The Experiences of American International Students in a Large Irish University.

AbstractGrowing numbers of American students are travelling overseas to study abroad and enroll in full degree programs. Despite this trend, relatively little is known about the experiences of United States (U.S.) students abroad. The aim of this research was to examine the experiences of American international students in Ireland. Findings suggest that while U.S. students experience some adaptation problems, overall, they adapt well to studying in Ireland. Subtle differences in long-term and short-term international students' levels of social support and academic satisfaction were also detected. This research has important practical implications for facilitating the adaption of U.S. students abroad. At a time when many governments and academic institutions are devising strategies to attract international students, this research is timely and necessary.Keywords: international students; psychological wellbeing; sociocultural adaptation; cross-cultural adjustment.The field of international education is dynamic and expanding rapidly. The U.S. is one of the leading host destinations for students wishing to enhance their education through an international perspective, with around 19% of all international students studying in American higher education institutions (HEIs). However, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of U.S. college students travelling overseas to pursue study abroad academic degree programs. Recent reports have shown that 273,996 American students participated in study abroad programs in 2009/2010 and approximately 43,000 students from the U.S. pursued full degrees at the postsecondary level worldwide in 2011 (Institute of International Education, 2012; Open Doors, 2012). Of this group, approximately 4,400 students studied in Ireland during the 2011/2012 academic year (Education Ireland, 2012). Study abroad programs have become a key component of American HEIs' commitments to internationalization, and there is a belief among educators that such exchanges have many benefits for students, including enhanced adaptability, increased openness to cultural diversity and, in some cases, improved proficiency in a foreign language (Clarke, Flaherty, Wright, & McMillen, 2009; Dolby, 2007; Hunley, 2010). Experiences of U.S. International StudentsDespite the drive among global educators to attract larger numbers of American international students to their institutions, research has shown that some U.S. students experience difficulties abroad (O'Reilly, Ryan, & Hickey, 2010; Citron, 1996; Dolby, 2007; Pitts, 2009). Adjusting to a new academic environment has been shown to be particularly stressful for international students (Coates & Dickinson, 2012; Chung, Kelliher, & Smith, 2006). Pitts (2009) found that the academic expectations of American students on study abroad programs in Europe were frequently unrealistic, with many students feeling shocked when they discovered that their academic responsibilities abroad were equivalent to those in their home country. Other studies have shown that U.S. students travelling to a country where English is not the first language sometimes face language difficulties which negatively impacts on their overall adjustment (Savicki, Adams, Wilde, & Binder, 2008). Language difficulties may also be experienced in Anglophone contexts. For example, American study abroad students who travelled to a country where the local language was English reported having difficulty understanding local accents and idiomatic expressions (O'Reilly et al., 2010). As a consequence of experiencing linguistic demands, Citron (1996) found that American international students tend to retreat into their conational networks with other American students, leading to less cultural engagement. Cultural engagement has been extolled as a major benefit of studying abroad. Sociocultural adaptation, defined by Ward and colleagues (Searle & Ward, 1990; Ward & Kennedy, 1992) as an individual's ability to "fit in" or execute effective interactions in a host environment, is sometimes problematic for American international students (Kenyon, Frohard-Dourlent, & Roth, 2012; Savicki, 2010; Savicki et al. …