Abstracts
Abstract
This paper uses lived experiences to critically examine the orientation of international graduate students at research-intensive Canadian universities. We, five co-authors, embody diverse ethnic, racial, sexual, religious, national, and gender identities, yet are all (or have been) international graduate students in Canada. Through collaborative autoethnography, we destabilize the notion of “orientation.” We argue that international student orientation should be understood as a fluid, ongoing process rather than one with rigid boundaries and timelines. Furthermore, orientation programming should more deeply consider the intersecting identities and positionalities of international students as multifaced individuals, as well as the implicit expectations of one-way “integration” into settler-colonial Canadian society. We suggest a different approach to orientation and offer a conceptual framework to guide future practice, highlighting the role universities play in not only supporting students academically but also in (im)migrant settlement.
Download the article in PDF to read it.
Download
Appendices
Bibliography
- Ahmed, S. (2017). Living a feminist life. Duke University Press.
- Arthur, N. (2017). Supporting international students through strengthening their social resources. Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 887–894. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293876
- Brunner, L. R. (2017). Higher educational institutions as emerging immigrant selection actors: A history of British Columbia’s retention of international graduates, 2001–2016. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 1(1), 22–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2016.1243016
- Brunner, L. R. (2022a). “Edugration” as a wicked problem: Higher education and three-step immigration. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 13(5S), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v13i5S.4061
- Brunner, L. R. (2022b). Towards a more just Canadian education-migration system: International student mobility in crisis. Studies in Social Justice, 16(1), 79–102. https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v16i1.2685
- Beech, S. (2017). International student mobility: A critical overview. In T. Abebe, J. Waters, & T. Skelton (Eds.), Labouring and learning (pp. 285–303). Springer.
- Berry, J. W. (1980). Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In A. Padilla (Ed.), Acculturation: Theory, models, and some new findings (pp. 9–25). Westview.
- Braun, C., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
- Brooks, R., & Waters, J. (2011). Student mobilities, migration and the internationalization of higher education. Springer.
- Calder, M. J., Richter, S., Mao, Y., Burns, K. K., Mogale, R. S., & Danko, M. (2016). International students attending Canadian universities: Their experiences with housing, finances, and other issues. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(2), 92–110. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v46i2.184585
- Carson, B. M. (2008). Research on the experiences of international graduate students: A selective literature review. DLPS Faculty Publications, 62. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlps_fac_pub/62
- Castro, P., Woodin, J., Lundgren, U., & Byram, M. (2016). Student mobility and internationalisation in higher education: perspectives from practitioners. Language and Intercultural Communication, 16(3), 418–436.
- Champagne, S. R. (2021, November 26). Un outil informatique mis en cause dans la hausse des refus de permis d’études [A computer software is accused of increasing the rate of international student permits' rejection]. Le Devoir. https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/650031/immigration-un-outil-informatique-mis-en-cause-dans-la-hausse-des-refus-de-permis-d-etudes
- Chen, C. (2021). (Un)Making the international student a settler of colour: A decolonising autoethnography. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(5), 743–762. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2020.1850513
- Choi, Y., Brunner, M., & Traini, H. (2021). Partial, (in)authentic, and masked: An exploration of power in doctoral students’ identity development as scholars through collaborative autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1891320
- Coate, K., & Rathnayake, G. (2013). An ethical commitment: Responsibility, care and cosmopolitanism in the internationalized university. In S. Sovic & M. Blythman (Eds.), International students negotiating higher education: Critical perspectives (pp. 39–53). Routledge.
- Crenshaw K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8). https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
- Crossman, E., Choi, Y., & Hou, F. (2021). International students as a source of labour supply: The growing number of international students and their changing sociodemographic characteristics. Statistics Canada Economic and Social Report (Catalogue no. 36-28-0001). https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202100700005-eng
- Cruz, J., McDonald, J., Broadfoot, K., Chuang, A. K., & Ganesh, S. (2020). “Aliens” in the United States: A collaborative autoethnography of foreign-born faculty. Journal of Management Inquiry, 29(3), 272–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492618796561
- Cui, D., Arthur, N., & Domene, J. F. (2017). Accompanying partners of international students: Reflections on three issues. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47(1), 171–190.
