I created the Study of International Student Integration at UBC in 2006 as a pedagogical exercise to give students in my qualitative research methods classes (SOCI 382 and SOCI 503) hands-on experience conducting in-depth interviews.
As the number of international students at UBC and in Canada has dramatically increased, it is important to consider whether they are receiving the support they need and what their integration experiences have been like. Furthermore, as new immigration rules help international students obtain temporary work permits after graduation, and those doing so may then follow a facilitated route to permanent residency through the Canadian Experience Class visa, it is important to consider what role immigration to Canada plays in students’ decisions to attend university at UBC.
Students in my sections of SOCI 382 and 503 conduct interviews with international and/or domestic students. As they gain valuable experience in qualitative methods, they also contribute to a data resource for anyone interested in researching this topic. There are currently 439 qualitative interview transcripts (265 international, 174 domestic) in this data resource, conducted between 2006-2014. To date, students have used this resource for:
- A published, peer-reviewed journal article on the experiences of students who fall between the cracks of the administrative definition of international and domestic students, and who therefore often fail to take up needed resources as a result.
- A Master’s thesis in Teaching English as a Second Language on how international students mobilize their linguistic resources. This thesis won the Best MA Thesis Award in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC Faculty of Education.
- A Master’s degree practicum project on Asian students’ motivations for studying in Canada by a student in the UBC Institute of Asian Research.
- A sociology undergraduate honours’ thesis comparing the experiences of US, other international, and domestic students at UBC.
- An undergraduate independent study comparing non-Caucasian international and domestic students’ reactions to racism.
- Supplementary data for dissertation research on “Third Culture Kids,” who have spent a significant portion of their developmental years in more than one society before immigrating again as adults.
Anyone who is interested in using this resource for research should contact me.