The role of an international education program in facilitating international students' acculturation and self-efficacy

Internationalization and globalization have been a trend of much analysis over the last two decades (Rumbley, Altbach, & Reisberg, 2012). Globalization influences technology, environment, culture, education, medical science, ideology, the economy, and many more fields (Knight, 2015). In education, globalization has profound implications for international education (Myers, 2010). Along with the development of international education in U.S. higher education institutions, the acculturation and self-efficacy challenges that international students encounter have caught the attention of international education leaders. As a direct and essential part in the international education, the International Education Program (IEP) could directly influence international students’ acculturation and self-efficacy. The study was designed to examine the role of the IEP on facilitating international students’ acculturation and self-efficacy at an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in South Texas, focusing on the importance of these two constructs and the effectiveness of the IEP on facilitating them. The participants (n = 94) were international students who were enrolled in this institution. A web-based version of a 2-part survey instrument, the International Students’ Acculturation and Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (ISASEQ), was used for the purpose of data collection, utilizing Qualtrics survey software. A series of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyze and report the data. All importance scores were higher than the effectiveness scores. Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and years of university education, acculturation and self-efficacy were reported to be quite important and the IEP was effective in facilitating both. Importance of acculturation was affected by years of education outside the home country.