Abstract
The growing multicultural environments of higher learning institutions have broadened the scope of cultural interactions among students of diverse cultural backgrounds. The current study attempted to investigate the influence of the intercultural sensitivity and knowledge sharing attitude on life satisfaction of international students in three private universities in Malaysia. The study adopted quantitative research methods, and the sample for the study were 300 international students in the undergraduate programme. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between predictors and life satisfaction. The final regression model revealed that 22.72% of the variance in life satisfaction of international students could be explained by the predictor variable intercultural sensitivity while knowledge sharing attitude did not contribute to the regression model. The study has brought new insights into understanding the life satisfaction of international students. The study concluded with relevant recommendations that are needed to be implemented to improve the intercultural sensitivity, knowledge sharing attitude and life satisfaction of international students.
Highlights
Over the past decades, due to globalisation and the knowledge-driven economy, the education industry has experienced a rapid uplift in the internationalisation of higher education
In contrary to the expectations, this study found that knowledge sharing attitude is not a significant predictor of life satisfaction of international students
The current study presented the cross-sectional and empirical evidence for the life satisfaction of international students in relation to their intercultural sensitivity and knowledge sharing attitude
Summary
Due to globalisation and the knowledge-driven economy, the education industry has experienced a rapid uplift in the internationalisation of higher education. The emergence of knowledge-driven economy has allowed educational institutions to be more open for international students in pursuing their higher education and preparing them for the future workforce demands. Due to the significant flow of international students, higher learning institutions derive international character with social responsibilities in strengthening the cultural ties to broaden the scope of cultural interactions among students from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this perspective, intercultural sensitivity encourages international students to adopt enthusiastically to their environment, and the attrition rate of these students could be avoided. Raising intercultural sensitivity of international students enhances their ability to make meaningful interpretations of the culture, norms, values and community practices which ascertain satisfied life during their interim of stay in the host country
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