Research Paper Background information

There are many areas that international students have difficulties with as they are adjusting to their lives in their host country. This paper will address the cultural challenges encountered by international students studying in universities and outline the most helpful things for international students in different colleges and universities through student services and other international students departments. The biggest issues that international students have when making cultural adjustments are language problems, finding housing, finding food to eat, feeling isolated from the community, encountering cultural misunderstandings and being racially discriminated against. I will research each of these issues and state what is being done about them. In this study, a more broader definition of culture coined by Milton J. Bennett  in 2001 will be used. Culture is, “the pattern of beliefs, behaviors and values maintained by groups of interacting people.” (Milton, 2001).

Middle Eastern Students in Foreign Universities

Students from all over the world come to study at universities in the US and EU each year. Universities based in other countries also offer international programs which attract students from all over the world. Middle Eastern Student have also shown a great interest in going abroad to study. In fact there has been increased in the number of these students going abroad.

In 2014/13, 53,919 Saudi student went to US to study (International Student Totals by Place of Origin, 2012/13-2013/14). This is a 21% increase compares to the number of students in 2012/13. In the same way there was a 43% increase for students from Kuwait.

Middle Eastern Students also go to European universities to study college and university level courses. 27,520 Middle Eastern students went to UK in 2014/13 which is a 4% increase compared to the year 2012/2013 (Data on students from overseas studying in the UK, 2015).

There have been more Saudi students studying abroad compared to other Middle Eastern countries based on the statistics provided by UNSECO in 2012. In 2012 62,535 Saudi students went abroad to study at universities in the UK, US, Australia, Jordan and Canada. They were followed by Iranian students. In 2012 51,549 Iranian students went abroad to study in Malaysia, US, UK, UAE and Italy.

The Cultural Adjustment Process

There are many difficulties that international students encounter as they adjust to their new lives in their host countries. According to previous research, “For example, one survey revealed that many international students encounter language problems, accommodation difficulties, dietary restrictions, financial stress, social isolation, cultural misunderstandings, and racial discrimination” (Lin and Yi 1997: 473). The problems they face range from basic human needs such as finding food because of dietary limits based on cultural tradition and accommodations to social issues that can turn into serious mental and psychological disorders if left untreated.

Cultural adjustment is very important for international students and different people have different ways that they adapt and transition to their new lives abroad. The University of California’s Berkeley International Office provides a clear look into how cultural adjustment occurs, “The typical pattern of cultural adjustment often consists of distinct phases: Honeymoon, Crisis, Recovery and Adjustment” (Oberg and Gallohorn 1963: 142). Please see Fig.1 below.

The university of California, Barkeley’s International Office has trained Counsellors at their Health Services to assist in smoothly passing through the “W” curve (“Cultural Adjustment | Berkeley International Office,”). The first stage of cultural adjustment is the “Honeymoon Phase”, which is shown in the Fig.1 “W” Curve above from Oberg (1960) and Gallohorn and Gallohorn (1963) escribes feelings of excitement when someone enters a new culture. In this stage, the student sees the differences between their culture and their new environment but usually focuses on the positive things. After this happy case, the “crisis phase” begins when the student usually feels culture shock, which is described as having anxiety and feelings of confusion. In this stage, students are trying to figure out what is culturally okay to do and what isn’t and also feel dislike about some parts of the new culture they find themselves in. In this stage feelings of disappointed and a sense of failure can appears. The last stage of Cultural Adjustment is Recovery and Adjustment. In this stage positive effects can be experienced because of increasing self – confidence, improved self motivation, and cultural sensitivity. Students often become adjusted once they start learning more about the culture and spending more time in the country students begin to adjust. Understanding the three stages of Cultural Adjustment is very important for students so that they can understand what to expect.

The two factors that will be focused in this paper are dietary International students belong to diverse cultural and religious backgrounds and therefore they might have specific dietary preferences. These student may have challenges in adjusting to the new environment as a result of a cultural shock. Therefor they could find themselves in a state of social isolation. I would like to discuss these factors in detail in the below of the discussion.