- Davis, K. (2008). Intersectionality as buzzword: A sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist theory successful. Feminist Theory, 9(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700108086364
- El Masri, A., & Khan, N. (2022). International students’ lived experiences: A review of literature. Sheridan College Centre for Global Education and Internationalization. https://source.sheridancollege.ca/cgei_resources/1
- Elkchirid, A., Ngo, A., & Kumsa, M. K. (2020). Narrating colonial silences: Racialized social work educators unsettling our settlerhood. Studies in Social Justice, 14(2), 287–305. https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v14i2.2215
- England, K. (2006). Producing feminist geographies: Theory, methodologies and research strategies. In G. Valentine & S. C. Aitken (Eds.), Approaches to human geography (pp. 286–297). Sage.
- Flynn, E., & Bauder, H. (2014). The private sector, institutions of higher education, and immigrant settlement in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 16(3), 539–556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0369-x
- Frenette, M., Choi, Y., & Doreleyers, A. (2020). International student enrolment in post-secondary education programs prior to COVID-19. Statistics Canada Economic Insights (Catalogue no. 11-626-X — 2020003 - No. 105). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2020003-eng.pdf
- Frenette, M., Lu, Yuqian, & Chan, W. (2019). The post-secondary experience and early labour market outcomes of international study permit holders. Statistics Canada Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series (Catalogue no. 11F0019M — No. 431). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2019019-eng.pdf
- Friday, N. R. (2018). A study of factors contributing to acculturation stress for international graduate students in a small non-profit graduate school (10838083) [Doctoral dissertation, Nova Southeastern University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
- Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective. (2021). Letter to prospective immigrants to what is known as Canada. https://decolonialfutures.net/portfolio/letter-to-prospective-immigrants
- Godley, J. (2018). Everyday discrimination in Canada: Prevalence and patterns. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 43(2), 111–42. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs29346
- Goh, K. (2019). International students who seek permanent residence: Service providers’ perspective of available supports in Guelph-Wellington [Report]. http://www.guelphwellingtonlip.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/LIP-International-Students-Report-2019_Final_AODA.pdf
- Goodkind, S., Kim, M. E., Zelnick, J. R., Bay-Cheng, L. Y., Beltrán, R., Diaz, M., Gibson, M. F., Harrell, S., Kanuha, K., Moulding, N., Mountz, S., Sacks, T. K., Simon, B. L., Toft, J., & Walton, Q. L. (2021). Critical feminisms: Principles and practices for feminist inquiry in social work. Affilia, 36(4), 481–487. https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099211043166
- Gopal, A. (2016). Academic experiences of international graduate students: The Canadian perspective in the context of internationalization. In K. Bista, & C. Foster (Eds.), Exploring the social and academic experiences of international students in higher education institutions (pp. 21-37). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-9749-2.ch002
- Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation in American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins. Oxford University Press.
- Gregson, N., Kothari, U., Cream, J., Dwyer, C., Holloway, S., Maddrell A. & Rose, G. (2013). Gender in feminist geography. In Women and geography study group (Eds.), Feminist geographies: Explorations in diversity and difference (pp. 49–85). Routledge.
- Guo, Y., & Guo, S. (2017). Internationalization of Canadian higher education: Discrepancies between policies and international student experiences. Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 851–868.
- Hernandez, K. C., Ngunjiri, F. W., & Chang, H. (2015). Exploiting the margins in higher education: A collaborative autoethnography of three foreign-born female faculty of color. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(5), 533–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2014.933910
- Hill Collins, P., & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Polity Press.
