Graduate Program

College Student Affairs

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2008

Thesis Director

Barbara Powell

Thesis Committee Member

Richard Roberts

Thesis Committee Member

Steven Conn

Abstract

The study assessed the psychosocial adjustment of international students in higher education in the United States (U.S.) and examined their overall experiences since their arrival in the country. Pa1iicipants completed the 54-item Inventory for Student Adjustment Strain. The adjustment variables which were examined in the inventory were culture shock, language fluency, academic difficulties, social support, loneliness, and assertiveness. The hypothesis of the study was that the variables of age, gender, and length of time in the U.S. would predict the psychosocial adjustment of the sample of international students after their arrival to an unfamiliar country. A total of 167 international students, both graduate and undergraduate, participated in the study, from Eastern Illinois University.

Correlational analyses showed no significant relationship between any of the predictor and outcome variables. Further, at-test showed no significant gender differences in responses to the survey. However, mean scores on the inventory suggest that participants as a group experienced low levels of adjustment strain.

Further studies onthe adjustment of international students should be conducted at different colleges and universities. Since the study was limited to a small Midwestern university the results might not be truly reflective of the adjustment challenges faced by all international students.

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