<p>Chinese international students make up the largest group of international students in the United States, especially in the higher education sector. In the context of rising patriotism and nationalism in the China and the U.S. accompanied by deteriorating China-U.S. relationship and some recent incidents that showed Chinese international students’ intense patriotic sentiments, this study explored the ways in which Chinese international students in U.S. higher education perceive patriotism. More specifically, the study aims to answer two research questions: 1. How do Chinese international students in the U.S. conceptualize patriotism? 2. What are the factors that impact Chinese international students’ construction of patriotism? </p> <p>The study adopted phenomenography as the research methodology and recruited 15 participants with varied backgrounds from a Midwest University. In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed to generate the different categories that described ways of perceiving patriotism. The findings demonstrated five categories of patriotism: irrational patriotism, extreme patriotism, identity patriotism, constructive patriotism and cosmopolitan patriotism. The five categories had complex relationships with identity patriotism at the core. The study also revealed that Chinese international students’ construction of patriotism was impacted by formal education, extracurricular activities, media propaganda, family’s influence, Chinese culture, and their own life experiences. This study revealed the dynamic and multifaceted political stances of Chinese international students and offered more explanations for their patriotic behaviors instead of portraying them as the brainwashed generation. Practical implications and recommendations for future research were offered based on the findings of this study.</p>

archives@tulane.edu / According to the definition developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011, sexual health is an innate part of a person’s overall health and includes multiple dimensions of a person: physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual. As sexual health is an intrinsic part of a person’s health, understanding and improving it is important for a one’s quality of life and general well-being. However, despite high STI rates among college students in the United States (US), international students attending universities in the US have been neglected in the realms of scientific and programmatic research, making it difficult to understand their risks for negative sexual health outcomes, their sexual health needs, and their requirements for effective sexual health promotion programs. This dissertation is divided into three papers that addressed different aspects of international students and their sexual health outcomes. First, a comprehensive literature and programmatic review was conducted. There were 30 studies that were included in the analysis, and they found risk factors similar to domestic students, a number of barriers to accessing sexual health care, and some protective factors. The programmatic review covered the top 10 universities with the most international students enrolled and found no sexual health promotion programs focused on international students although they did have general programs for all students. The second paper described the implementation, analysis and results of the online international students’ sexual health survey at Tulane. The survey found moderate knowledge levels moderate levels of sexual permissiveness, discomfort with contraception and testing, conservative attitudes towards risky sexual behavior, and a number of sexual risk behaviors, such as inconsistent contraceptive use and participating in one-night stands. The last paper discussed an online-based sexual health promotion program for Tulane University international students developed based on the findings of the first and second paper. The program will be led by peer sexual health educators on a forum that includes static sexual health information along with interactive discussions of specific sexual health topics each week for six weeks. These topics are general sexual and reproductive health, STIs and prevention, pregnancy and prevention, healthy relationships, sexual health resources, and sexual violence on campus. / 1 / Chia-Chen Chang

Each year, there is an increase in the number of international students pursuing higher education in the United States. These students often experience varying degrees of acculturative stress. International students are however not likely to seek counseling. Stigma has been identified as a major barrier to seeking psychological help. The study explored the relationship between self-stigma, social stigma, gender, and length of stay/residence as predictors of attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help of international students attending Mississippi State University. Results of the study indicated that between self-stigma and gender were statistically significant predictors of international students’ attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Self-stigma was inversely related to students’ attitudes towards seeking counseling and implied that international students with greater self-stigma were more likely to have negative attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Mean scores on the attitudes towards counseling scale suggested that some participants were positively inclined towards counseling while others were not. Similarly, mean scores on the self-stigma scale indicated that some participants found the act of seeking help personally stigmatizing while others did not. There were no statistically significant differences between males and females, and their attitudes towards seeking professional counseling. The results indicated that self-stigma might have a greater influence on help seeking as compared to social stigma. It also confirms the research that suggests that gender might play a role in influencing attitudes toward counseling. Limitations of the study, especially with regard to recruitment and mode of data collection, sampling procedures, instrumentation, and other demographic variables were discussed and alternatives explored.

