The Role of Identity Gaps, Discrimination, and Acculturation in International Students’ Educational Satisfaction in American Classrooms

Abstract

This study examined a model of international students’ educational satisfaction in the U.S. Using Communication Theory of Identity as a framework, the authors proposed that personal–enacted identity gaps and personal–relational identity gaps contribute to international students’ educational satisfaction. Furthermore, acculturation and perceived discrimination were hypothesized as contributing factors to those gaps. Survey data were collected from 218 international students. Acculturation and perceived discrimination were significantly related to educational satisfaction. The perceived personal–enacted identity gap was also related to educational satisfaction and mediated the relationships among acculturation, discrimination, and educational satisfaction.

Keywords:

• Communication Theory of Identity
• Identity Gaps
• Educational Satisfaction
• Discrimination
• Acculturation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brooke Chapman Wadsworth

Brooke Wadsworth (M.A., University of Georgia, 2002) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University

Michael L. Hecht

Michael Hecht (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1976) is a Professor at the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University

Eura Jung

Eura Jung (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2004) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi