Advising International Students in Engineering Programs: Academic Advisors' Perceptions of Intercultural Communication Competence

Academic Advising for Engineering Students

Academic advisors play a critical role in delivering accurate information on course selection and guiding engineering students to navigate their academic programs successfully (Sutton & Sankar, 2011). Typical engineering programs are based on highly structured curricula that require students to progress from fundamental to advanced courses in a strictly organized manner (Cogdell, 1995). Any mistakes made in course selection can result in greater financial burdens and delayed graduation. Therefore, engineering students rely heavily on the guidance of their advisors and often seek assistance for selecting courses, changing course schedules, learning about graduation requirements, and obtaining information on internship opportunities (Cogdell, 1995; Sutton & Sankar, 2011; Varma & Hahn, 2007). Overall, assessable appropriate academic advising contributes to the retention of engineering students (Haag, Hubele, Garcia, & McBeath, 2007; Metzner, 1989). In contrast, poor academic advising, coupled with a lack of career counseling, may contribute to student departures from engineering programs (Haag et al., 2007; Jain, Shanahan, & Roe, 2009).

International Students' Experiences with Academic Advising

All students, including international students, benefit from academic advising. The literature indicates that international students perceive academic advising as an important benefit and believe it exerts positive influences on their adjustment and academic performance (Cadieux & Wehrly, 1986; Charles & Stewart, 1991). For instance, Ku, Lahman, Yeh, and Cheng (2008) found that international doctoral students considered support from academic advisors a key factor for their well-being and academic success. Zhai (2004) indicated that international students rate advisors as the third-most important source of support, following family and friends and the office of international education. The findings of Zhai's study demonstrated that satisfaction with academic advising significantly predicts students' sense of belonging and intent to persist. In addition, compared to domestic students, international students were more likely to view developing a close relationship with advisors an important step toward academic success (Rose, 2005).

Advisors' Experiences with International Students

Most of the literature regarding advisors' experiences with international students focused on faculty advisors and their perceptions of students' academic performance and cultural adjustment. Most faculty advisors hold a positive attitude toward international students and view them as important contributors to research (Barber & Morgan, 1988). Faculty advisors also recognize challenges that international students often face in language learning, adjustment to American culture, and segregation from domestic students; however, they note very few differences between international and domestic students regarding their academic performances (Trice, 2003).

When examining advising professionals' experiences, Burton (2012) found that academic advisors gain limited personal or professional experiences or receive little training to be effective in cultural-enriching activities, including interacting with international students. Burton's study revealed that the “decentralized nature of the academic advising program within the institution hinders advisors' capacity to get involved in international activities” (p. 98). In a community college context, Zhang (2015, 2016) presented an early effort in understanding academic advisors' experiences with international students from an intercultural communication perspective. Zhang found that, although they recognize the unique challenges faced by international students and cultural differences between international and domestic students, academic advisors receive limited professional training in conducting effective advising with international students. Although these studies contributed to a fuller understanding of academic advisors' practice with international students, Zhang explored only the community college context and did not take into account any differences among academic disciplines. To address the limitation of the current literature, we explored experiences and perceptions of academic advisors who work closely with international engineering students at a 4-year university.

Research Setting

This study was conducted in a college of engineering at a 4-year research university in northern Texas during the fall of 2014. In the previous few years, the university had enrolled an increasing number of international students, a large proportion of whom chose to study in engineering programs. As of Fall 2014, more than one third (34%) of the enrollments in the college of engineering were attributed to international students.

Participants

We sent an e-mail invitation to all academic advisors (N = 39) in the college of engineering in the fall of 2014. Eight of the advisors, five men and three women, consented to participate in the study. These advisors worked in six different departments within the college and held various experiences in academic advising. Most self-identified as White. Six advisors had earned a PhD in an engineering field and had been working concurrently as academic advisors and faculty members in the college. Two advisors had earned undergraduate degrees, one in education and another in history, and they served as full-time professional academic advisors at the time of the interview. To protect the advisors' personal identities, we assigned a pseudonym to each participant. Table 1 presents the demographic backgrounds of the participants.

