Business Research Methodology: Student Mobility and Culture Adjustment

This report delves into the increasing significance of international student mobility within the context of globalization. It examines the factors contributing to the growth in international student numbers, including the rise of Asian economies and the diversification of student populations. The report explores current statistics related to international student mobility, highlighting key trends and regional variations. It analyzes the theories of migration under uncertainty and the call for diversification in international student recruitment. Furthermore, the report reviews studies on international students, focusing on cultural adjustment, acculturation, and intercultural modification. It also discusses the growing demand for post-graduate students and the impact of domestic capacity on outbound student mobility. The research explores the psychological processes experienced by international students and their effects on social integration and academic performance. The report concludes by considering the future trends and challenges in international student mobility, providing valuable insights for universities and educators.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Business Research Methodology
Student's International Mobility and Cultural Adjustment
Name of Student:
Student ID:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Literature Review:...........................................................................................................................2
Problem Statement:......................................................................................................................2
Introduction:................................................................................................................................2
Current statistics related to international mobility of students:...................................................3
Asia has been the key:.................................................................................................................4
Migration under uncertainty:.......................................................................................................4
Diversification call:.....................................................................................................................5
Studies on International Students:...............................................................................................6
Growing demand of post-graduate students:...............................................................................7
Where will things go:...................................................................................................................8
Looking Ahead:...........................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................11

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Literature Review:
Problem Statement:
In the present day global society, mobility of international students is becoming
significant related to the results like increased participation of students along with their
involvement in the global education and re-structuring of the education of teacher in many of
the countries. It might also lead to the factor collaboration between countries and might
facilitate Australian universities n gaining a wider global perspective in their practices of
education and policies. Factor collaboration means that two or more factors either internal or
external affect the working of an environment. The population of students has been rapidly
becoming diversified in terms of the culture, race and religion, it is becoming increasingly
important for the international universities to give the maximum exposure to these global, and
needful students in helping them build their career in face of immense competition. Thus, the
research question can be developed based on the topic
What are the factors that contribute to the increase in importance of international
universities?
Introduction:
Over the period of last few years, approximately five million students or even more have
been studying outside their home nations, more than the double of 2.1 million who did the same
in 2000 and more than triple that went ahead with this idea of studying abroad in 1990 (Beech
2017). This astonishing growth has taken place within the context of an augmenting globalized
world where economies are tied closely with one another within their region and even beyond
that. According to Choudaha, Chang and Kono (2014), in 2017, trade and money have been

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flowing freely across many of the borders along with many of the sources. So too are the factors
of skills and knowledge.
At one point of time, higher education was only accessible by the world’s elite, but
presently it has been opened for the masses, predominantly the budding middle classes now
being found on every continent. There are certain countries that lack the capacity of higher
education; students do look for prospects in studying abroad. The governments of the fastest-
growing rising economies are being heavily investing in the growth if their system for education,
generating scholarships in assisting their students obtaining education abroad and then bringing
them back home.
It can be stated that it is of no coincidence that as an outcome, developing economies
have been growing in tandem with mobility of global students. The shifting of the political
power and world economy has also modified the shift the outline of mobility.
Current statistics related to international mobility of students:
One of the inferences of the factor of globalization is that people are more portable than
ever before, mainly the skilled individuals are. Even though the migrants of highly skilled nature
generally represent a smaller percentage of the overall migrants, their economic and social
impact of migration is stated to unswerving (Bilecen 2014). International students, otherwise
known as sojourners- individuals who have been residing on temporary basis in a distant place
for activities like education and work- representing the population that is highly skilled recording
the furthermost surge within the last few decades (De Wit 2015).
However, the increase of the global students is not at all stated to be unexpected.
International students are generally thought to be privileged as settlers; they symbolize as a

