Exploring the role of place-making on international student adjustment

Abstract

This study explored the impact of place-making activities on the adjustment of international students at an American university. A total of 19 international students over the age of 18, attending the university and living in the community for at least one year, participated in an in-depth interview about their experiences of places in the Midwestern state where they are currently enrolled as students. The research method used was phenomenology following the method proposed by Moustakas (1995), which focuses on the lived experience of individuals and requires the researcher to bracket assumptions about the world with the goal of uncovering the unique experiences of the participants without imposing his or her own biases on the interpretation of the results. Results from this study suggest that international students need places to fulfill a variety of basic needs, including opportunities, restoration, sociality, and safety. The study results indicate that international students benefit from having access to a combination of places that foster growth, social interaction, and reenergizing as well as places to provide physical and emotional boundaries between the person and the world. In addition, narratives of international students in this study suggest that certain places are experienced as exclusive and invalidating. This research contributes to the knowledge of the impact of places on resettlement of international students, and the results are discussed in the context of strategies that universities can implement to facilitate adjustment among their international students.