Dietary Restrictions Information

Most campus’s offer a lot of different food types without considering international students because they already have to care for demotic students who lead different dietary lifestyles. Common dietary restrictions for international students include a vegetarian diets or diets without certain meats such as pork or red meat. Dietary restrictions are a cultural challenge for international students because a lot of people have certain things that they are not allowed to eat based on their customs and traditions, and religion.  For example, Mormonism restricts Mormons from having caffeine and alcohol. The exact number of international Morman students is unknown. Most Buddhists are vegetarians. As well as Hinduism does not allow Hindus to eat beef. In Islam, Muslims cannot eat pork or have alcohol. In Judaism, Jewish people cannot eat pork or shellfish and they cannot eat meat and dairy in the same meal. See Appendix.1 for complete details on religious dietary restrictions from the (The United States National Agricultural Library 2005).
For most colleges offering different cafeteria options is standard policy. It is standard that most campus’s have at least one place that offers vegetarian meals for students and staff. Since the campus already offers different food options living on campus for students could mean that finding food for their dietary restrictions becomes easier than living off campus and finding options of the meal.

Some universities and colleges are doing a great job trying to make sure that everyone can eat on campus regardless of dietary restrictions. For example, at McGill University has started a “Meatless Monday program” where all food options on campus become vegetarian for the day. They do not limit their vegetarian options at McGill university, “These options include vegetable stir-fries, pizzas, tofu and veggie brochettes on the grill, gourmet paninis, curries, Asian-inspired dishes, and vegetarian lasagnas.” (Hall 2013: 18). Other universities can adapt similar programs to help make sure that they are taking care of the growing needs of all of their students including international students.

Social Isolation

Social Isolation is a result of a cultural challenge associated with adapting to a new culture. There are many examples when international students feel socially isolated while they are on campus. This isolation can turn into depression and or anxiety from feeling suddenly alone. According to previous research, “findings suggest that international students frequently experience cultural isolation, homesickness, and lack of support from their American peers” (Olivas and Li 2006:220). While there is little social interaction between international students and American students there are some practices that universities are doing to make the divide smaller and provide opportunities for all students to get to know each other better. At a university in the East Coast researchers found that the International Student Services office made an effort to connect international and American students weekly. “In addition to assisting with visa issues and other paperwork, the office also arranged a welcome orientation and weekly coffee hour event” (Redwood 2010: 394). This coffee hour was attended by other international students and very few American students came. However, it is not clear whether American students were not interested in coming or if they did not receive an email invitation the event.

There are different expectations of friendships from the viewpoint of international students. According to the functional model of friendship network, “international students typically form three different types of social networks, co – nationals, multinational, and host” (Bochner, McLeoud and Lin 1977: 278).

In Australia, a multicultural intervention program proved effective in building multicultural friendships between international students and later between international students and local students (Woods, Poropat, Barker,Hills, Hibbins, and Borbasi ,2013) (SOURCE). The intervention program was in the form of a field trip taking new international students with senior international students to a popular tourist attraction in Australia. All students had to ride a bus to get to the destination and this was helpful in building connections and practicing dialogue in the local language. Participating in the local language is key to building self confidence and results in international students gaining more local friends than those who do not feel comfortable speaking in the local language. “Participating in multicultural programs requires participants to interact in the local language in a friendly atmosphere, and this can facilitate participants with non-native language background to increase their skills and confidence in social interactions” (Abe et al 1998: 543). It was found that such interventions in the long run lead international students to have more local friends than other international students who did not participate in the program. The results of the experiment concluded that “the expansion of friendship ties was greater among the programmed participants” (Sakurai, Wolf, and Kashima 2010: 179).

This program proved to be helpful in international students for building friendships among other international students as well as with local students. Having these friendships are important because of the feelings of social isolation that international students can have when adjusting to a new culture.