Attitude and Perception Differences among International Students and Local Students: A Case Study of Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

This qualitative study was designed to gather information, using focus groups, about Asian international students' experiences and attitudes toward Australian-New Zealanders, to identify the sources of these attitudes, and to discover methods that could address negative attitudes that Asian students might have towards Australian-New Zealanders students. Data were collected from 200 respondents by using simple random technique at the ratio of 100 respondents each (Asian, and Australian-New Zealander students). A well structured questionnaire was used as a tool to record the responses. This article also underlines perspectives for rethinking research strategies with Asian international students. It was revealed that Asians were "nice" and "friendly" and it was easy to develop friendships with them. Some students suggested that friendships were easier to form with Australian-New Zealanderss than with Asian students because Australian-New Zealanders seemed to be more curious about Asian cultures and expressed their emotions more openly and honestly. The participants agreed that Australian-New Zealanders were not all bad, as they were portrayed in the media.

Cultural Inclusiveness Contributing to International Students' Intercultural Attitudes: Mediating Role of Intergroup Contact Variables

“…Particularly relevant to Asian‐born international students' intercultural evaluation is that some might hold prejudicial attitudes before arriving in Australia, as emerging research suggests (e.g. Latif et al, ).…”

“…Research has suggested a noticeable social divide between international and domestic students, with generally low levels of intergroup interactions and particularly of friendships (Latif, Bhatti, Maitlo, Nazar, & Shaikh, ; Rosenthal, Russell, & Thomson, ). Furthermore, there have been incidents of international students being the target of racially motivated discrimination from domestic students in Australia (Barron, ) and even victims of crime from members of the general community in Western countries all over the world (Nyland, Forbes‐Mewett, & Marginson, ).…”

University students' needs and satisfaction with their host city

“…Students were separated into two groups -domestic and international students. This purposeful segmentation follows previous studies which have grouped international students together to make them feel comfortable and more at ease to share their thoughts and opinions among their peers (Latif et al, 2012;Hynes et al, 2011). Each focus group consisted of seven full time students and lasted an average of 1 hour in duration.…”