The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among the perceptions of international doctoral students enrolled in rehabilitation counseling regarding the quality of academic advising and its relationship with satisfaction and productivity. The sample for the study consisted of seven volunteer international doctoral students from four universities who are currently enrolled in rehabilitation counseling doctoral programs in the United States. Overall results from this qualitative study showed five themes: academic expectation, academic program satisfaction, cultural background, academic advising and factors than enhance the advisor relationship. The academic expectation reflects the importance of program ranking, completion of doctoral degree and research skills development. The academic program satisfaction theme reflects the vital role of receiving positive feedback from faculty members, the development of research skills, and coursework - plan of study related to the expectations of the international doctoral student. The cultural background should be included as criteria in the design and development of coursework. Academic advising reflects the significance of advisor availability consistent with course selection. The factors that enhance the advisory relationship reflect the areas of interest and future career plans, the program satisfaction, the cultural background, scholarly productivity and the quality advisory relationship. Keywords: international students, rehabilitation counseling education programs, academic advisement, satisfaction, productivity

abstract: The relation of stigma to help-seeking attitudes and intentions and how these relations differed across cultures for American students, East Asian, and South Asian international students, were the focus of this study. Previous researchers had found that not seeking professional psychological help when needed was prevalent for both American and international students. Stigma has been found to be a salient factor in influencing attitudes of individuals and may prevent individuals from getting the help they need. Both public and self-stigma were utilized to predict attitudes and intentions to seek psychological help in a sample of 806 students. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to assess the relationships in how self-stigma, public stigma, attitudes toward counseling and intentions to seek counseling will interplay for American, East Asian and South Asian international students, further expanding on previous help-seeking model (Vogel et al., 2007). Results indicated differences in factor structure of scales for the groups, and new factors were identified. With the new factors derived, different models of help-seeking intentions were established for each group, and distinct relations among the factors were explained. Furthermore, implications for future studies and clinical relevance were highlighted. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2015

abstract: Since the 1990s, the United States has been increasingly hosting large numbers of foreign students in its higher education sector and continues to accommodate these skilled college graduates in its job market. When international students graduate, they can transition from an international student to a skilled migrant. Yet their decision-making process to stay in the receiving country (the United States), to return to sending countries, or to move on to another country, at different stages of such transition period, is not presently understood. This dissertation examines the experiences of these “migrants in transition period” when they face the “to return or to stay” choices under structural and institutional forces from the sending and receiving countries. This research adopts the conceptual framework of human capital, social capital, and cultural capital, to investigate how social capital and cultural capital impact the economic outcomes of migrants’ human capital under different societal contexts, and how migrants in the transition period cope with such situations and develop their stay or return plans accordingly. It further analyzes their decision-making process for return during this transition period. The empirical study of this dissertation investigates contemporary Chinese student migrants and skilled migrants from People’s Republic of China to the United States, as well as Chinese returnees who returned to China after graduation with a US educational degree. Findings reveal the impact of social and cultural capitals in shaping career experiences of skilled Chinese migrants, and also explore their mobility and the decision-makings of such movement of talent. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2016

abstract: Increasing numbers of Asian international students enter the U.S. each year; however, this group remains highly understudied. This is particularly true in regard to alcohol use and behavior. The purpose of the current study was to investigate if and how the sociocultural factors of social norm perception, perceived language discrimination, and need to belong relate to drinking motivation among Asian international students. Hierarchical regression was used with 194 self-identified Asian international student participants to analyze two separate three-way interactions. It was hypothesized that high social norm perceptions, greater perceived language discrimination, and high need to belong would interact to predict greater 1) drinking to cope, and 2) drinking to conform. Results did not support either hypothesis; however, main effects indicated that perceived language discrimination was related to drinking to cope and drinking to conform. In addition, need to belong and social norm perception interacted to predict drinking to conform. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2016

Social media has become an important tool for communication and marketing, and proper use of visual and textual information is very influential in social media marketing. Research has gone a long way explaining how information content significantly influences decision-making, however, it still lacks the knowledge about how different forms of information (such as textual, visual and audio-visual) in social media affects decision-making.  The aim of this study was to identify the use of social media by international students for choosing study abroad destinations, as well as the forms of information content that have a greater influence in their decision-making process. To achieve the aim, a qualitative approach was applied to collect data through semi-structured interviews with fourteen international master students at Stockholm Business School in Sweden. This study shows that social media has a low influence on international students’ decision-making with regards to the choice of study destination; however, they use social media as a search tool to conceptualise and justify their choice, feel stronger about their decision, and to increase their confidence. This study suggests that social media could indirectly or subconsciously play a part in students’ choice of study destination as the students could be subconsciously affected by social media information, in particular, by visual and audio-visual information. Moreover, information contents such as videos that are more provocative, based on multisensory and emotional cues, could have a greater influence on the international student. Additionally, international students experience higher levels of trust when they feel that the content is authentic. Finally, the thesis concludes with theoretical implications and recommendations for further research.

