Search results

The phenomenon of student mobility in higher education is influenced by several factors, including the infrastructure provided by institutions in different countries as student support services. These student support services play a pivotal role in fostering students’ adaptability within a new environment, thereby significantly impacting their academic performance and social integration. The study focuses on international students in Uganda and investigates how student support services (as part of institutional infrastructure) support students’ adaptability. Based on Leask’s conceptual model of internationalisation, the study reveals that the presence of such services is essential; in addition, the need to provide newly arriving students with orientation is crucial for them to effectively navigate their surroundings. Offices dedicated to international students are also instrumental in facilitating the students’ orientation and settling-in process and they enhance their overall experience. By recognising the significance of both student support services and orientation, education institutions can create a more conducive and supportive environment for international students, ultimately enriching their academic journey and social interactions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of computer-assisted language learning on cultural adaptation and language learning in non-traditional classroom settings.

The data of this study came from extended periods of observation, multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews and home visits. Using narrative inquiry, it analyzes an immigrant's journey of language learning and cultural adaptation within a virtual knowledge community.

The findings of this study reveal the profound impact of virtual knowledge communities on enhancing second language learning and facilitating cultural adaptation.

This study offers original insights by demonstrating the transformative power of virtual knowledge communities for the purpose of second language acquisition and cultural adaptation.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is any fundamental difference in the meaning of contract in these two legal systems by analysing some of the essential principles of contract particularly parties’ agreement and consideration.

This paper seeks to investigate the degree of equivalency of the term contract and its Islamic law counterpart “Aqd”. To implement this task, it applies some comparative law techniques to examine certain contractual elements under common law and Islamic law.

The argument that “contract” and “Aqd” are not equivalent is superficial, and it is not well-supported by concrete evidence. The examples used to build this argument are merely limited exceptions to the general principles of contract, and some of them even exist under both legal systems in a similar manner such as “deed” and “Hibah”.

The paper is of interest to legal practitioners and professionals working in cross-cultural or international contexts, as understanding points of conformity and disconformity between “contract” and “Aqd” can help in multiple ways. These may include negotiating international transactions, contract drafting and dispute-resolution processes involving parties from Western and Islamic law-based jurisdictions. It may also aid policymaking and lawmaking processes aiming to harmonize contract principles across different jurisdictions.

The research paper is important for public attitude, as understanding similarities and differences between “contract” and “Aqd” fosters mutual respect, tolerance and cooperation between individuals and communities adhering to different legal systems.

There is a common belief that the term “contract” substantially differs from “Aqd”, and it is by no means safe to presume that every “Aqd” qualifies as a contract. The current research introduces a new point view on the degree of conceptual equivalency of the two terms by showing resemblances in aspects relating to some contractual elements which have always been viewed as an area of divergence rather than convergence.

Positive psychology helps us understand the knowledge required to contribute to adolescents' societal development and adjustability. Adolescence is the crucial stage to work on for a balanced personality. The present study concerned adolescents' self-strength, happiness, and help-seeking behaviour. The authors aimed to explore the relationship between adolescents' self-strength and happiness and investigate the mediational effect of adolescents' help-seeking behaviour on their self-strength and happiness.

The research design of the current quantitative study was correlational, and 809 adolescents from China and Pakistan participated in the present study. Data were personally collected from participants through self-developed scales.

We deployed Pearson correlation and simple mediation using SPSS software and found a linear, positive, strong (r = 0.654, n = 809, p = 0.000 < 0.01) and statistically significant correlation between adolescents' self-strength and happiness. The authors also found a significant indirect effect of help-seeking on adolescents' self-strength and happiness at (β = 0.373, t(907) = 7.01).

Using self-reported scales to gather information was one of the study's limitations. Adolescents may have misunderstood the notion or construct narrated in words or responded biasedly despite the bilingual scales.

This study offers social and practical implications for educators, parents, and school administrators to address the development of adolescents' personalities using a positive psychology lens.

The findings are of significant importance for teachers working in the elementary schools. They may work on adolescents' self-strength, happiness, and help-seeking to develop balanced personalities.

