a growing experience - Student Services - University of Melbourne

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS• Students whose perceived academic progress is better than expected are morelikely to be involved in off-campus and religious activities than other students 38 .• There is a significant main effect for faculty on all three items concerninginvolvement in organised activities 39 . MBS students have the highest involvementin organisations both on and off the campus, but the lowest involvement inreligious practices. Veterinary Science students have high club involvement oncampus but the lowest involvement off campus, as well as low involvement inreligious groups. Land and Food Resources students have very low involvementin activities on and off campus, but the highest involvement in religious practices.• There is also a significant main effect for country category on all three items 40 ;countries with high and low ratings vary according to item. Malaysian studentshave the highest involvement in on-campus clubs, while Indian students have thelowest. Latin American students have the highest participation in off-campusassociations, with European students having the least. Indonesian students aremost strongly involved in religious practices; Latin American students are theleast involved.• Students from Asian/non-Asian countries are not significantly different in theirparticipation in on-campus clubs, but students from Asian countries aresignificantly more involved in off-campus clubs and religious groups than otherstudents 41 .• Students who speak a LOTE off campus are significantly less likely to beinvolved in campus organisations, but significantly more likely to be involved inreligious practices than non-LOTE-speaking students 42 .There are no consistent, significant differences in student involvement in clubs andassociations based on years of enrolment, completion of Foundation Studies, ornumber of years in secondary schooling in Australia.Connection to Home and FamilyThe connection to home and family can provide an important source of personal andemotional support for the international student. Students generally have strong linksto home, as Table 7 indicates.The mean ratings for the first three items in Table 7 are close to the maximum ratingavailable on the scale, with the lower standard deviations indicating much lessdiversity of student perceptions on these items than on those in Tables 4 and 6. Oneach of these three items, over 90 per cent of respondents have positive views of theirconnections with home and the support they receive from family.37 Age and D24: =-0.14, p