The adjustment process of Asian expatriate students
Polvivaara, Kimmo (2011)
Polvivaara, Kimmo
Satakunnan ammattikorkeakoulu
2011
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201105259568
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201105259568
Tiivistelmä
The Adjustment Process of Asian Expatriate Students
The purpose of this study was threefold. First issue was to find out what kind of problems Asian expatriate students face while studying in Finland. Secondly, to give Asian expatriates an idea how to prepare beforehand and what kind of problems one is likely to face. Third purpose was to give the university an idea how their current Asian expatriate students are doing in general, and to give advice on how they can help their Asian expatriate students even more than they already do.
The first part of the thesis discusses cultural issues from many different perspectives. It examines differentiation of cultures, Hofstede’s four dimensions, how to cross cultures successfully, cultural differences, cultural adaptability, and culture shock. The research material was collected by nine personal interviews with pre-planned questionnaire. All of the nine respondents were at the time of research studying in Satakunta University of Applied sciences.
The interview material was analyzed with research problems in mind, and after analysis all of the research problems were more or less answered. The study was able to determine the main challenges Asian expatriate students face in Finland. Main problems were caused by the very different character of Finnish people compared to Asians. There are also some customs Finnish people have which were causing trouble among the Asian expatriates, main one being the usage of alcohol. After analyzing the answers a few recommendations were made both to the future expatriates and to the university as well.
The purpose of this study was threefold. First issue was to find out what kind of problems Asian expatriate students face while studying in Finland. Secondly, to give Asian expatriates an idea how to prepare beforehand and what kind of problems one is likely to face. Third purpose was to give the university an idea how their current Asian expatriate students are doing in general, and to give advice on how they can help their Asian expatriate students even more than they already do.
The first part of the thesis discusses cultural issues from many different perspectives. It examines differentiation of cultures, Hofstede’s four dimensions, how to cross cultures successfully, cultural differences, cultural adaptability, and culture shock. The research material was collected by nine personal interviews with pre-planned questionnaire. All of the nine respondents were at the time of research studying in Satakunta University of Applied sciences.
The interview material was analyzed with research problems in mind, and after analysis all of the research problems were more or less answered. The study was able to determine the main challenges Asian expatriate students face in Finland. Main problems were caused by the very different character of Finnish people compared to Asians. There are also some customs Finnish people have which were causing trouble among the Asian expatriates, main one being the usage of alcohol. After analyzing the answers a few recommendations were made both to the future expatriates and to the university as well.