Institutional Context Drives Mobility: A Comprehensive Analysis of Academic and Economic Factors that Influence International Student Enrollment at United States Higher Education Institutions

International student enrollment (ISE) has become a hallmark of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs). Although the U.S. has welcomed the largest numbers of international students since the 1950s, ISE shrunk by 10% in the previous three years from an all-time high of 903,127 students in 2016/2017 (IIE, 2019). Research studies about international student mobility and enrollment highlights the significant role that academic and economic rationales play for international students. This quantitative, ex post facto study focused on the influence of ranking, tuition, Optional Practical Training, Gross Domestic Product, and the unemployment rate on ISE at 2,884 U.S. HEIs from 2008 to 2019 through the examination of four research questions. Data were analyzed for two longitudinal research questions using time series regression, particularly an Arellano-Bond estimator for an autoregressive distributed lag model. Linear OLS regression was used for the remaining two research questions which analyzed the variables for the 2018/2019 academic year, including OPT. Data were also analyzed using Carnegie classification (CC) as a grouping variable. Results included that tuition was an important predictor of ISE, but it looked differently for different types of institutions. Higher ranking connected with higher ISE at doctoral institutions, but it was a deterrent at other institutions in the longitudinal analysis. This novel analysis of OPT showed that the number of students utilizing OPT was related to ISE, particularly at non-doctoral institutions. The findings were inconclusive about the influence of economic factors, as there were significant opposing findings in the different lags over time. This study also provided evidence that an urban location is important for ISE. Implications include the importance of advocating for sustainable federal immigration and employment policies, that context and institutional type influence ISE trends, and HEIs should better support international students in the United States to meet their career goals.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_education/1001/thumbnail.jp

Institutional Context Drives Mobility: A Comprehensive Analysis of How Academic and Economic Factors Relate to International Student Enrollment at United States Higher Education Institutions

International student enrollment (ISE) has become a hallmark of world-class higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly as global student mobility has grown exponentially worldwide in the last several decades. Although the United States (U.S.) has welcomed the largest numbers of international students since the 1950s, ISE shrunk by 10% in the previous three years from an all-time high of 903,127 students in 2016/2017 (IIE, 2019). A synthesis of research studies about international student mobility and enrollment highlights the significant role that academic and economic rationales play for international students who choose the United States. This quantitative, ex post facto study focused on how ranking, tuition, Optional Practical Training, Gross Domestic Product, and the unemployment rate connected to ISE at 2,884 U.S. HEIs from 2004 to 2019 through the examination of four research questions. Data were analyzed for two longitudinal research questions using time series regression, particularly an Arellano- Bond estimator for an autoregressive distributed lag model. Linear OLS regression was used for the remaining two research questions which analyzed the variables for the 2018/2019 academic year, including OPT. Data were also analyzed using Carnegie classification (CC) as a grouping variable to better understand how the predictors influenced different types of institutions

