Academic adjustments and learning experiences of government-sponsored accounting students in a foreign university

ABSTRACT

This study examines the learning experiences of government-sponsored second-year international accounting students at a host university in New Zealand. There is an expectation that being financially advantaged, government-sponsored students should navigate better in the new learning environment. Nonetheless, the results show that they experienced the typical situational challenges faced by other international students in foreign universities. These challenges were so significant that were not even mitigated by having scholarships or previous excellent academic records. The implicit expectation is for the home institution and government sponsor to have a pro-active role in collaborating with the host university in the foreign country to provide pre- and post-departure support. Academic adjustment is a gradual process; thus, future research may include international students at different stages of study to better understand their coping strategies and their relationships with academic achievements.

KEYWORDS:

• Government-sponsored accounting student
• international
• learning experience
• academic support
• New Zealand

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the constructive feedback and comments received from conference participants at the Accounting Education Special Interest Group (SIG 5), 2019 AFAANZ Annual Conference, 6 July, Brisbane, Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ‘Home institution’ is where the government-sponsored students completed the first year of their degree.

2 ‘Host university’ refers to the foreign university where the government-sponsored students studied.

3 In some cases, the home institution can be the same organization that sends and sponsors international students. In other cases, the home institution is the institution that provides the pre-requisite qualification to the international students for admission to the host university as agreed in the signed memorandum of agreement (or contract). These students may be sponsored by a government agency in agreement with the home institution.

4 There are three largest ethnic groups in Malaysia: Malay (the indigenous people); Chinese and Indian.

5 Generation Y, Gen Y, or Millennials are those who born between the years 1981 and 2001. They are assumed to be more proficient in technology adoption and usage, and have greater fluency in media use (Black, 2020; Factank, 2019). The comparison to what is expected of Generation Y is relevant as their responses to academic challenges would depend on their computer skills. Since the university where they studied, NZU, has a reputation for providing online resources and distance teaching and learning within New Zealand, it is expected that Generation Y students would be able to use their technical skills to enhance their academic performance.

6 The percentages recorded represent level 4 and 5 responses on the 5-point Likert scale for each question.

7 The NZU provides an on-line platform via Adobe Connect for distance students to attend lectures and interact with their lecturers and fellow students. The sessions are recorded and posted on Stream, an on-line environment for other students to view the recording.