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According to Harman (2004), international students were one of the main sources of finance in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. These students may face many difficulties once they arrive in countries like the UK, trying to adjust to their new surroundings. They confront, for example, more difficulties and challenges than the British students beginning a university course, especially if English is not their first language and the culture of their motherland is substantially different from British culture. Apart from language and cultural barriers, other reported difficulties include high academic demand, missing family and friends, lack of social support, lower self-confidence, deficiencies with study skills and a need to have more assertiveness (Poyrazli et al., 2002). Currently, not enough research has been published regarding acculturative stress and social support, including its relationship with psychological mental health amongst international students studying at UK universities. The main purposes of this study were threefold: (1) investigate the association between mental health and psychosocial variables amongst both international and British students (in UK universities); (2) explore the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of international students in the context of acculturation, while they study abroad in the UK universities; and finally (3) to triangulate and integrate the findings of this study obtained from two distinct approaches of combined results. A concurrent triangulation mixed methods design was employed, consisting of three main studies. (a) I (Pilot study): a quantitative study employing simple yet effective cross-sectional approaches through its intention to using sample data; (b) II (Main study): a quantitative method specifically utilising cross-sectional design using authoritative data; and (c) III: a qualitative research conducting semi-structured interviews (using two qualitative questionnaires) to examine the metaphors participants used to describe their experiences in the host society. Study I: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 358 students (international and British) studying in UK universities. Three different UK universities were selected. Eight pre-existing questionnaires were first tested for validity and reliability, then were utilised to examine the relationships between mental health and seven other independent variables. Study II: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 796 students (international and British) studying in UK universities. Ten different UK universities were selected. The previous eight pre-existing questionnaires used in Study I were used in Study II, but the difference was that GHQ-12 was replaced by GHQ-28, and the IAI and SAI forms of the Three Assimilation Indexes were excluded. Study III: A snowball purposive sampling technique was used to select 30 students (international) studying in three UK universities. A semi-structured interview was conducted with these students. This study used thematic analysis to categorise metaphors and analyse the qualitative data. With a response rate of 82%, Study I showed that international students from the Middle East are less affected by cultural distress than other students from outside of Europe. In addition, many students find themselves leaning more towards religion to deal with the new cultural environment. Study II had an 80% response rate and found that there was an association between three out of five predictor variables (coping flexibility, social support and coping) with mental health, for both international and British students. In addition, the study found that there was an association between three out of seven predictor variables (coping strategy, religious problem solving, and acculturation) with mental health in international students. In Study III, the metaphors supported the quantitative results in terms of finding that a substantial number of the respondents had negative feelings about living in the UK and found the new setting depressing. The findings of the two quantitative studies (Study I and Study II) found that there is an association between international students and British students and coping flexibility with mental health. This finding has been confirmed by Study III which addressed metaphorical phrases used by international students. These findings indicate that interventions are strongly required in order to prevent and control potential psychological problems in both groups. The main recommendations are that regular training sessions should be provided for all international students, giving strategies for coping with the new culture. It is concluded that social support played a moderating role in the relationship between culture stress as well as mental health only in international students. These findings imply that strategies could be created to help students to cope with their mental issues and reduce the impact of distress they experience during their study. This might have a positive effect on their academic achievement consequently.

This study conceptualizes inpatriates – foreign nationals who are temporarily assigned to the corporate headquarters (HQ) of a multinational corporation (MNC) – as knowledge agents that link the HQ to its subsidiaries. Along these lines, the thesis examines the determinants of knowledge sharing between inpatriates and HQ staff as well as the resulting implications for inpatriates’ careers. Integrating research on international assignments and MNC knowledge flows with social capital theory, the main argument is that inpatriates can only share their local subsidiary knowledge with and learn from HQ employees if they establish social capital with them. The empirical investigation of inpatriates as the study’s principal unit of analysis follows a multi-method approach. First, a qualitative and inductive case study based on 13 interviews with inpatriates at three German MNCs is conducted, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of the inpatriate phenomenon. The interview findings highlight inpatriates’ role as knowledge conduits and derive various factors that may impact on inpatriates’ knowledge sharing, such as inpatriates’ acculturation attitudes, their host language fluency, host ethnocentrism and available organizational support.