This paper aims to explore the intersection of cultural processes and immigration in parental understanding of adolescent mental health and mental health seeking behaviors among African immigrants in Western countries. The present study examines the perspectives of Congolese immigrant parents on adolescent mental health in Brussels, Belgium, and Raleigh, North Carolina, USA – two geographic regions with relatively large Congolese migrant populations. This study highlights a needed understanding of cultural and acculturative context in shaping the beliefs of Congolese immigrants and explores potential barriers of seeking health services. Additionally, it recognizes health issues among this underrepresented and underserved population.

Fifteen Congolese immigrant parents, eight in the USA and seven in Belgium, participated in structured qualitative interviews using an adapted version of Kleinman Questions and behavioral scenarios on depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Interviews were audio recorded, and participants were assigned pseudonyms to de-identify responses. English interviews were transcribed verbatim by a trained team of undergraduate research assistants, and French interviews were transcribed verbatim by the first author and a graduate research assistant. Following transcription, the first and second authors used a rapid analytic approach (Hamilton, 2013). The first and second authors conducted a matrix analysis to observe thematic patterns.

Parents interpreted adolescent behavior to be more problematic when the scenarios were overtly outside of their cultural realm of values and beliefs. Parents preferred methods of intervention through religious practices and/or family and community efforts rather than seeking mental health services in their host countries as a secondary option. The authors’ findings provide an understanding of the values and beliefs of this underrepresented demographic, which may be useful to guide health professionals on how to support this community in a culturally responsive way.

Limitations to the current study include the structured nature of the interview guide that did not allow for in-depth qualitative exploration. Interviewed participants had lived in their host countries for more than 10+ years. Thus, the authors’ findings are not reflective of new immigrants’ experiences. Parents’ perspectives were likely shaped by exposure to Western beliefs related to support for mental health (e.g. knowledge of psychologists). Future studies should focus on recent refugees due to exposure to traumatic events and experiences reflective of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) current socio-political situation, and how these are understood in the context of adolescent mental health. Further, due to the hypothetical nature of the scenarios, the authors cannot be sure that participants would engage in the identified approaches with their children. Additionally, hearing from the youth’s perspective would provide a clearer insight on how mental health and seeking professional help is viewed in a parent–child relationship. Finally, the data for this study were collected in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the authors cannot speak directly to Congolese refugee and immigrant experiences during this significant historical period, given the rise in mental health concerns in refugee populations more broadly (Logie et al., 2022), the authors’ findings speak to how parents may have responded to increased mental health symptoms and point to additional barriers that these populations may have faced in accessing support. The authors’ study emphasizes the need for dedicating resources and attention to this population, especially the development of culturally tailored messaging that invites community members to support the mental health needs of their community.

The authors’ findings provide important implications for mental health professionals. This study provides a clearer understanding of how Congolese immigrant parents view mental health and help-seeking within their cultural frame. Although parents may seek professional help, a distrust of mental health services was expressed across both cohorts. This suggests that mental health professionals should acknowledge potential distrust among this population and clarify their role in supporting the mental health of adolescent immigrants. Clinicians should inquire about familial cultural beliefs that are parent- and child-centered and modify their interventions to fit these belief structures.

This paper addresses the gap in knowledge about mental health perspectives of Sub-Saharan African immigrant populations, specifically those from the DRC.

This study aims to integrate entrepreneurship theories and acculturation perspectives into a unified lens to understand opportunity development by transnational entrepreneurs (TNEs).

This study uses a conceptual method, considering how acculturation strategies of TNEs influence cross-cultural arbitrage.

We develop six propositions that define how acculturation strategies relate to different levels of cultural embeddedness of transnational entrepreneurs and ultimately influence the process by which the entrepreneur engages in cross-cultural arbitrage.

We are one of the first to integrate the sociology of immigrants with entrepreneurship to better understand how TNEs engage in cross-cultural arbitrage.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of black Sub-Saharan African (BSSA) migrants from war-torn zones in accessing health services in the West Midlands region of the UK. This may help to inform on factors influencing the uptake of health services for new migrant communities.

