A new study by researchers from the University of Gujrat in Pakistan suggests that national identity may be an indicator of which international students are more likely to face psychological challenges adapting to life studying in Australia.
A study of 350 international students studying in Australia examined the impact of national identity on adapting to their new university life here.
The students, from Pakistan, India, Nepal and China had all lived in Australia for six months or more, were studying in an Australian university and identified as not suffering serious physical or mental health problems prior to engaging with researchers.
The study found that Indian students had to make a considerable psychological adjustment to adapt to studying in Australia, while Chinese students tended to require relatively low levels of adjustment.
While the paper notes a higher incidence of self-reported adaption challenges among Indian students, it does not appear to demonstrate a causal relationship between the adaption challenges of students and national identity, or rule out other factors which may have influenced the results (connection to diaspora, gender, age, socio economic status, living conditions in Australia, occupational status, relationship status, connection to community etc). However, the study still raises some interesting points – noting for example that it is significantly more common to struggle with adapting to life in Australian communities than study demands.
“Language and communication challenges were considered as the biggest obstacles to adjusting to life in Australia by participants (84.3%), more often than the demands of university coursework (55.0%),” the authors reported.
“The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of considering national identity in the design of student support services which have the potential to improve our understanding of the psychological adjustment of international students,” the paper states.