This PhD by published work consists of: five single authored articles in refereed journals; two main author articles in refereed journals; four jointly authored articles in refereed journals; a single authored article in a non-refereed journal; one jointly authored book, including five single authored chapters; two single authored chapters in edited books. They were published in the period 2003-2013. None has been submitted for any other degree or diploma by me or any other person. The theme running through these publications is the need for social workers to pay significant attention to issues arising from religion, belief and culture. The research reported highlights the impact of such issues on the lives, experiences, resources and responses of individuals, groups and communities for whom they are important. The work emphasises the importance of developing such understanding and of enhancing knowledge of different ways in which religion, belief and culture impact on the issues that social workers deal with. I suggest that these are essential aspects of culturally competent social work practice which have too often been neglected in both research and professional training. The publications are listed in Appendix 1 (pp 56 - 59). They demonstrate how my thinking has developed over the past decade. They reflect and are, in part, a response to the developing professional, theoretical and political ii context within which I have operated as a social work practitioner, manager and academic over a longer period. The majority are solo-authored. However, I remain committed to collaborative work and recognise that discussions with those researched, my collaborators, and others remain invaluable to the ongoing development of my thinking. Joint authorship declaration forms have been completed, in respect of all relevant publications, and are appended. Eight publications (Art.12, Art.11, Art.10, Art.9, Art.8, Art.6, Art.5 and Art.3) are based on findings from primary research, while Art.1 and Art.2 explore published data or data supplied by others to provide original analyses of particular issues. The remaining publications, notably book chapters, are primarily conceptual in their approach. They are underpinned by findings from both the primary research reported elsewhere and the use of case examples collected from semi-structured interviews with social work practitioners. / PhD by published work. The published articles are not displayed in full text with the online version of the PhD due to publisher copyright restristrictions.

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Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to highlight the lived experiences of Hispanic migrant workers seeking healthcare at a community care clinic in rural Appalachia with participation from student nurses learning about qualitative research methods. Design/method: A phenomenological qualitative study was approved by the institutional IRB. Senior BSN nursing students, community care clinic staff and interpreters, and nurse educators participated in structured interviews during healthcare visits from Hispanic migrant workers at a local community care clinic in rural Appalachia. An audit trail provided the process to highlight common themes on health from the lived experiences of the Hispanic migrant worker population. Results: Several barriers on healthcare viewed by the Hispanic migrant workers included transportation, financial resources, medication prescriptions, and language. Positive lived experiences included; resources, quality care, and trust. Discussion/conclusion: Surprisingly, this research highlighted strengths of the interpersonal connection between the rural clinic staff and the Hispanic migrant workers. Participants vocalized their satisfaction when trust was established through the clinic’s efforts in providing interpreters, extended hours after normal field work hours, and personnel’s attitudes toward the promotion of health. The Hispanic Worker Study findings parallel similar lived experiences of the culture among people from rural Appalachia. Implications: Healthcare members must establish ‘trust’ as one of the interpersonal relationship strategies with multiple and diverse populations in order to create holistic culturally competent healthcare.

This PhD by published work consists of: • five single authored articles in refereed journals; • two main author articles in refereed journals; • four jointly authored articles in refereed journals; • a single authored article in a non-refereed journal; • one jointly authored book, including five single authored chapters; • two single authored chapters in edited books. They were published in the period 2003-2013. None has been submitted for any other degree or diploma by me or any other person. The theme running through these publications is the need for social workers to pay significant attention to issues arising from religion, belief and culture. The research reported highlights the impact of such issues on the lives, experiences, resources and responses of individuals, groups and communities for whom they are important. The work emphasises the importance of developing such understanding and of enhancing knowledge of different ways in which religion, belief and culture impact on the issues that social workers deal with. I suggest that these are essential aspects of culturally competent social work practice which have too often been neglected in both research and professional training. The publications are listed in Appendix 1 (pp 56-59). They demonstrate how my thinking has developed over the past decade. They reflect and are, in part, a response to the developing professional, theoretical and political context within which I have operated as a social work practitioner, manager and academic over a longer period. The majority are solo-authored. However, I remain committed to collaborative work and recognise that discussions with those researched, my collaborators, and others remain invaluable to the ongoing development of my thinking. Joint authorship declaration forms have been completed, in respect of all relevant publications, and are appended. Eight publications (Art.12, Art.11, Art.10, Art.9, Art.8, Art.6, Art.5 and Art.3) are based on findings from primary research, while Art.1 and Art.2 explore published data or data supplied by others to provide original analyses of particular issues. The remaining publications, notably book chapters, are primarily conceptual in their approach. They are underpinned by findings from both the primary research reported elsewhere and the use of case examples collected from semi-structured interviews with social work practitioners.