This study explored the experiences of BSSA migrants from war-torn zones in accessing health services in the West Midlands using an explorative qualitative approach. Ten focus groups made up of seven participants each were followed up with three in-depth one-to-one interviews from each focus group using a conversational approach where research participants were encouraged to direct and shape the discussion in accordance with their own experiences, views and particular concerns (Kvale, 1996) as opposed to responding to a pre-determined agenda.

Following transcription, coding and analysis of the focus group discussions and follow-up interviews, this study found that perceptions and attitudes of BSSA communities in accessing health services included difficulties in navigating the health system, intrusive and embarrassing questions from clinicians, stigmatisation through offering an HIV test, culturally unfriendly counselling support, unconfidently services and episodes of trauma flashbacks.

The experiences of BSSA migrants who sought health services in the West Midlands in the UK demonstrated important implications for future practice and informed service delivery. There is a need to consider cultural education for both BSSA migrants and health professionals to enhance understanding and trust between the groups. Basic professional training for health professionals should also encompass the needs of the growing ethnic populations in the UK.

The objective of the study was to explore the factors influencing the career decisions of students doing the students' undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes from urban private universities/colleges in the Indian context.

Career decision-making is determined by different factors and is contextual. The present study explores and identifies the prominent factors influencing career decision-making. A pool of 33 questions was developed, and these questions were initially administered to a sample of 233 students. Principal component analysis with Varimax Rotation identified salient factors. In the second study, confirmatory analysis was performed based on the opinion of 304 students.

The study shows that the student's career deciding factors include (1) career clarity, (2) career exploration, (3) career reward and recognition and (4) career initiative for professional and personal growth.

The study focussed on career-deciding factors for UG and PG students from urban universities/colleges in the Indian context and the findings can be used for planning career counselling interventions.

Mental health recovery across cultures lacks understanding and suitable measures. The Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery (QPR) is a self-report instrument measuring personal recovery outcomes for consumers of mental health services. However, the extent of its relevance among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities is unclear. This pilot study aimed to examine the relevance and utility of the QPR among CALD consumers of primary mental health services in Australia.

Eleven individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two general practitioners (GPs) and nine consumers from two clinics, at locations with high Iranian and Burmese refugee or asylum seeker populations. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using a thematic framework approach.

Although almost all consumers had little or no understanding of the concept of personal recovery, they found the QPR culturally acceptable and understandable. Using the QPR during mental health consultations can help with needs identification and goal setting. Challenges in using the QPR included completion time, cross-cultural differences in concepts and norms for some items, and need for careful translation. Consumers suggested additional items regarding family reputation, sexuality, and spirituality.

The QPR is potentially a valuable tool to support mental health consultations with CALD consumers, from the perspectives of both GPs and consumers.

Despite being one of the most used dependent variables in expatriate management research, no clear-cut understanding exists of what expatriate success means. Thus, this study aims to propose an integrative definition of expatriate success by providing an overview of expatriate success's dimensions, antecedents, and their interplay.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to achieve the purpose. A total of 249 empirical studies (quantitative 111, qualitative 50, mixed-methods 17), literature reviews (67) and meta-analyses (4) on expatriate success were reviewed from Web of Science and Scopus databases published from 1990 until December 2021. The study selection criteria followed the PRISMA flowchart steps, and then descriptive and network analyses were performed to identify expatriates' success dimensions, antecedents and their interplay.

The findings show the interplay among antecedents and dimensions of expatriate success across three levels (individual, interpersonal and organisational) to clarify the concept of expatriate success. Also, the study offers a comprehensive definition of expatriate success based on the dimensions identified.

The suggested definition of expatriate success elucidates the “atheoretical”, multidimensional and socially constructed nature of the construct and hence, calls for more “theoretical”, multidimensional and subjective considerations of the term to ground human resource management practices addressed to attain expatriates' success.

This paper provides an integrative definition of expatriate success, giving greater insight into the construct, in addition to critically reflecting on it.