About project
What's the purpose of the project?
The purpose of the project is to create a cooperation network and to create a model of support for international students and useful tools that will help them adapt to the new environment, in order to strengthen the international character of universities from countries less attractive to students, based on the experience of more attractive countries.
Its not only the hot weather that brings students in!
According to the EUROSTAT's data from the 2015, around 1.6 million of international students studied in the countries of European Union. UK (being a part of the EU at the time of the study), Germany, France and Spain were the most popular among international students. Student's migration isn't only of interest for the Universities, it also has a great impact on local economy - gastronomy or services. Particularly, in the so-called "students' cities" which population drastically decreases during the semester break. Why most of the international students choose this countries?
The most common reason for choosing the country to study in, is the desire to stay and work there after graduation. The self-development is on the second place with the localization and weather only on the third place. The tendency that the economy has impact on the popularity of the country among the foreign students is visible here. But the reality isn’t as colorful as it seems. Living in the foreign country may lead to many difficulties: culture shock, language barrier, inability to understand alien non-verbal communication and social norms or difficulties in organizing day-to-day life in a different environment. Many psychologists state that foreign students face higher level of stress due to the relocation and diversity of the problems they have to cope with. What’s the reason for this? On the one hand foreign students complain on the lack of the assistance from the university, on the other – higher education institution staff believes that they’re doing their best to help students.
How to find a solution?
WSEI University in the international cooperation with other foreign institutions undertook the realisation of the International Students' Action for Adapting Cross-Cultural activities (ISAAC) project. The main objective of the ISAAC is researching the needs and problems faced by the international students and preparing the additional materials and guides to help them acclimatize in the new environment and improve collaboration with university staff. For the institution taking part in the project it is the opportunity to exchange know-how and good practices with other education institutions in Europe. The project aims to improve popularity of the countries less popular among foreign students thanks to the experiences of more popular countries.