College adjustment is particularly challenging for students from rural Appalachia, causing rural students to be more likely than their suburban and urban peers to withdraw from college. However, little is known about rural Appalachian college students' adjustment. We explored 18 rural Appalachian students' college adjustment experiences and…

International students negotiate various intersecting identities while studying abroad. When an international student moves into the new spatial context of their host country, the student's intersectional identity is perceived with degrees of marginalization or privilege by host country nationals that conflict with the student's understanding of…

Upper secondary school students with a strong academic self-concept are more likely to complete their studies and thus increase their well-being in the future. Previous research on the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE) has thoroughly established the negative contrast effect of average group academic achievement on students' academic…

The primary-to-secondary school transition is a milestone for children because of the multiple changes they must navigate. Although most adjust successfully, approximately 30% of children have difficulties during this transition. Intersecting identities are also likely to influence how children navigate the adjustment of the school transfer, but…

Gender studies in Western institutions of higher education tend to focus on the deficiencies of female students in adjusting to new cultures compared to their male counterparts (Contreras-Aguirre & Gonzalez, 2017; Manese et al., 1988; Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992). Few researchers have delved into female Chinese international students' ways…

This qualitative study examines communicative processes associated with graduate students (N = 124) in their struggles with the impostor phenomenon (IP, commonly known as impostor syndrome) and their integration into and experience in graduate programs (aspects of organizational assimilation). We identified two mutually implicative relationships.…

Increasing student retention is one of the greatest challenges faced by community colleges. First-year community college students face a complex set of issues in grappling with their new academic roles and identities. Therefore, there is a need for effective retention efforts that support students during this time of transition. First-Year…

Current student development theories are mostly grounded in the experiences of domestic students in North America. The increasing portion of the international students in the post-secondary student population has created a glaring gap for a unique theory of international student development. A unique theory for international student development,…

Although students are the key actors in their transition to higher education, there is limited research concentrating on student agency in a successful transition. This study examines how Chinese students actively and effectively manage their transition to the Sino-foreign cooperative university (SFCU). In X University -- one of nine SFCUs in…

The first year of college is a critical time for students, as their early experiences can determine the path of their educational journey. Students are most at-risk for dropping out of college during their first year, and first-generation students have higher rates of departure than their continuing-generation peers. Student engagement, sense of…

This manuscript focuses on student veterans' best option to start their post-high-school education: attending community colleges. It illustrates this point using the story of the author, a US Army combat veteran who began his career at a community college, and other veterans who also began their college careers at the community college. Using…

Prior studies commonly emphasized the beneficial impacts of a growth mindset on students' success and well-being. However, recent evidence cast doubts on the ability of a growth mindset to optimize desirable achievement and psychological outcomes. This study contributes to this line of evidence by exploring the association of mindsets in talent--a…

The transition from traditional, in-person classrooms to technology-based models like online learning is a significant challenge. This change is not only brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also presents difficulties for low-income and developing countries that have adopted online education for students who are spread out over a wide area.…

Under the context of the in-country mobility of Hong Kong students studying at Chinese Mainland universities, this paper proposes the notion of 'transborder habitus' to understand Hong Kong students' experiences and perceptions. Through qualitative research with in-depth interviews with 51 Hong Kong students studying in major cities, namely…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore full-time university students from the western region of the United States perception of their resilience. Within the study, resilience was defined as per Taormina's adult personal resilience theory as a multi-dimensional construct with four separate and independent dimensions;…