Barriers of social and cultural adaptation of foreign students in Russian universities

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of materials of the online survey of foreign students studying at universities in Novosibirsk, arranged on the website of the Ministry of Education of the Novosibirsk Oblast. The aim of the study is to identify barriers of sociocultural adaptation of foreign students in Russia. The main methodological approach to solving the tasks set is interdisciplinary one, located at the intersection of sciences, allowing to integrate knowledge gained from the field of philosophy, sociology, and pedagogy. The methodological basis of the study was the analysis of questionnaires, the secondary analysis of sociological research materials. The authors came to the conclusion that the main barrier of successful socio-cultural adaptation of foreign students is the language one, which affects the overcoming of two other barriers, the intercultural one and the academic one. The authors substantiate the need to improve educational and extracurricular work with foreign students to overcome the barriers of socio-cultural adaptation. The organization of adaptation support for foreign students and their successful overcoming of adaptation barriers should become a comprehensive systematic work in the Russian university and be focused on the acceptance and respect of cultural, national, ethnic, and racial differences.