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the participants

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Data Collection

Adhering to Moustakas's (1994) phenomenological method, we conducted semi-structured interviews and encouraged advisors to describe their experiences from their own perspectives. The interviews with these eight advisors, each of which lasted approximately 45 minutes, focused on advisors' experiences working with international students, their own cultural awareness, their willingness to learn from other cultures, and strategies they employed to overcome challenges in advising international engineering students. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. To ensure trustworthiness of the findings, we sent transcripts back to the participants for member checking and feedback (as per Lincoln & Guba, 1985). None of the participants asked for any changes in the transcript. In addition, we conducted peer briefing between each other to ensure appropriate interpretation of the qualitative data (per Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Data Analysis

First, we read the interview transcripts multiple times to gain a general sense of participants' experiences of advising international engineering students. Second, using open-coding techniques (as per Esterberg, 2002), we explored similarities and differences among the interview transcripts. Third, we compared, categorized, and labeled quotes. In addition, we used axial coding (per Esterberg, 2002) to determine relationships between initial categories and to develop the emerging themes and subthemes further. For example, quotes categorized under the label of positive experiences of advising international students and willing to learn more about international advisees were merged into a category labeled positive attitudes. The same axial coding technique was applied to link resources and events under the category labeled obstacles. Initially, 12 labels were created for the transcripts, which we later reduced to three themes in accordance with the ICC theoretical framework.

Understanding Cultural Differences

The interviews revealed study participants' awareness of cultural differences between native and international engineering and the influence of such differences on advising these students. Advisor participants acknowledged that students from other regions of the world have studied in a very different educational system, engage in conversational styles and processes unlike native speakers, and likely express different expectations of learning and living in the United States than their native peers.

Positive Attitudes Toward Cultural Diversity

Interviews revealed that the participating engineering academic advisors maintain a positive attitude toward academic advising and enjoy learning from international students despite the cultural differences they perceived. These advisors expressed a strong interest and desire to enrich their knowledge about international students and other cultures. For instance, Stephen conveyed joy when discussing intercultural events and enthusiasm for regular visits to the international student office on campus where most intercultural activities take place: “I would go there, very often, and get an opportunity to meet the students I've never met from different countries and talk to them.” Likewise, Jennifer expressed great enjoyment in meeting new international students and learning about their home countries. She also actively participated in international student activities on campus and took these opportunities to build connections with international students in her department.

Mary thinks highly of the cultural diversity that international students bring to campus, explaining, “It makes my job interesting that I deal with people from a lot of different countries and cultures.” She also recognizes that nonappreciation of other cultures could result in difficulties in advising international students: “The faculty member that's had some issues within our department—with international students, I think…part of the problem is that he's not as open to people—you know, different religions and different countries. . . .”

Overall, the advisors participating in our study understand the importance of learning about aspects of the diverse cultures that international students contribute to campus, and they conveyed a welcoming attitude toward these students. Nonetheless, like Mary, a few noticed that their peers do not share the same attitude about nonnative enrollees. The interviews with the advisors revealed that they are willing to learn about other cultures and understand that a lack of exposure to cultural diversity can result in challenges to advising international students.

Strategies to Improve International Student Advising

Being aware of cultural differences and obstacles that international students must face and overcome, most academic advisors in our study actively seek opportunities to enhance their understanding of international students' experiences in the engineering programs. The advisors reported making efforts to adapt their advising practice to respond as positively as possible to the particular needs of international advisees, but they also report coming upon many obstacles.

Cognitive Perspective

The cognitive perspective in the ICC framework refers to a person's awareness and understanding of information for successful intercultural communication (Chen & Starosta, 1998-1999; Wiseman, 2002). The findings of the study suggest that the interviewed academic advisors in the college of engineering generally understand that many international advisees show unfamiliarity with American academic culture, possess interaction styles unlike their native counterparts, and hold uninformed expectations for advisors. The findings suggest that an advisor, prior to guiding the student's academic work, should seek to understand the student's situation and unique challenges in navigating engineering programs. For instance, to understand international advisees better, academic advisors could spend more time in their initial meetings establishing rapport with these students and developing holistic views of each. This approach can help form and strengthen a trusting relationship especially for advisors and advisees who do not share similar cultural backgrounds (Cornett-DeVito & Reeves, 1999).