- Houtkamp, C. (2015). Beyond assimilation and integration: The shift to “national” and “transnational” inclusion. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, European and Regional Studies, 8, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1515/auseur-2015-0014
- Huxur, G., Mansfield, E., Nnazor, R., Schuetze, H., & Segwa, M. (1996). Learning needs and adaptation problems of foreign graduate students [Professional file]. Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, 15, 1–16.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC]. (2019, April 1). Temporary residents: Eligibility and admissibility considerations. Operational instructions and guidelines: Functional guidance on temporary residents. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/visitors/eligibility-admissibility-considerations.html
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC]. (2021). IRCC Anti-Racism Employee Focus groups. Executive Summary. https://www.publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2021/ircc/Ci4-224-2021-1-eng.pdf
- Indelicato, M. E. (2018). Australia’s new migrants: International students’ history of affective encounters with the border. Routledge.
- Institute of International Education. (2019). A quick look at global mobility trends. Project Atlas 2019 release. https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Project-Atlas/Explore-Data/Infographics/2019-Project-Atlas-Infographics
- Johnstone, M., & Lee, E. (2014). Branded: International education and 21st-century Canadian immigration, education policy, and the welfare state. International Social Work, 57(3), 209–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872813508572
- Jones, E. (2017). Problematising and re-imagining the notion of “international student experience.” Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 933–943. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293880
- Karki, K. K. (2016). Walking the complexities between two worlds: A personal story of epistemological tensions in knowledge production. Qualitative Social Work, 15(5–6), 628–639. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016652678
- Karki, K. K., Chi, M., Grosset, C., Vasic, J., Gokani, R., & Kumsa, M. K. (2018). Entering precarious job markets in the era of austerity measures: The perceptions of MSW students. Critical and Radical Social Work, 6(3), 291–310. https://www.doi.org/10.1332/204986018X15388224539606
- Kenyon, K., Frohard-Dourlent, H., & Roth, W. D. (2012). Falling between the cracks: Ambiguities of international student status in Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 42(1), 1-24.
- Kim, H. J. (2020). “Where are you from? Your English is so good”: A Korean female scholar's autoethnography of academic imperialism in U.S. higher education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(5), 491–507. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1681551
- Kim, T., & Reichmuth, H. L. (2021). Exploring cultural logic in becoming teacher: A collaborative autoethnography on transnational teaching and learning. Professional Development in Education, 47(2–3), 257–272. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2020.1862278
- King, R. & Raghuram, P. (2013). International student migration: Mapping the field and new research agendas. Population, Space and Place, 19, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1746
- Klarenbeek, L. M. (2021). Reconceptualising “integration as a two-way process.” Migration Studies, 9(3), 902921. https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnz033
- Kwok, T. K. (2016). Maximizing the experience of international graduate students: A case-study (10247971) [Doctoral dissertation, Drexel University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
- Lapadat, J. C. (2017). Ethics in autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(8), 589–603. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800417704462
- Lee, J. J., & Rice, C. (2007). Welcome to America? International student perceptions of discrimination. Higher Education, 53(3), 381–409.
- Lei, D., Woodend, J. D., Nutter, S. K., Ryan, A. R., & Cairns, S. L. (2015). The forgotten half: Understanding the unique needs of international student partners. Journal of International Students, 5(4), 447–458. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v5i4.407
- Madge, C., Raghuram, P., & Noxolo, P. (2014). Conceptualizing international education: From international student to international study. Progress in Human Geography, 39(6), 681–701.
- Marginson, S. (2013). Equals or others? Mobile students in a nationally bordered world. In S. Sovic & M. Blythman (Eds.), International students negotiating higher education: Critical perspectives (pp. 9–27). Routledge.
- Mattsson, T. (2014). Intersectionality as a useful tool: Anti-oppressive social work and critical reflection. Affilia, 29(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109913510659
- McCartney, D. M. (2021). A brief history of 50 years of international student policy in Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 51(2), 33–50.
