Enculturation & Acculturation: An Exploration of International Student Experiences in Western Learning Cultures through Individual Case Study Research

This small scale exploratory study examined the Post Graduate International student experience in a UK Higher Education Institution. The study was conducted by interviewing students and asking them about the initial experience on arrival in the UK, what there experience was like in the early weeks of the FTMBA programme, the issues they faced and the participants to the study were asked what factors supported the transitions made. Five students took part in the study using a semi structured interview process. The country of origin of the participants were India, Jordon and Australia. Generally, participants to the study, experienced some degree of acculturative stress in making the transition required to the UK way of learning. Participants, where English was not their first language, did appear to experience a greater level of acculturative stress. In order to prepare these students to be graduates of the 21st Century a range of employability measures were suggested by the participants such as work placements, internships, paid or unpaid and the opportunity to develop good UK work ethics