NAVIGATING THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ACCULTURATION

Abstract

This thesis foregrounds the human dimension of international student acculturation - the lived emotional, identity-related, relational and agentic experiences that quantitative adjustment scores alone cannot capture. Building on contemporary acculturation theory, it proposes a four- dimension framework for understanding acculturation as a dynamic, non-linear journey of personal meaning-making, and outlines its implications for student support in higher education.