With the trend of increasing international academic exchange, the number of international students in Sweden continues to expand over years. The stress faced by international students has attracted more and more attention from university organizations and the society. This project takes the current mental health-care service for international students at Linnaeus University as the research object. Based on the participatory design and service design theory, challenges faced by the international student health-care service system and improvement opportunities were investigated through a stakeholder map, semi-structured interviews, observations, questionnaires and co-creation workshops among other methods. By introducing participatory design into the development process, an improved mental health-care service system with integrated online and offline information is presented as an example for universities’ organizations for improving the mental health-care service for international students.

The acculturation process for international students is influenced by several factors such as experiences of discrimination, economic condition, language fluency, and social support. Discrimination, which refers to negative or prejudicial behavior towards an individual or a group of individuals, takes place towards international students due to their poor grasp of the English Language (Lee & Rice, 2007), cultural differences (Cole & Ahmadi, 2003), and racial differences (Hanassab, 2006). Perceived discrimination (among other factors) has been identified as a potential moderator of the relationship between acculturation preferences and psychological functioning in acculturation theory (Berry, 2003). Apart from perceived discrimination, gender has also been recognized as predicting adjustment among international students (Lee, Park, & Kim, 2009). This study investigated the role perceived discrimination plays in the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning (i.e., depression and global life satisfaction), and the influence gender has on the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning among international students from South Asia and South East Asia. A series of mediational and moderational analyses were performed with hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The mediation effect of perceived discrimination on the relationship between acculturation orientation and psychological functioning was not significant for either factors of psychological functioning. While the interaction between identification with host culture and gender did not predict depression, it predicted global life satisfaction (GLS). Specifically, men who identified with their host culture had higher global life satisfaction scores. However, the interactions between identification with heritage culture and gender did not predict depression or global life satisfaction. The findings suggest that the Berry’s (2003) acculturation model may not fit for international students. Future research on acculturation orientation as a variable mediating the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological functioning is recommended.

In the current study, 226 international students attending Florida International University responded to an Web-based questionnaire that assessed self-reported scores for: acculturation, acculturative stress, alcohol use patterns, perceived peer alcohol use, and perceived injunctive social norms for alcohol use. The purpose of the study was to evaluate structural relations among this set of variables using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via AMOS 17.0. The results of SEM analyses documented acceptable fit of a model which hypothesized that relations between acculturation and alcohol use variables are mediated partially by acculturative stress, perceived peer alcohol use, and perceived injunctive social norms. While significant path coefficients were documented for paths between (a) acculturation and acculturative stress and (b) acculturative stress and alcohol use, the coefficients had negative signs, contrary to existing studies investigating these relations among immigrant youth. While paths between (a) perceived peer alcohol use or (b) perceived injunctive social norms and participants’ alcohol use were significant, path coefficients between acculturation and either (a) perceived peer alcohol use or (b) perceived injunctive social norms were not statistically significant. In addition, multiple-group comparisons suggested that social support had a significant moderating influence on several significant paths in the structural model. Specifically, international students reporting higher social support reported lower scores for acculturative stress and alcohol use, in contrast to their counterparts who reported lower scores for social support.

This study explores a form of transnational economy that involves cross border movements of students, families and business people that are motivated by education. A main objective of the study is to explore the interplay of structural factors and the agency of migrants in the development of this industry. Using interview data collected in Seoul, Korea and Vancouver, Canada, this study demonstrates that the globalization of the international education industry is not simply an economic process but a by-product of complex relations between many economic and non-economic factors. The intensification of globalization in general, and the rise of neo-liberalism in particular, have introduced macro structural changes in the political economies of both Korea and Canada that have had important implications for growth in the education industry. The role of nation-states is critical in that both Korean and Canadian national governments have delivered more relaxed policies regulating international migration and educational flows between the two countries. At the local level, both public and post-secondary educational institutions in Vancouver have become actively engaged in recruiting fee-paying international students. Ordinary migrants, both permanent residents and temporary visitors, play an important role in promoting Canadian education in the global market as well. The successful recruitment activities of local schools (and school boards) have been facilitated by Korean international education agencies operating in Vancouver. Relying on close social and cultural linkages between Korea and Canada, the transnational entrepreneurial activities of Korean immigrants demonstrate how globalization actually works in practice. With strong motivation and spatial mobility, the rising demands of Korean students and their parents have also been an important precursor of recent industrial growth. This seemingly smooth growth of the international education industry between Seoul and Vancouver, however, masks more complex dynamics of the process. I provide four critiques on taken-for-granted approaches towards neo-liberalism and economic globalization. Exploring immigrant participation at the heart of the knowledge economy (education), this study also asks if the entrepreneurial opportunities that are being cultivated by Korean-immigrants represent an innovative shift from traditional and low-level ethnic niche economies toward more lucrative opportunities. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.