A ética como fundamento ontológico da compreensão em Gadamer

Este trabalho tem como tema central a hermenêutica filosófica de Hans-Georg Gadamer. O objetivo geral deste é investigar a possibilidade de se compreender a ética como fundamento ontológico da compreensão, tendo em vista que a hermenêutica gadameriana desenvolve-se no âmbito da filosofia prática. Para tornar isso mais evidente, começaremos a nossa investigação apresentando alguns conceitos fundamentais da hermenêutica filosófica, assim como algumas das suas raízes históricas. Analisaremos o conceito de compreensão que, para Gadamer, deixa de ser um problema epistemológico passando a ser uma questão ética. A partir disso, veremos que Gadamer remete a sua hermenêutica à tradição grega do pensamento ontológico, ao compreender que esta, desde o princípio, soube reconhecer que toda busca por conhecimento, por ser uma disposição natural do homem, é originalmente um fenômeno moral. Logo, com o intuito de reconquistar o sentido original do fenômeno hermenêutico, seu sentido ontológico, perdido nos desvios metodológicos das ciências modernas, ele retoma o conceito de phrónesis aristotélica para servir de modelo à virtude reflexiva hermenêutica. Resgata também a dialética socrático-platônica para ressaltar a primazia da pergunta e a importância do diálogo no processo do conhecimento. Portanto, para Gadamer, a hermenêutica é o modo de ser do ser humano que, ao buscar compreender o mundo, se vê diante da oportunidade de compreender a si mesmo. Compreender é reconhecer; é atitude de quem sabe que não sabe e deseja saber e que adota a postura de abertura e dialoga com o outro. A compreensão por ser originalmente dialógica, reconhece o outro como parceiro imprescindível na busca por conhecimento, desvelando, assim, o seu verdadeiro fundamento ontológico: a ética.This text has its main theme the philosophical hermenutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. The main aim is to investigate the possibility of understanding ethics as the ontological foundation of comprehension, given that the Gadamer’s hermeneutics develops itself in the range of practical phylosophy. To make this more evident, we will begin our investigation by presenting some fundamental concepts of philosophical hermeneutics, as well as some of its historical roots. We will analyze the concept of comprehension which, for Gadamer, ceases to be an epistemological problem and becomes an ethical issue. Based on this work we will be able to see that Gadamer relates his hermeneutics to the Greek tradition of ontological thinking by understanding that since the beginning he has recognized that the whole search for knowledge being a natural disposition of man, was originally a moral phenomenon. Therefore, in order to reconquer the original meaning of the hermeneutic phenomenon, its ontological meaning, lost in the methodological deviations of the modern sciences, it retakes the concept of Aristotelian phronesis to serve as a model for the hermeneutic reflexive virtue. It also rescues the Socratic-Platonic dialectic to emphasize the primacy of the question and the importance of dialogue in the process of knowledge. Thus, for Gadamer, hermeneutics is the way of being of the human being who, in seeking to comprehend the world, finds himself faced with the opportunity to comprehend himself. To comprehend is to recognize; it is the attitude of those who know they do not know and want to know and who adopt the opening posture and dialogue with the other. The comprehension because it is originally dialogic, recognizes the other as an essential partner in the search for knowledge, thus revealing its true ontological foundation: ethics

Life Outside Your Comfort Zone: The Power of Reflection for Cultural Adjustment

This reflective paper explores the different experiences of two higher education professionals who utilized intentional reflection to help with the transition to new countries and cultural environments. One story focuses on how the higher education professional grappled with different challenges even though her new environments afforded her a novel privilege of membership in a racial and religious majority. The other higher education professional’s story discusses her transition from life as a member of the majority to a member of the minority in a different religious and racial context. The paper concludes by sharing recommendations for how other higher education professionals can utilize reflection (Dewey, 1993; Rodgers, 2002) to help with a transition and cultural adjustment in a new environment

Re-imagining the Collegiate Ideal: An Exploration of the Higher Education Motivations and Self-Formation of Students From International Schools

There has been a substantial growth in global student mobility in the last twenty years, with almost five million students choosing to study outside their home country for tertiary education. Likewise, P12 international schools have experienced tremendous growth, with over five million students enrolled worldwide. Students from international schools often find themselves at a crossroads when choosing a university. To unpack the college choice process and understand how students viewed their transnational identities as important factors in their self-formation, researchers interviewed 19 graduating students from international schools and countries across the world. This longitudinal phenomenological study used self-formation (Marginson, 2018) and the push-pull theory (Altbach, 1998) as theoretical frameworks. Researchers explored the key people and experiences that shaped students’ college choice process and their expectations for the future through semi-structured interviews. The conversations highlighted four main elements that shaped their views of the ideal university experience: pre-college experiences, college explorations, college choice, and post-college aspirations. The second round of interviews will explore how students’ college expectations have compared to their actual experience, and how their transnational identities and self-formation has evolved.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2020_education/1000/thumbnail.jp

Compounding Effects of Climate Warming and Antibiotic Resistance.

