A Systematic Literature Review of Challenges Experienced by International Postgraduate Students and Implications for Supervisory Practice at South African Universities

Abstract

Abstract South African universities have evidenced exponential increases in the numbers of doctoral students, bringing pressure to bear upon traditional supervisory practice. With the literature on the challenges experienced by international postgraduate students at South African universities being very limited, it was anticipated that the challenges experienced by international postgraduate students abroad could be drawn upon to inform supervisory practice. The aim of this paper was to perform a systematic literature review of the challenges experienced by international postgraduate students at universities in other parts of the world. The objective of the study was, firstly, to consolidate the empirical evidence and, secondly, to develop a framework to inform supervisory practice at South African universities. A systematic literature review was undertaken to identify relevant empirical studies relating to the challenges experienced by international postgraduate students. The search was executed by deploying keywords in selected databases. Twenty-one articles were identified and analysed using thematic analysis. The review evidenced that the key challenges that characterise international postgraduate students revolve around linguistic ability, cultural dissonance, academic expectations and isolation. While some studies found a positive relationship between supervisor multicultural competence and supervision satisfaction, supervisors find that both local and international students are equally challenged in academic writing. Some studies conclude that there is no difference in the supervision practice employed for international and local postgraduate students with many supervisors believing that international postgraduate students would be able to find their way through institutional and non-institutional support networks. A framework for the supervision of international postgraduate supervision has been suggested.