Date of Award

2024

Type

Dissertation

Major

Doctor of Education

Degree Type

Doctor of Education

Department

Teacher Education

First Advisor

Jennifer M. Lovelace PhD

Second Advisor

Hanna Lainas PhD

Third Advisor

Steven Wright PhD

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of F1 visa STEM international students at a four-year private university about their social engagement experiences with their American peers, and how the absence of such engagement practices frames the international students’ sense of mattering and marginality and overall college experience. The study focused only on F-1 visa international students’ perceptions and utilized the marginality and mattering theory (MMT) (Schlossberg, 1989) as a theoretical framework. The social constructivism paradigm was utilized to explain how international students construct their knowledge and perceptions of social engagement with American peers, and how their relative social engagement impacts their sense of mattering or marginality. The topic of international students in US colleges is not new in academia. Despite the impressive amount of literature on international students in US colleges, there is a gap in the literature on the social engagement between international STEM students and their and American counterparts, and international students’ sense of mattering and marginality. The rich qualitative data was collected using drawings and semi-structured interviews with participants that were selected via a convenient purposeful sampling. Data collected revealed that international students’ social engagement experiences with their American peers vary depending on race, gender, years in the US, program level, and athletic affiliation. The frequency and quality or lack of social engagement with their American peers influences international students’ sense of mattering and marginality.

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