A Pervasive, Yet Rectifiable Taboo: Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of International Doctoral Students in STEM Fields

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Morgan

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Presentation

Abstract

International students are critically important to doctoral education in the United States due to their significant contributions to teaching, scholarship, and the campus environment. Literature indicates that international doctoral students exhibit remarkable agency while transcending complex geopolitical, social, and institutional problems to successfully navigate doctoral programs (e.g., Nguyen & Robertson, 2020; Sun & Wu, 2024). Nevertheless, open discussions about international students’ mental health challenges remain taboo. The taboo nature of mental health is especially powerful in doctoral STEM environments which celebrate “grit,” resilience, and self-sufficiency while either tacitly or openly discouraging students from seeking help. This qualitative phenomenological study investigates the taboo of international doctoral students’ mental health challenges by drawing upon multiple interviews with eight international doctoral students working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at a U.S. research university. Data pertaining to mental health challenges point to four themes: 1) cultural isolation and displacement, 2) financial insecurity, 3) advising relationships, and 4) support networks. Analyzing data through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, this article then argues that institutions must consider how to address challenges on all five levels - micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono - to better support international doctoral students.

Keywords

Keywords: Doctoral Advising, Doctoral Students, Ecological Systems, International Students, Mental Health, STEM

Professional Bio

Emily Crider is Director of Graduate School Business Operations at Augusta University and a recent graduate of the Ed.D. program in Higher Education Leadership and Practice at the University of North Georgia. Dr. Crider has published her research in the Journal of International and Comparative Higher Education and Higher Education Quarterly. Michael Lanford is an Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Georgia. His research uses qualitative methods to investigate educational equity, globalization, institutional innovation, and organizational culture. His first book, entitled Creating a Culture of Mindful Innovation in Higher Education, was co-written with Bill Tierney and published by SUNY Press in 2022. Additionally, Dr. Lanford has published more than 50 journal articles and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of Higher Education, Innovative Higher Education, and the Journal of Global Higher Education

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Jan 30th, 9:00 AM Jan 30th, 10:00 AM

A Pervasive, Yet Rectifiable Taboo: Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of International Doctoral Students in STEM Fields

Morgan

International students are critically important to doctoral education in the United States due to their significant contributions to teaching, scholarship, and the campus environment. Literature indicates that international doctoral students exhibit remarkable agency while transcending complex geopolitical, social, and institutional problems to successfully navigate doctoral programs (e.g., Nguyen & Robertson, 2020; Sun & Wu, 2024). Nevertheless, open discussions about international students’ mental health challenges remain taboo. The taboo nature of mental health is especially powerful in doctoral STEM environments which celebrate “grit,” resilience, and self-sufficiency while either tacitly or openly discouraging students from seeking help. This qualitative phenomenological study investigates the taboo of international doctoral students’ mental health challenges by drawing upon multiple interviews with eight international doctoral students working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at a U.S. research university. Data pertaining to mental health challenges point to four themes: 1) cultural isolation and displacement, 2) financial insecurity, 3) advising relationships, and 4) support networks. Analyzing data through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, this article then argues that institutions must consider how to address challenges on all five levels - micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono - to better support international doctoral students.