Academic Satisfaction of International Students at Irish Higher Education Institutions: The Role of Region of Origin and Cultural Distance in the Context of Marketization

Mairéad Finn,Georgiana Mihut,Merike Darmody

doi:10.1177/10283153211027009

Abstract

Internationalization of higher education has increased the diversity of the student body at higher education institutions. There is evidence that the experiences of international students vary according to their region of origin, but trends on a larger scale remain underexamined. Drawing on Eurostudent VI data from the Republic of Ireland, this article investigates how academic satisfaction varies between students from different global regions of origin and from national settings with distinct cultural distance characteristics. Results suggest that international students have higher levels of academic satisfaction than Irish students, but that differences between students from diverse regions of origin persist. In addition, international students originating from a national context with high power distance, irrespective of levels of individualism, have higher levels of academic satisfaction compared with Irish students. Furthermore, self-perception of being a detached customer rather than an equal partner in education has the strongest association with academic satisfaction, suggesting that commercialization trends affect both international and domestic students.

Highlights

International students’ enrolment in higher education (HE) has expanded considerably in recent decades, as the position of internationalization has become firmly established on the policy agenda (de Wit et al, 2015)
How academic satisfaction varies between domestic students and international students from different global regions of origin enrolled at HE institutions remains underexplored
Irish and international students were comparable in relation to sex; the extent to which they reported experiencing economic difficulty; and type of HE institution attended

Summary

Introduction

International students’ enrolment in higher education (HE) has expanded considerably in recent decades, as the position of internationalization has become firmly established on the policy agenda (de Wit et al, 2015). Challenges include, but are not limited to, adjusting to an unfamiliar culture, financial and accommodation constraints, balancing work and study, experiencing different learning styles, and difficulties with the language of instruction (de Wit et al, 2015). These occur in increasingly marketized education contexts, in which students can be viewed as customers (Brooks et al, 2020). Few studies have explored how the experiences of international students vary by region of origin and cultural distance from their host country. How academic satisfaction varies between domestic students and international students from different global regions of origin enrolled at HE institutions remains underexplored

Methods

Results

Conclusion