diversity of student populations and should be able to account for differences in the behavior of subgroups before, during, and after disasters.
","abstract_html":"<p>Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.</p> <p>This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent to which being an international student influences the way one deals with natural hazards and risk communication.</p> <p>Results show that most international students perceive their exposure to hazards but almost half of them do not know appropriate responses. Likewise, the majority do not have emergency plans. Despite these shortcomings, the overwhelming majority of international students support the idea of the university providing hazards mitigation training to them. Statistical analysis identified that variations in gender, academic degree, previous experience, age, world region and length of residency all play significant roles in how international students relate to hazards. These corroborate a recent study by Abukhalaf and von Meding (2020), who recommended that university communication plans must accommodate the diversity of student populations and should be able to account for differences in the behavior of subgroups before, during, and after disasters.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lopes Souza Rocha, Elida"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. David Cochran","Dr. Joslyn Zale","Dr. George Raber"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:33Z","subjects":["international students","natural hazards vulnerability","tornado perception","emergency communication","higher education","hazards management","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Geography","Human Geography","International and Intercultural Communication","Nature and Society Relations","Physical and Environmental Geography","Place and Environment","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/857","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. David Cochran","Dr. Joslyn Zale","Dr. George Raber"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lopes Souza Rocha, Elida"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-10-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["international students","natural hazards vulnerability","tornado perception","emergency communication","higher education","hazards management","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Geography","Human Geography","International and Intercultural Communication","Nature and Society Relations","Physical and Environmental Geography","Place and Environment","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/857"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.
This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent to which being an international student influences the way one deals with natural hazards and risk communication.
Results show that most international students perceive their exposure to hazards but almost half of them do not know appropriate responses. Likewise, the majority do not have emergency plans. Despite these shortcomings, the overwhelming majority of international students support the idea of the university providing hazards mitigation training to them. Statistical analysis identified that variations in gender, academic degree, previous experience, age, world region and length of residency all play significant roles in how international students relate to hazards. These corroborate a recent study by Abukhalaf and von Meding (2020), who recommended that university communication plans must accommodate the diversity of student populations and should be able to account for differences in the behavior of subgroups before, during, and after disasters.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["RISK PERCEPTION AND RESPONSE AMONG INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. David Cochran","Dr. Joslyn Zale","Dr. George Raber"],"dc:creator":["Lopes Souza Rocha, Elida"],"dc:date.available":["2021-10-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.
This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent to which being an international student influences the way one deals with natural hazards and risk communication.
Results show that most international students perceive their exposure to hazards but almost half of them do not know appropriate responses. Likewise, the majority do not have emergency plans. Despite these shortcomings, the overwhelming majority of international students support the idea of the university providing hazards mitigation training to them. Statistical analysis identified that variations in gender, academic degree, previous experience, age, world region and length of residency all play significant roles in how international students relate to hazards. These corroborate a recent study by Abukhalaf and von Meding (2020), who recommended that university communication plans must accommodate the diversity of student populations and should be able to account for differences in the behavior of subgroups before, during, and after disasters.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/857"],"dc:subject":["international students","natural hazards vulnerability","tornado perception","emergency communication","higher education","hazards management","Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication","Geography","Human Geography","International and Intercultural Communication","Nature and Society Relations","Physical and Environmental Geography","Place and Environment","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["RISK PERCEPTION AND RESPONSE AMONG INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:33Z"}