This article employs an interpretive autoethnographic approach to explore how the author navigates the paradigmatic contradictions between poststructuralism as a theoretical framework and his personal religious beliefs. It narrates and analyzes how the researcher arrives at specific understandings of reality, knowledge, and the self. The author…

The U.S. attracts a significant number of international doctoral students each year. As these students navigate cultural and academic systems, understanding their unique experiences and challenges becomes crucial. This study explores the intricate nuances of identity negotiation in the lived experiences of six East Asian international doctoral…

Gender studies in Western institutions of higher education tend to focus on the deficiencies of female students in adjusting to new cultures compared to their male counterparts (Contreras-Aguirre & Gonzalez, 2017; Manese et al., 1988; Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992). Few researchers have delved into female Chinese international students' ways…

The global imaginary contributes to the perpetuation of neo-colonial and neoliberal mentalities, which reinforce the political, cultural, and social dominance over international students. Through an exploration guided by interrelated theories of agency and transnational social fields, this study employs a narrative inquiry methodology with a…

This study explores the development of intercultural competence through the lived experience of an Indonesian doctoral Muslim student pursuing higher education in Australia. We employ a narrative inquiry case study approach; the research delves into the participants' personal and academic journeys, examining how intercultural interactions in a…

In this paper, we, two transnational doctoral students and language educators of color, engage in a reflexive dialogic conversation focusing on the positionality of our identities. Utilizing duoethnography research methodology, we explored our academic and professional journeys in post-secondary education in our home countries and an Anglophone…

While international education has long been characterized by mobility, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted our attention to immobility when thousands of international students have experienced immobility in various ways, one of which is being stuck in their home countries. This paper records how the new situation of immobility challenged an…

Studies pertaining to the challenges international doctoral students confront have been disseminated at various conferences and in journals. However, there is a need to synthesize recent research to assess and advance contemporary theories about international doctoral students. Using meta-synthesis, this article discusses the literature's main…

While international students' experiences of academic bullying from their advisors have been documented in the literature (e.g., Moss & Mahmoudi, 2021), little is known regarding how race and other identities intersect in normalizing and perpetuating academic bullying within higher education. Utilizing Asian critical theory (Iftikar &…

International doctoral students are an indispensable part of the increasingly globalized Higher Education Institutions and play a vital role in continually refreshing the host country's research base and fostering cross-national research collaborations. Despite their contributions, most international student employability experiences have been…

Studying overseas may offer myriad riches of extraordinary experiences, especially due to the opportunities to immerse into a different academic culture. However, for some, the difference may be a hurdle that brings them into a mental roller coaster along with their academic career. In this reflective paper, against the backdrop of my overseas…

This qualitative study uses data from interviews with 20 recipients of a Kazakhstani "Bolashak" scholarship to explore how international students overcome structural barriers and manifest agency in the conditions of public health emergency. The analysis addresses the gap in the scholarly literature on agency of international students by…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how international doctoral students were matched with their faculty advisors and how their advising experiences and satisfaction were shaped by their academic discipline. We applied the lens of developmental advising to situate the advising experiences of our sample because of the framework's…

This study used the Survey of Earned Doctorates, World Bank economic data of the doctoral students' home country, and hierarchical linear modeling analysis to examine the effects of financial factors and home-country macroeconomic indicators on international doctoral students' labor market destinations. We found that wealth disparities and…

This qualitative study examines the factors that facilitate or inhibit the academic identity development of four Vietnamese doctoral students in Denmark. Using the combination of Genetic method and Activity theory, the paper provides insights into the participants' experiences of becoming and being an academic, which is context-dependent and…