ABSTRACT
What has been the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on international students and how have they coped with living, often in isolation, in a foreign country? This article examines the challenges and coping strategies of current and recently graduated higher degree by research (HDR) international students in the Australian city of Melbourne through a transient migration lens. Through interviews with eight international students during one of Melbourne's lockdown periods, this pilot study provided participants the opportunity to explain that not only were they dealing with the difficulties posed by lockdowns (e.g., loneliness and lack of sense of belonging) but doing so while balancing non-lockdown-related issues as students and transient migrants (e.g., passing their degree courses). Students interviewed however also revealed that they made the most out of lockdowns while taking charge of their own well-being by working towards their postgraduate futures and using the time to discover new non-study-related talents (e.g., watercolouring). The results of this study provide international education stakeholders and higher education institutions with ways of moving forward in the student support space.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the word experienced periods of local, state and international immobility due to lockdowns, border closers and travel restrictions. For transient migrants such as international students, these kinds of immobility have resulted in disrupted lives with professional and personal futures suspended as careers and relationships become stuck in limbo. Moreover, such sudden and extended periods of immobility have not been sufficiently covered in temporality literature due to the novelty of the pandemic crisis in the international education, migration and mobility studies spaces. By conducting a pilot project investigating current and recently graduated higher degree by research (HDR) international students (PhD, Masters and Honours) from public institutions in the Australian city of Melbourne, this paper, thus, introduces the concept of 'shock temporality' caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Shock temporality takes place when the expected and finite temporary/transitory experience becomes forcefully broken and appears to be ongoing outside of the individual's control. While shock temporality has left HDR international students' professional and personal agendas and aspirations in suspension, students interviewed use the time to plan and prepare for truncated futures. The findings of this paper, thus, become relevant in assisting higher education student support services in creating potential approaches and strategies for a post-pandemic future.
ABSTRACT
The overwhelming importance of the digitalization of international education stems from the migration of student activities from the physical to the digital campus, which has been taking place over the past three decades. Many new and exciting learning opportunities have become possible for staff and students in higher education institutions. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, online delivery became the sole mode of education in many education institutions across the world. This has hastened the development of dynamic digital campuses and it is now very common to see digital experiences complementing face-to-face engagements between students, teachers, researchers and administrators. This special issue explores the impact of the emergence of digital campuses on international education and those seeking to harness relevant tools to improve the quality and impact of their work in this field. Contributing authors describe a range of ways in which international education is evolving and developing due to mass digitalization. This curated collection provides an overview of current practices driving the sector forward in the digital space and sets an agenda for future research in the digitalization of international education.
ABSTRACT
The wellbeing of higher degree research (HDR) students, or postgraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic has been of concern. In Australia, international students have queued for food parcels, while headlines report stark drops in international enrolments and the financial bottom line of universities. We undertook a pilot study using ethnographic interview methods to understand the lived experiences of current international and domestic HDR students at an Australian university in Melbourne, from June to August 2020 (n=26). In this paper, we discuss domestic and international students' experiences during the pandemic. International HDR students faced similar challenges to domestic students, but experienced further stressors as temporary migrants. We discuss their experiences in relation to resilience, understood as a relational and collective quality. We suggest that institutions develop policies and programmes to address resilience and build students' sense of belonging and connection, informed by how students cope with challenges such as COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
International education and the international student experience worldwide have been fractured due to the COVID0-19 global pandemic. This special issue brings together papers from around the world which not only critically examine the impact a global crisis has on policies, procedures, operations and people around international education but also the unprecedented effects these have on international students themselves. This special issue moreover opens discussion on the future direction of international education policy and practice in order to create the best international student experience possible.
ABSTRACT
This panel examines the interaction between being a transient migrant, using international students as a salient example, and information behaviors in a time of COVID-19. We address issues such as information overload, selection of information sources, and social networking. The aim of this panel is to bring together interested researchers in the areas of information practices, higher education, and intercultural communication.