We found that several advisors face challenges in assisting international students who struggled to understand the American higher education system and grading policies. This finding indicates that academic advisors need to familiarize themselves with international students' academic and cultural backgrounds. For example, academic advisors could provide an overview of U.S. higher education to their incoming international advisees and discuss with them the differences and similarities between policies and practices at home and in the United States. More specifically, advisors might explicitly explain the way the final grade is calculated and the reasons it cannot be changed; thus, they encourage students to consult faculty and advisors early and often. Advisors might also highlight academic regulations and expectations of the college of engineering, such as the definitive order of certain class sequences, purpose of collaborative assignments, and importance of participation in class discussions. Such efforts committed by academic advisors could greatly benefit international students' academic pursuit in engineering programs.

Although the advisors expressed awareness of students' differences, none discussed their own communication styles, cultural backgrounds, or influences of their own personal perspectives on advising practices. The ICC framework stipulates that “the implementation of conversationally competent behaviors in interaction requires self-awareness” (Chen & Starosta, 1996, p. 365), which allows individuals to adjust to cultures different from their own. Accordingly, examinations to understand their own communication styles might enable academic advisors to realize their personal strengths and weaknesses in communicating with others, especially in a cross-cultural context. Such self-reflection may also help advisors understand their own cultural heritage, worldview, and buried bias, if any, about other cultures or countries. As a result of introspection, academic advisors could more effectively assist international students who are adjusting to the U.S. culture and a new learning environment (Brislin, 1981; Gudykunst, 1993; Triandis, 1977).

Affective Perspective

Affective perspective emphasizes personal emotions or changes in feelings that result from exposure to particular situations, people, or environments (Triandis, 1977). Academic advisors in this study expressed positive feelings and attitudes toward students from other countries, and they showed interest in learning about other cultures. The findings contribute to the existing literature (Zhang, 2015, 2016) that suggested that academic advisors appreciate the opportunity to become acquainted with the cultures of international advisees. The findings also suggest that advisors with a more accepting attitude toward international students tend to be relatively comfortable in communicating with students who adopt communicational styles unlike their own. Although important for international engineering students to adjust to the new social and academic cultures, advisors share an equal portion of the responsibility to remain open to different cultures and communication styles. Without willingness to connect with them, advisors cannot fully understand struggles that international students encounter in their transition and will fail to provide adequate support for students.

Only two advisors indicated that they participated in campus activities to enhance their understanding of international student experiences. This finding may suggest that academic advisors need to take additional steps to engage in culture-enriching activities. Thirty years ago, Cooper, Beare, and Thorman (1990) pointed to personal practice as an important way to gain a deeper understanding of cultural diversity. Advisors might translate experiences into intercultural appreciation and thus eliminate any discomfort caused by the lack of cultural competence when interacting with international students. Despite the benefit of cultural enhancement activities, advisors' lack of participation in them may be attributed to their job description. Several participants in the study described minimal emphasis on academic advisors' cultural awareness and intercultural understanding.

Behavioral Perspective

Through this study, we discovered that engineering academic advisors not only recognize the cultural diversity contributed by international students but they also demonstrate “the ability to adapt appropriately to situational or environmental variations” (Bochner & Kelly, 1974, p. 288), or behavioral flexibility, in advising these students. For instance, to overcome language barriers, the academic advisors we interviewed explained that they limit use of slang and jargon, ask open-ended questions, and use measured humor when interacting with international students. Our interviews with academic advisors also revealed lack of institutional support in engendering advisors' cultural awareness and appreciation. To overcome this obstacle at the institution, academic advisors in our study reportedly deepened their own cross-cultural understanding by accessing various resources, such as the Internet, current and former international students, and other faculty members with extensive international experiences.

On the basis of these findings, we recommend that colleges of engineering incorporate training on cultural understanding in advisors' job requirements and provide resources to promote advisors' exposure to diversity. For instance, college leadership could encourage advisors' participation in cultural and intercultural activities by calculating the necessary time commitments when assigning workloads. In addition, the college of engineering administration should promote collaboration and interaction between academic advisors and other units on campus, particularly those with professionals who work closely with international students and possess particular expertise about diverse cultures and issues. Academic affairs offices and student affairs units, such as the international office and multicultural division, can provide training, support, and assistance for advisors. This type of cross-campus collaboration might empower advisors in helping international students transition smoothly through their educational journey in the United States. It can also provide advisors with opportunities to share challenges that they have encountered in advising international students and obtain advice from culturally experienced colleagues. Finally, with a large representation of international students in colleges of engineering, each institution should take advantage of the unique contributions of international students, faculty, and staff to organize events and activities that celebrate cultural diversity in the classroom and campus.