Record Details
Supporting the Families of International Graduate Students with Accompanying Dependents
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Supporting the Families of International Graduate Students with Accompanying Dependents |
| Names |
Rains, Shalece L.
(creator) Newhart, Daniel (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 2015-05-14 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 2015 |
| Abstract | Research universities in the United States recognize the importance of attracting graduate students from around the world to make global collaborations possible and to take advantage of the worldwide demand for higher education. Educational research has developed a large body of literature on the specialized supports that improve successful outcomes for international graduate students; however, accompanying spouses need more attention in research as well as in practice. The current case study is designed to explore how research universities support international graduate students with dependents, under the assumption that supporting student success includes welcoming and supporting the dependent spouses. The present multisite, embedded single case study is designed to determine the range of ecological levels present in the set of interventions--programs and policies that address (1) orientation, (2) social engagement, (3) skills training, (4) opportunities to serve, and (5) space for critical dialog--at each of the universities sampled. The study found emerging tendencies to include accompanying spouses in communications and programming, although the norm is still to address a student-only audience. Of the five critical services identified, programs and policies related to orientation and social engagement were more often inclusive of accompanying spouses whereas sponsored opportunities for community engagement through volunteer service and for dialogue around critical issues were least likely to be available. This preliminary study is intended to encourage the application of ecological theory and environmental assessment (Schuh & Upcraft, 2001; Strange & Banning, 2001) of international student service units to promote the full engagement of international graduate students and accompanying spouses. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Access Condition | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ |
| Topic | International students |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/56263 |
