Acculturation and enculturation of the majority group across domains

Abstract

With the growing internationalization of higher education (HE) and mobility of students worldwide, campuses have become more multicultural, facilitating diverse cultural encounters and challenges for the majority student group. This study explored their acculturation and enculturation domains, and the factors that influence them in the internationalized HE field. Our qualitative method included the collection and analysis of documents and interviews with 60 students and 11 staff members at a Sino-foreign cooperative university in China, representing a typical hybrid global HE field with high-level internationalization. Our findings showed that most Chinese students possess different cognitive, behavioral, and affective or value domains during academic, social, and ethnic acculturation and enculturation. Moreover, the internationalization logic of the institution and important actors, including international staff and co-national peers, impacts the acculturation and enculturation of the majority student group. Our findings have practical implications for academics, HE institution administrators, and policymakers in facilitating students’ acculturation and enculturation.