Campus life key to overseas students’ good experience
With a major focus in recent years on improved numbers of foreign students, the researchers sought to establish what drives positive experiences for those who attend Irish colleges.
From 2013 to 2015 alone, the number of full-time international undergraduates grew from just over 13,000 to more than 18,000, up from over 5,000 15 years ago.
Mairéad Finn of Trinity College Dublin’s school of social work and social policy undertook the study with Merike Dermody of the Economic and Social Research Institute. They analysed responses of 607 international full-time students in Ireland to the Eurostudent IV study in 2009 and 2010.
A key finding was that the institution a student attends is the factor associated most strongly with being very satisfied with their studies. Those who were happy with the college were five times more likely to have the highest level of satisfaction.
Having good friends at college was also strongly related to high satisfaction, illustrating the importance of social context and social networks.
“Broader social context such as having good friends and being in good health shapes how international students feel about their study in Ireland,” wrote the authors in a research bulletin on their findings published by the ESRI.
“In order to ensure high student satisfaction, third-level institutions can focus on approaches to enhance their on-campus experience, including their social experience,” they wrote.
They said the findings suggest a need to address challenges adjusting to life here by students from India, Brazil and China, targets of a Government drive.
The study in the Journal of Further and Higher Education found international students aged under 23 were less likely to be satisfied with their studies, and females were 1.5 times more satisfied than males.
Factors such as accommodation, workload, and finances emerged as being of no significant impact.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
