2019 Annual Conference

International Adult Education

Shared Concurrent Session (Approx. 12 or 20 minutes)

This presentation will address the questions related to the decisions some non-native English speakers make to enroll at a graduate school in the United States. We will talk about the phenomenon of “brain gain” and present the participants’ perceptions of studying in the US as opposed to their home countries.

Data collection for this study included detailed reflections of the participating non-native English-speaking students regarding reasons for their decisions to obtain a graduate school degree in the US as opposed to their home countries. This information should be useful to those countries which are experiencing brain drain, as well as those which are reaping the benefits of this phenomenon by gaining educated individuals determined to invest in their future. Thus, the presentation has implications for policymakers in addition to providing information to educators and other non-native English-speaking students who plan to study in the US.

Presentation attendees will gain valuable information regarding non-native English-speaking students’ perceptions regarding educational systems in their home countries as compared to the US educational system and academic environment. Educators will learn how to accommodate these students’ needs and expectations in ways which could impact the students’ retention in graduate school. Policymakers will be able to create and/or modify rules and regulations which pertain to this population of students and their experiences in graduate school.

This study sought to understand why non-native English-speaking students opt for higher education and career development in the United States instead of their home countries. We analyzed data based on six in-depth face-to-face interviews with first year non-native English-speaking graduate students of different nationalities enrolled at a Research 1 institution in the Southern United States. The purpose of the study was to understand why the interviewed non-native English-speaking students decided to enroll at a graduate school in the Southern United States over same level institutions in their home countries.

The main themes that emerged after data analysis and coding processes were related to participants’ academic and work experience, their decision making processes, opinions of home country’s educational systems, non-educational factors (such as financial or emigrational), as well as their career prospects. The revelations of these learners’ personal experiences and decisions, in addition to their ideas of what the future holds, were important for understanding why US graduate schools benefit from hosting non-native English-speaking students, while the students’ home countries might be left lacking educated individuals.

This will be an interactive presentation as the attendees will be asked to share their experiences and thoughts related to the topic. The most important findings and themes from the research study will be addressed throughout the presentation. Some questions for the attendees will also stem from the data covered by the presentation. Finally, we will encourage the attendees to pose further questions based on the presentation.