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highly motivated and high attaining group, substantially contributing to the countries’ economy
that swarms them. For instance, every year the inbound international students throw in US$17.8
billion to the economy of United States (Shields 2013). Migration dynamics within the
international students might result in worldwide growth in the segment of higher education.
However, the mix of multitude along with the sender countries needs to reflect on the universal
growth within particular countries or representing the consequence of the programs related to
institutions for incentivizing the enrolment of international students (De Wit 2015).
Asia has been the key:
Take, for instance, the ascendance of India and China into the top ten most commanding
economies existing globally, South Korea lies in the top 15 (Beech 2017). It is important to
consider their role to the mobility of the international students: India, Korea and China are stated
to be the world’s foremost sources of global students (Tran 2016). It has been witnessed that one
of the every six global mobile students is presently from China and mutually India, China and
South Korea report for more than a quarter of the overall students studying in outer region. It is
astonishing to find that around 53 per cent of the students who are studying abroad currently are
from Asia (Choudaha, Chang and Kono 2014).
Asia is also becoming a persuasive destination for the international students, especially
those who are from within the region. China has been drawing an increasing number of both the
Korean and Indonesian students in the recent time period. Japan has also been stepping on the
accelerator in its recruitment of global students, setting a goal of hosting around 300,000 global
students by the year 2020. From the year 2014, Japan has seen an increase in its foreign
enrolments. Malaysia has been similarly ambitious having a goal of 250,000 international

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students along with plans in placing more of the universities of it’s in the global rankings within
2025 (Shields 2013).
Migration under uncertainty:
For understanding the significance and novelty of the theories of migration under the
factor of uncertainty improved in the early part of nineties, which is meant recalling the
neoclassical theory of migration. It takes in the consideration that the moving choice is not
possible to postpone. For the fact that the individual would be deciding once and for all whether
to move or not, the theory would be predicting the occurrence of migration at “Marshallan
trigger”, where the point the net current value of the migration benefit factor surpasses the costs
(Wei 2013). If individuals can delay the factor of mobility and if there is uncertainty on future
migration returns, postponing migration might seem profitable in spite of the wage differentials.
Diversification call:
In the recent period of time, a confounding number of the international students within
Canada, US, UK and Australia have come from India and China, a heavy dependence on these
two significant markets has been raising alarm bells for some of the industry experts and
institutions (She and Wotherspoon 2013). International educators have been encouraged in
diversifying their global enrolments- having to consider a ready source of supply. The African
countries have been struggling a bit in meeting the demands for higher education as their youth
population have been swelling and unemployment proliferates (Tran 2016). Many of the nations
have been making a heavy investment in forming more aptitude along with quality into their
systems of tertiary, but such schemes do not allow results overnight. In the meantime, studying
abroad has been a tempting option for the students who do not have the strength in affording the
same.

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Predominantly within the fast-growing African economies like Nigeria, mobility of
outbound student has been on the rise, with as per the numbers of The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), around 53,000 students studied
abroad in 2014 (Beech 2017). Nigeria is competing to be the more populous countries and it has
been growing slowly in being a tertiary-age student legion. The British Council lately projected
that of the 23 market sources it studied; Nigeria has been the country that looks the most
probable in contributing the strongest standard annual growth in mobility of post-graduate
students through 2024 (Wei 2013).
International educators have also been viewing the markets within Latin America with
great interest, for the rise in the youth population, lagging in domestic capacity along with
programs of scholarships. In the year 2011, 20 per cent of the overall population of Latin
America and Caribbean was among the ages of 15 and 24-which are stated to be 106 million
people with the UN noting that this has been the biggest proportion of younger people existing
within the history of the region (Dennis 2017).
It has been the case with most of the other countries swelling with youth population. The
main challenge remains in expanding the educational accessibility and diminishing of the
unemployment factor. The main goal of authorizing this generation is in attaining a life of better
quality and driving the economy ahead. Until there is enough accessibility within the region’s
higher education institutes along with being higher quality, students would be mainly interested
in studying abroad.

