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International students in Kazakhstan
International Journal of Comparative Education and Development Pub Date : 2019-08-12 , DOI: 10.1108/ijced-07-2018-0024
Dinara Mukhamejanova

Purpose Kazakhstan has taken considerable steps to improve the incoming mobility of international students; however, despite these measures, the number of international students studying in Kazakhstan is still very low. Research indicates that in order to attract and retain international students it is necessary to build a thorough understanding of their experiences in the host country. The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of international students’ experiences in Kazakhstan by exploring how they exercise their human agency while adapting to the academic and socio-cultural life in Kazakhstan. Design/methodology/approach The author used a purposeful criterion sampling to select six international students from Afghanistan, Great Britain, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine and the USA studying at Kazakhstani universities to participate in this research. The primary data collection was semi-structured in-depth interviews. Supportive methods included a demographic questionnaire and a researcher journal. Findings The study revealed that the international students actively employed their human agency to negotiate their studying and to adapt to their life in Kazakhstan. They did not simply adjust to the host environment, but also learned from it and attempted to transform it according to their circumstances and goals. Research limitations/implications The implication is that Kazakhstani universities and any other higher education institutions that seek to increase the number of their international students should consider not only how to attract these students, but also how to adapt their institution’s practices and regulations to create an inclusive learning environment for their diverse student population. It is also very important for higher education institutions to provide international students with the necessary conditions to exercise their human agency because as it was revealed by this study, international students’ human agency is a very powerful mechanism helping them live and learn comfortably in their host country. Originality/value Taking into consideration the reviewed previous research, this was the first attempt to use Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory for the purpose of building an understanding about how international students exercise their agency while adapting to the academic and socio-cultural life in the host country. The social cognitive theory allows investigating international students as active and self-sufficient agents of their own adaptation process who can and do change themselves, and have the potential to navigate and alter their host environment to achieve their own goals. This study encourages researchers and practitioners to think about international students outside the dimension of internationalization as a means of improving country’s economic capital.

中文翻译:

哈萨克斯坦的国际学生

目的哈萨克斯坦已采取重大步骤来改善国际学生的来往流动性;但是,尽管采取了这些措施,但在哈萨克斯坦学习的国际学生人数仍然很少。研究表明,为了吸引和留住国际学生,有必要对他们在东道国的经历有透彻的了解。本文的目的是通过探索国际学生在适应哈萨克斯坦的学术和社会文化生活的同时如何行使其人的才能来更好地了解他们在哈萨克斯坦的经历。设计/方法/方法作者使用有目的的标准抽样从阿富汗,英国,俄罗斯,韩国,乌克兰和美国在哈萨克斯坦大学学习,参加了这项研究。主要数据收集是半结构化的深度访谈。支持方法包括人口调查表和研究者杂志。调查结果表明,国际学生积极聘用了他们的人事代理机构来谈判他们的学习并适应他们在哈萨克斯坦的生活。他们不仅可以适应宿主环境,还可以从宿主环境中学到并尝试根据自己的情况和目标对其进行改造。研究的局限性/含义这意味着哈萨克斯坦的大学和任何其他寻求增加其国际学生人数的高等教育机构都不仅应考虑如何吸引这些学生,以及如何调整其机构的做法和规定,以为其多样化的学生群体创造包容性学习环境。高等教育机构为国际学生提供必要的条件以行使其人际关系也是非常重要的,因为正如本研究表明的那样,国际学生的人际关系是一种非常强大的机制,可以帮助他们在寄宿家庭中舒适地生活和学习国家。原创性/价值考虑到先前的回顾研究,这是首次尝试使用阿尔伯特·班杜拉(Albert Bandura)的社会认知理论,目的是了解国际学生如何在适应寄宿家庭的学术和社会文化生活的同时行使其代理权国家。社会认知理论允许将国际学生调查为他们自己的适应过程的活跃和自给自足的代理人,他们可以而且确实会改变自己,并有可能导航和改变其寄宿环境以实现自己的目标。这项研究鼓励研究人员和从业人员在国际化范围之外思考国际学生,以提高国家的经济资本。
更新日期:2019-08-12
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