- Mehra, B. (2004). The cross-cultural learning process of international doctoral students: A case study in library and information science education (3160923) [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
- Muller, T., & Adamson, J. (2018). Living as the Other in Japan: Two expatriate academics in the academy. In S. Khadka, J. Davis-McElligatt, & K. Dorwick (Eds.), Narratives of marginalized identities in higher education: Inside and outside the academy (pp. 175–187). Routledge. https://www.doi.org/10.4324/9781351067669-15
- Nikoi, N. K. (2019). Reflections of an international graduate student in a North American communication department. Media, Culture & Society, 41(3), 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443719831183
- Pathways to Prosperity: Canada. (n.d.). Pathways to prosperity Canada. Home. https://p2pcanada.ca
- Pidgeon, M., & Andres, L. (2005, November). Demands, challenges, and rewards: The first year experiences of international and domestic students at four Canadian universities [Research report]. http://edst-educ.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2013/06/National-1st-Year-Student-Experiences-report-2005-FINAL.pdf
- Ploner, J., & Nada, C. (2020). International student migration and the postcolonial heritage of European higher education: Perspectives from Portugal and the UK. Higher Education, 80(2), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00485-2
- Preston, V. A., Murnaghan, A. M., & Murdie, R. A. (2006). The housing situation and needs of recent immigrants in the Toronto CMA. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
- Rains, S. (2014). Supporting the families of international graduate students with accompanying dependents [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Oregon State University. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/nz8063355
- Reichert, P. (2020). Internationalization & career-focused programming for international students: A qualitative study of universities in Canada [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Calgary. http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37402
- Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2014). Redefining academic mobility: From the pursuit of scholarship to the pursuit of tevenue. In A. Maldonado-Maldonado & R. M. Bassett (Eds.), The forefront of international higher education: A festschrift in honor of Philip G. Altbach (pp.115-126 ). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7085-0_8
- Rogers, B. (2019). Towards cognitive justice in higher education: Rethinking the teaching of educational leadership with international students. Studies in Continuing Education, 41(3), 347–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2018.1520209
- Rose-Redwood, C. A., & Rose-Redwood, R. (2017). Rethinking the politics of the international student experience in the age of Trump. Journal of International Students, 7(3), p. i–ix. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v7i3.201
- Roy, R., Uekusa, S., & Karki, J. (2021). Multidimensional, complex and contingent: Exploring international PhD students’ social mobility. Ethnicities, 21(5), 827–851. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1468796820966706
- Samanhudi, U. (2021). A reflexive account of an Indonesian international student’s challenges and opportunities in a UK university’s doctoral education program. Journal of International Students, 11(1), 144–155. https://www.doi.org/10.32674/jis.v11i1.1096
- Seniuk Cicek, J., Paul, R., Sheridan, P. K., Kuley, L. (2020). Researchers explore their roles as participant-researchers in characterizing the lived experiences of graduate students in engineering education research in Canada: A collaborative autoethnography. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 20, 98–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42330-019-00075-5
- Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 21–78). University of Illinois Press.
- Spivak, G. C. (2004). Righting wrongs. The South Atlantic Quarterly, 103(2/3), 523–581.
- Statistics Canada. (2020, November 25). International students accounted for all of the growth in post-secondary enrolments in 2018/2019. The Daily. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201125/dq201125e-eng.htm
- Stein, S., & Andreotti, V. (2016). Cash, competition, or charity: international students and the global imaginary. Higher Education, 72(2): 225–239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9949-8
- Tao, W. (2021, March 9). Five things I wish international students knew before applying for Canadian study permits. Vancouver Immigration Blog. https://vancouverimmigrationblog.com/five-things-i-wish-international-students-knew-before-applying-for-canadian-study-permit/
- Toyosaki, S., Pensoneau-Conway, S. L., Wendt, N. A., & Leathers, K. (2009). Community autoethnography: Compiling the personal and resituating whiteness. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 9(1), 56–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708608321498
- Vellanki, V., & Prince, S. P. (2018). Where are the “people like me”?: A collaborative autoethnography of transnational lives and teacher education in the U.S. The Teacher Educator, 53(3), 313–327. https://www.doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2018.1462873
- Wahyuni. (2012). The research design maze: Understanding paradigms, cases, methods and methodologies. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 10(1), 69–80. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2103082
- Walton-Roberts, M. W. (2011). Immigration, the university and the welcoming second tier city. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 12, 453–473.
- Womujuni, V. (2007). The challenges international students face in adjusting to their new status as graduate students: an exploratory case study (3972) [Doctoral dissertation, Portland State University]. PDXScholar. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5870