a growing experience - Student Services - University of Melbourne

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HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSthe UK/USA/Canada, India, South Asia and Europe mix most with Australians, whilestudents from Hong Kong, Latin America, PR China and Indonesia do so the least.Off-campus, the picture is similar. Students from Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kongand Singapore mix most with co-culturals, while students from South Asia, LatinAmerica, India and Europe do so the least. Students from the UK/USA/Canada,Europe and India mix most with Australians, while students from Hong Kong,Indonesia and Malaysia do so the least.Other demographic variables produce little or less consistent difference in socialmixing patterns of students. Female students tend to mix more with co-culturals andless with Australians than males, but this tendency reaches significance only on itemD11 (mixing with Australians on the campus) 28 . Single students mix more withculturally similar people than partnered students do, while partnered students tend tomix more with Australians than single students do 29 .Students who feel their academic progress is better than expected mix withAustralians significantly more than those whose progress is about the same or not asgood as expected 30 , but patterns of social mixing with co-culturals are notdifferentiated by perceived academic progress. The number of years enrolled at theuniversity does not seem to be related linearly to social mixing patterns, nor does thenumber of years of secondary education in Australia.There are some differences based on faculty. There is a significant main effect forfaculty on the extent to which students mix socially at the university with others ofsimilar cultural background 31 . Students in at the Victoria College of the Arts and inVeterinary Science mix least with co-culturals, while students in Medicine, Dentistryand Health Sciences, Economics and Commerce, Land and Food Resources, andEngineering mix most with co-culturals. Faculty responses seem to relate to someextent to the proportion of Asian students among the international students in eachfaculty. Off-campus, the situation is different, with faculty-based responses alteringboth in strength and in rank order. There is no significant difference in social mixingpatterns off campus based on faculty.There is a significant main effect for faculty on the extent to which students mixsocially with Australians both at the university and off the campus 32 . Students in theEconomics and Commerce faculty mix least with Australians, while students at theVCA have most social contact with Australians. Again, faculty composition isimportant, with international students in Economics and Commerce being mainlyfrom Asian countries and those at the VCA being mainly from western countries.Organisations and ActivitiesOne means of developing social connections is through the joining of clubs, societies,or other organisations. Students responded to three items concerned with this. Table6 presents this information.28 D11: t=3.16, 969 df, p
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSHowever, joining organised groups, whether they are on or off the campus, does notseem to be characteristic of the majority of respondents. Approximately 50 per centindicate that they have not joined in such activities at all.There is some difference between the response to students’ involvement in university,national and cultural clubs and the response to their involvement in religious groups.The standard deviation for item B8 is higher, indicating a greater diversity ofperceptions among students. Although about 50 per cent of students say they are notinvolved in social contact through religious practice at all, some 13.3 per cent indicatethat they are ‘very much’ involved. This is a much higher percentage than the 7.5 or7.7 per cent who are ‘very much’ involved in other types of clubs and activities.Table 6Involvement in organisations and activitiesItems Mean SD 0Not at allD24. I am involved in organised universityactivities (eg. clubs, sport) other than my studies.(n=978)D2. I am an active member of a national/culturalclub or association. (n=978)B8. I mix socially with people I met here throughthe practice of my religion. (n=973)Percentage ratings1To somedegree2To aconsiderabledegree3Very much0.8 0.9 49.9 28.7 13.7 7.70.7 0.9 52.4 28.3 11.9 7.50.9 1.1 49.9 21.8 15.0 13.3Nevertheless, it cannot be said that belonging to clubs or organisations providesinternational students with a common form of social connection during their stay inAustralia. Those who do, however, have significantly higher levels of connectednessin Melbourne. All three items in Table 6 have significant, positive correlations withthe Connectedness scale 33 . The strongest relationship is between connectedness andsocial interaction with people students have met through the practice of religion.There are some differences in students’ involvement in organised activities, clubs andassociations, based on demographic variables, the most consistent and significant ofthese being gender, marital status and course type. The variables of age and perceivedacademic progress also produce some differences, as do faculty and culturalbackground.• Male students are significantly more involved than females 34 .• Single students have significantly more involvement than students with partners 35 .• Postgraduate research students are significantly less likely to be involved thanundergraduate and postgraduate (coursework) students 36 .• Younger students are more likely to be involved in organised activities than olderstudents, especially at the university 37 .33 Connectedness and D24: =+0.11, p
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a growing experience - Student Services - University of Melbourne

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