Belonging as a Post-Secondary Inter/National Student: Where do I belong?

Abstract

The number of international students worldwide increased from two million in 2000 to more than five million in 2017. International students may experience one or more challenges, such as financial issues, language limitations, academic performance, social and cultural differences, discrimination and racism, and identity reconstruction. Many of these challenges affect international students' sense of belonging. The concept of belonging is multi-faceted. We can belong in different contexts, for example, to families, institutions, cultural or ethnic groups, and religions, and we belong at both concrete and abstract levels. As an international student, I used autoethnography to study my sense of belonging as an individual who is also a graduate student. Autoethnography allows the researcher to relate personal experiences to wider cultural, political, and social meanings and understandings. This enabled me to focus on interpreting my core personal narrative, linking my life and story to international students' lives and stories.