International Students’ Social Integration Experiences During Their Higher Education in Europe

Abstract

The increase in academic mobility in Europe has inspired many to contribute to the special literature regarding internationalization. This contribution is quite timely, as the need to understand the ties between higher education and internationalization is great. Considering that mobility has predominantly occurred in Western Europe, special attention must be focused on Eastern Europe’s Higher Educational endeavors. This study focuses on the Central European country of Hungary, and therein more specifically on its second largest city, Debrecen. The University of Debrecen currently hosts around 7000 international students, and every year this number increases. With such promising and ever-increasing numbers, it is a constant mission of the university to research and report on the life experiences of its international students, regarding their academic, social, and cultural aspects. In this present study the focus will be the social aspect of students whose nationality is represented by more than one hundred persons at the university. Content analysis was employed to analyze structured interviews to identify categories. The findings reveal four main categories to be relevant in their social adaptation: (1) the university, (2) networks students build, (3) language barriers, and (4) healthcare.