Acculturation strategy, acculturative stress and academic performance in first-year Chinese international students at an American college

Abstract

Chinese nationals represent the largest subgroup of international students in America today. Consisting of over 30% of all international students at American colleges and universities, this large and growing student body represents a significant source of diversity, cultural exchange and enrollment. With the expansion of this distinct student population, institutions of higher education have recognized an increasing responsibility to understand the specific suite of challenges these students face during their cultural and linguistic transition. The purpose of this research is threefold: to assess the most common acculturation strategy in first-year Chinese international students; to investigate the association of acculturative stress to academic performance, and to explore the relationships of a variety of demographic characteristics with acculturation strategy, acculturative stress, and first-year GPA. This study is the first of its kind to combine demographic data with the results of Bai's Acculturative Stress Scale for Chinese Student (ASSCS) and Barry's East Asian Acculturation Measure (EAAM) in first-year Chinese international students at an American College. Its results confirm significant correlations between students' acculturation strategy, acculturative stress levels, and first-year GPA. In addition, a select group of demographic characteristics were analyzed and found to be significantly correlated with acculturative stress and/or academic performance, including: family income level, parental education level, fluency in multiple Chinese dialects, prior visits to the U.S., national origin of roommates, number of close American friends, and high school GPA.