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International students’ experiences in graduate programs during COVID-19 and recent sociopolitical climate in the USA

Pankhuri Aggarwal (Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA)
Erica Szkody (Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi, USA)
Eleni Kapoulea (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA)
Katharine Daniel (Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA)
Kirsten Bootes (Department of Psychology, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
Jennifer Boland (Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA)
Jason Washburn (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Amy Peterman (Department of Psychological Science, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA)

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

ISSN: 2398-4686

Article publication date: 28 November 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the unique lived experiences of international graduate students in light of COVID-19 and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA (e.g. Black Lives Matter movement, protests against anti-Asian hate crimes and gun violence).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used an exploratory qualitative design embedded within a constructivist/interpretivist paradigm. A total of 31 international health service psychology graduate students completed an online survey, 17 of whom participated in a 60-min one-on-one semi-structured interview.

Findings

Participants reported facing a range of difficulties (e.g. travel ban/inability to spend time with family, visa-related concerns, racism, decreased support) during the global pandemic and the recent sociopolitical climate in the USA. A total of 48 themes were identified and organized into six domains: COVID-19-related stress and worry, experiences of racism/discrimination, coping mechanisms, support received, recommendations for programs and higher learning institutions and advice for other international graduate students.

Originality/value

The recent sociopolitical climate in the US exacerbated some of the preexisting inequities for international graduate students due to their international student status and the global pandemic. Although few in number, students also spoke about some positive changes as a result of these major historical and political events. Implications for graduate education, clinical practice and policymaking are discussed.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology. A portion of these findings was presented as a paper at the 2022 Midwinter Meeting of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology and the 2022 International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Declaration of interest: The authors wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

Citation

Aggarwal, P., Szkody, E., Kapoulea, E., Daniel, K., Bootes, K., Boland, J., Washburn, J. and Peterman, A. (2023), "International students’ experiences in graduate programs during COVID-19 and recent sociopolitical climate in the USA", Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-11-2022-0072

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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