A Holistic View of International Student Support

Too often, the concepts of culture and identity on campus are approached in far too simplistic a manner. The ‘billiard ball’ conceptualisation of cultures – as self-enclosed national entities clashing against each other – has an adverse impact on international students, who are too often perceived to be lacking in relation to the host culture rather than having a rich identity of their own. As a practitioner-researcher specialising in student mobility, I’ve been struck by the recent emergence of a more realistic and critical understanding of international students among academics, but so far this has not been disseminated effectively to practitioners. In this blog post, I will provide a snapshot of some promising developments in perspectives on international students, and some implications for practice.