Background: Between the years 2009 and 2010, an average of approximately 5 400
applications were received at the University of KwaZulu-Natal from international
students (Division of Management Information, 2010). Knowledge of international
students is essential to higher education institutions. It can be said that international
students have become a vibrant part of the diversity in South Africa’s education sector
and provide immense benefits to our economy, educational institutions, local students
and educators. However, there exists a paucity of research on the post-choice
perceptions of international students.
Purpose and Methods: The purpose of the study was to assess the post-choice
perceptions of international students (undergraduate and postgraduate) at UKZN, with
special references to diversity challenges. A cross-sectional/survey design using
questionnaires, with both descriptive and analytical components was employed. Ethical
clearance was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the
University of KwaZulu-Natal. The researcher randomly chose 300 students from an
updated listing of the registered international students chosen by the generation of random numbers to achieve the objectives of the study. The researcher surveyed the 300
students which were easiest to get a hold of who were contacted via email and invited to
participate in the study. The responses of 280 international students were analysed. All
data was processed and analysed using the SPSS version 15.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago,
Illinois, USA). For all statistical comparisons, the 5% significance level was used;
correspondingly, 95% confidence intervals were used to describe effect size.
Results and Conclusion: The identified diversity challenges experienced by
international students at higher education institutions were found to be: language and
communication; social interaction across race/ethnicity; discrimination; pedagogical
approaches; finances; interracial conflict/tension; curriculum; assessment methods;
lifestyle adjustment; campus services and facilities; classroom diversity; staff and,
lastly, campus administration and policies. The results established that financial issues
(insufficient financial aid and part-time/casual jobs); a lack of platforms for social and
interracial mixing; campus residency (insufficient space and an inconducive learning environment); and a lack of hosts on arrival are the predominant diversity challenges
experienced by international students at UKZN. At the 95% level, where p<0.05, the
results indicated significant differences in the perception of language and
communication (p= .009) and assessment methods (p= .006) between undergraduate
and postgraduate respondents. The undergraduate students have a higher score than the
postgraduate students. This finding signifies that postgraduate respondents displayed a
slightly stronger level of agreement for language and communication and assessment
methods being a challenge compared to the undergraduate respondents. Therefore, the
writer attempted to provide recommendations from the results and findings to ensure a
truly diverse and united university. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/9750 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Maharaj, Preesha. |
| Contributors | Perumal, Sadhasivan. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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