1. Leah McSorley, Ed.D.
Associate Dean of Students for International Student Services
Lawrence University
The Power of Peers: An Analysis of International Student Integration in U.S. Higher Education and the Role of Social Support Relationships
The role of social support in facilitating institutional integration for international students

2. Learning Outcomes
Consider unique challenges experienced by international students
Become aware of Tinto’s (1993) Interactive Model of College Student Departure
Understand the benefits for “institutional integration” among college students
Identify the social support relationships that had a significant impact on institutional integration among international students
Discuss pedagogical and co-curricular implications based on the data

3. Who is in the room?
Faculty, staff, students; lawrentians, other universities; community/other organizations? Who has studied or lived in another country?

4. International College Students in the U.S.
Increasing numbers of international students in the U.S.
Top countries
Institute for International Education (IIE), 2016
Benefits to U.S. university
Financial (NAFSA, 2015)
Interpersonal post-college skills
IIE: Open Doors 2016
Over 1 million students (4.8% of students in US universities) – 1,043,839
Top countries: China (32%), India (16%), S Korea (6%), KSA (6%)
Benefits:
Financial billion to US economy (institutions, community, state, federal (taxes)
Enrollment gaps
Diverse perspectives

5. Brainstorm: Possible challenges for some international students?

6. Unique Challenges Unique challenges
Language proficiency
More limited social networks
Cultural adjustment issues
Lack of resources
Result: May limit academic success, persistence, satisfaction
(Akanwa, 2014; Hegarty, 2014; Mesidor & Sly, 2016; Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007; Zhang & Goodson, 2011)

7. Theoretical Model
Vincent Tinto’s Interactive Model of College Student Departure (1975, 1993)
Durkheim’s theory of suicide (1951)
Less integration and social support predicts suicide
Suicide result of insufficiently integrated into society;
Tinto asserts that drop out occurs bc the individual is insufficiently integrated into different aspects of college or university life.

8. Institutional Integration
Academic integration + social integration = institutional integration
Institutional integration: The extent to which a student feels engaged with and connected to the campus community.
“The extent to which the individual shares the normative attitudes and values of peers and faculty in the institution and abides by the formal and informal structural requirements for membership in that community or in subgroups in it” (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, p. 54).
Institutional integration has become “student engagement”

9. Population and Sample Convenience sample of all international students
2 small, private, residential liberal arts college in the Midwest
Total combined population approximately 371
78 responses (21%)
Demographics: See descriptive statistics/study
Purposeful criteria based

10. Description of Study Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Social support
7 key relationships
salience
frequency of meeting;
strength
Demographic variables
Institutional Integration
***
The degree to which a student feels connected academically and socially to his or her institution of higher education

11. Institutional Support
7 key relationships
Peer Support
Host National
Co-National
Multinational
Family Support
Biological Family
Host Family (Friendship Family)
Institutional Support
Staff
Faculty

12. Key Findings
Among international students at 2 small private residential colleges

13. Key Findings
Positive and predictive relationship between social support and integration
Positive relationships between institutional integration and peer relationships:
Strong co-national relationships
Frequent multinational relationships
Frequent host national relationships
Family and institutional relationships have no relationship with institutional integration in this study
Survey reliability: Cronbach's alpha .78 (96 items)
All established scales

14. Key Findings, cont.
There is no significant difference in institutional integration based on participation in the host family program.
Age is negatively associated with institutional integration
No other variable was significantly associated with institutional integration
GPA
English Proficiency
Time spent in the U.S.
Academic class
Gender
Region of origin

15. Practical Implications
Ensure international students have adequate social support
Prioritize peer relationships
Theoretical implications:
Aligns with Tinto’s theory that social support positively predicts integration using international student participants
The peer relationship strength/frequency as an avenue toward institutional integration

16. Implications, cont. Academic Co-Curricular
Frequent classroom interactions with multinational and host national students
Classroom activities (pre-selected groups/pairs)
Encouraging study groups
Emphasize getting involved in co-curricular programs
Tutoring centers
Language tables
Diverse roommate matching for first year students
Peer mentoring program
Friendship family: Incorporating two students (host national/multinational)
Are there other ways we can create opportunities for social support or peer interactions? Can you think of other ways to facilitate these connections?

17. Comments, Q & A

18. Thank you!
Leah McSorley

19. References
Akanwa, E. E. (2015). International students in western developed countries: History, challenges, and prospects. Journal of International Students, 5(3),
Hegarty, N. (2014). Where we are now-the presence and importance of international students to universities in the United States. Journal of International Students, 4(3), 223.
Institute of International Education. Open Doors 2016 Fast Facts. (2016, March 11). Retrieved from and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/Fast-Facts#.WMR-phIrLPA
Mesidor, J. K., & Sly, K. F. (2016). Factors that contribute to the adjustment of international students. Journal of International Students, 6(1),
Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Poyrazli, S., & Grahame, K. M. (2007). Barriers to adjustment: Needs of international students within a semi-urban campus community. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 34(1),
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Zhang, J., & Goodson, P. (2011). Review: Predictors of international students’ psychosocial adjustment to life in the United States: A systematic review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, doi: /j.ijintrel