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Studies on International Students:
Studies related to the international students can be segregated in two segments. The first
being the important literature evaluating the trends within the global migration, while keeping its
focus on the role that international students generally have in the advancement of the higher
education. Adding to that is the national strategies aiming towards encouragement of the
mobility of the inbound and outbound students. Secondly, there are various studies monitoring
the psychological procedures that are being experienced by the students after the global mobility,
along with the effects that these processes mainly have on the factor of social integration and
performances in school (Dennis 2017).
As per De Wit 2015, even though the individuals’ number studying within the foreign
land has been increasing in constant fashion, these sojourners still encounter dissimilarities
between the culture at home and the host culture. These cultural differences generally lead to the
issues in regulating to the host culture and in low presentation within their global assignments.
The key processes that is being conceptualized and argued by the psychologists in the case of
global students along with their educational and social incorporation are cultural shock,
acculturation and intercultural modification (DeWit, Ferencz and Rumbley 2013).
Cultural shock is generally defined as the apprehension within the results when people
start losing those common signs along with the symbols of the social communication that they
are not actually cognizant of (Bilecen 2014). However, several of the prior studies have been
able to confirm a temporal relationship between the adjustment and the cultural shock.
Acculturation has been referred as the ways in describing the procedure of the second cultural
contact or as some strategies developed by the individuals while dealing with the second culture.

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All these three perceptions generally refer to the psychological and behavioral impacts that are
generated by the evolution from one nation to that of another.
Growing demand of post-graduate students:
The current ‘massification’ of the process of higher education, in which the higher
education has become available to more people, is being driven by a new trend, bigger numbers
of the graduates from the university are currently able to follow the studies related to post-
graduate study.
The British Council generally expects India and China in contributing to utmost number
of international mobile post-graduate students in the year 2024, however notes that the economic
and demographic trends would be seeing Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Indonesia redeploying
substantive augments in the outbound post-graduates (Beech 2017).
Something that needs to be seen through 2024 would be the level to which the augmented
capacity and home quality, predominantly in important sending markets, would be affecting the
mobility of the outbound post-graduate students. The year 2015 witnessed a decline in the
number of Chinese students applying for universities in US, a fact that is generally believed to be
partly for the massive investment done by China in its own system of higher education (She and
Wotherspoon 2013).
Similarly, the quick rise in the demand for the ‘middle skills’ that is being taught by the
vocational education and training (VET) establishments across the globe through the help of the
diplomas, short-term programs and certificates affect the post-graduates program’s stipulation.
Almost around two-thirds of the total growth in employment within the European Union has
been forecasted to be within the grouping of associate professionals and technicians, while

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within US, almost one-third of the vacancies of job in 2018 are expected to be requiring
prerequisite of post-secondary nature (Shields 2013).
Where will things go:
Trends in demographic, economic growth, scholarships of government and mounting
incomes have been some of the key forces that are in play in determining the place from where
the students are coming from when they learn abroad (Beech 2017). The question that crops up is
where they are heading to, with the answer lying in the various factors’ interplay. On the one
hand, the circumstances of the students guide them and their choices of where they are going to
study and on the other hand, it is generally the policies related to country-level affecting the
destinations’ popularity. Students are often been prejudiced by the comparative cost of living
along with the tuition within a country for the accessibility of internships and opportunities
related to immigration.
In 2016, US have still been the global leading destination, generally expecting in
enrolling record number of students even this year (Shields 2013). However, the market share of
US has been falling and this change is partly for the augmented share for some of the leading
English speaking destinations like Canada, Australia and UK along with the growing tendency
towards the mobility that us intra-regional in nature (Dennis 2017).
Looking Ahead:
Under the present circumstances, most of the students who prefer studying abroad
generally go for ‘Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’ (OECD) countries
as their destinations (She and Wotherspoon 2013). However, as associations along with trade
intensifies between the Asian countries and Western ones, and as the Asian countries have been

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expanding and developing their systems of higher education, mobility patterns would be seen
becoming more diversified over the period of next ten years. Some of the top British and
American institutions have been attracting greater part of the worlds most wealthy and
determined students, though the Asian countries have been climbing steadily in the global
university rankings (Bilecen 2014).
International education is no longer measured as a niche area within the country’s
economy or the detection of the small segments of the students who are lucky. The sector has
come a long way in terms of time and the programs that have been initiated by the education
ministry of various countries, and if the same were being stewarded responsibly by the
institutions and associations would go much further.