Acculturative stress has a significant impact on any individual that experiences it. This type of stress is felt specifically within various immigrant populations brought on by the differences (culture, language, systems, supports, etc.) from host nation to country of origin. The effects of acculturative stress can manifest psychologically, physiologically or as some combination of the two. This research used an online survey and individual interviews to review and examine the current supports at Conestoga College in order to assess their role in reducing the impacts of acculturative stress in first year, full-time, international students. The data from the online survey (n= 57) and in-person interviews (n=16) determined that the majority of participants felt varying levels of acculturative stress after arriving to Canada for their program of study. The data displayed that although the majority of students were aware of and accessed many of the supports provided by Conestoga College, it did not reduce the experiences of acculturative stress. Four emergent themes were also revealed through the data; navigation, emotional impacts, independence and belonging which further contribute to the understanding of acculturative stress and the field of acculturation more broadly. These emergent themes are ones which can be applied to a multitude of immigrant groups and can help to unify the field of acculturation. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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This study sought to determine if international student admissions at a public university had been affected by the events on September 11, 2001. To accomplish this, an analysis was conducted comparing international and domestic students' application rates, number of acceptances and enrollments for the fall semesters from 1998 through 2004 on data obtained from University of South Florida. The USF population data were also compared to enrollments in the U.S. for the respective years. Analyses on application frequencies and student enrollments comparing colleges of major and regions of origin were also performed. Generally, although statistical significance was found in many comparisons, the results of the chi square analyses found that no real effects were present, particularly when comparing USF international and domestic student populations. The chi square analyses comparing USF enrollments to the U.S. population from 1998 to 2003 also found no real effect. The analyses of the proportions of international graduate and domestic student enrollments and applications before and after September 11, 2001, also found no relationship. However, the analyses on world regions found that proportions of students from the Mideast declined from before to after Fall 2001 but other regions increased. Additionally, for graduate students, the proportion of Chinese students declined after 2001. Descriptive statistics indicated that international students majoring in engineering declined after 2001. The literature review found there were many factors in influencing the international student population in the U.S. including competition from other countries for students, the expense of a U.S education and changes in the U.S. regulations for issuing student visas. In general, the literature supported a decline in the number of overseas students coming to the U.S. to study. While the USF enrollments seemed to be consistent with the literature, no conclusive evidence indicated this decline was a result of the events of September 11, 2001.

Many teachers of international students in the United States are challenged to address cultural differences in a classroom. International students often experience psychological, physical and cultural stress when they study abroad, due mainly to unfamiliar environments and a diverse culture. The question this study asks is: Are there any strategies that can be used to benefit these students? This grounded theory study will examine a purposefully-selected group of subjects from China and Taiwan who are currently studying at a large metropolitan university in the Southeastern United States. After data collection and analysis procedure, I hoped there are some things valued for international student who just arrived at the new environment and provides the reference to those students and college with the similar situation as UCF all over the world.

This research aims to understand the experiences of a new generation of Chinese international students in Canadian universities and the role of their identities in shaping such experiences, including their resistance toward stereotypes. Data was collected through semi-structural, in-depth interviews with eight international students who were studying at universities in Southern Ontario, were from mainland China and were born during 1990s. The study leads to several major findings. First, these students did not necessarily internalize stereotypes about Chinese international students, China and Chinese culture from other groups, producing from lack of culture exchange, language barrier, cultural difference and the biased mass media, and that they also made their efforts to change this situation. Second, participants appeared to have different relationships with three groups in Chinese student communities. Third, informal support from individual social network was perceived much more effective than formal services on campus. Fourth, they viewed challenges they had experienced as a process of growth, and advanced technology and globalization also helped them to better adapt to the new environment. Across these findings, there is a dynamic relationship between these students’ experiences in Canadian universities and their identities in relation to their national, ethno-cultural, generational and international backgrounds. Although their generally positive and critical thinking on their experiences of studying abroad is related to their generation-related resources, common challenges they collectively encountered also indicate the importance of accessible institutional support. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

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