Bacteria have evolved diverse mechanisms to survive environments with antibiotics. Temperature is both a key factor that affects the survival of bacteria in the presence of antibiotics and an environmental trait that is drastically increasing due to climate change. Therefore, it is timely and important to understand links between temperature changes and selection of antibiotic resistance. This review examines these links by synthesizing results from laboratories, hospitals, and environmental studies. First, we describe the transient physiological responses to temperature that alter cellular behavior and lead to antibiotic tolerance and persistence. Second, we focus on the link between thermal stress and the evolution and maintenance of antibiotic resistance mutations. Finally, we explore how local and global changes in temperature are associated with increases in antibiotic resistance and its spread. We suggest that a multidisciplinary, multiscale approach is critical to fully understand how temperature changes are contributing to the antibiotic crisis

Cultural Identity and Mental Health Awareness

Social functioning is intertwined with one’s culture (Abdullah & Brown, 2011). Culture is broadly defined as the individual’s perception of the complexity of norms and rituals shared by a group of people. As Phinney (1992) has long noted, it is apparent that cultural factors can have a great influence on our identities and how we perceive the world around us. In Phinney’s opinion, this is especially true for sensitive topics such as mental health or mental illness. But could we fully understand what the cultural risk factors are that would predispose people toward biased views of mental health and mental illness? Those with a strong cultural identity who also come from collectivistic cultures could have more biases in mental health. In this thesis, I use the interdependent and independent sense of self or ‘I” and “We” scale (Dowd & Artistico, 2016), to explore that those from collectivistic cultures (Latinx, Black, Asian etc.) have a more interdependent sense of self. I also explore the relationship between closeness to one’s culture and mental health awareness. To this end, I develop a novel assessment for culture and mental health views. My findings showed a strong correlation between closeness to one’s culture and mental health awareness

Ready, Willing, and Able? Exploring the Relationships and Experiences of International Students at a Federal University in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a young and diverse country that has experienced increased international student enrolment in recent years. This empirical, descriptive study examined the experiences of international students at a federal higher education institution in the UAE through the lens of the intergroup contact theory. Research questions focused on interactions with national students, adjustment to college, and institutional support. Surveys of 126 students found that national and international students desired more connections and overall had positive perceptions of each other. Some of the main international student barriers to adjustment and engagement related to language or cultural differences, and they felt generally supported on campus by faculty and staff but desired more intentional structured outside-of-the-classroom programs. This chapter offers a unique contribution by exploring the experiences, assumptions, and constructions of international students who study in a federal institution in a highly diverse country context

Collaborating Within to Support Systems Change: The Need For — and Limits of — Cross-Team Grantmaking

To be responsive to the many facets of communities’ challenges and solutions, the Kresge Foundation works intentionally at the intersections of its seven grantmaking areas. One way it fulfills this intention is by awarding cross-team grants, which involve financial and intellectual contributions from multiple Kresge programs in order to enable cross-sector, multidisciplinary work among grantees. As Kresge’s cross-team practice has grown and the field has increasingly expressed interest in cross-sector approaches to addressing long-standing challenges, Kresge partnered with the strategic learning firm Informing Change to explore how this approach to grantmaking and greater degree of internal collaboration is working from the point of view of Kresge staff and what enables or inhibits it, as well as whether and in what ways grantees uniquely benefit from cross-team grants. This article highlights key findings from this exploration, including grantees’ appreciation for Kresge’s cross-team approach. Nevertheless, the resource-intensive level of the foundation’s internal collaboration compelled many Kresge staff to seek evidence of impact in the short term, despite the challenges inherent in measuring complex, emergent, and unpredictable cross-sector work. Kresge’s experience with cross-team grantmaking surfaces a deeply embedded challenge across philanthropy: the historical practice of structuring grantmaking work by program content area is often misaligned with the urgent need to work across sectors to drive complex systems change. As philanthropy seeks to support collaboration among grantees and launches new multifunder collaboratives to affect systems change, structures within foundations may need to change to actualize this ideal