How Universities Create an International Environment to Cultivate Talent and Support Foreign Students
Studying at a foreign university has distinct advantages for one's career trajectory, alongside invaluable experience and an expanded array of opportunities. However, students may face considerable stress due to immersion in a different cultural setting and encounter new, sometimes unforeseen, challenges. The session 'Creating an International Environment as a Keystone to Cultivate Talent', hosted by HSE University as part of International Partners' Week, featured discussions by experts and representatives from top universities on how universities assist foreign students in adapting and discovering opportunities for self-actualisation.
Adaptation Programmes
The session was attended by representatives of HSE University's campuses and faculties, the University of Liberia, Astana International University, Russian-Armenian University, I. Razzakov Kyrgyz State Technical University, Tokai University, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Tsinghua University.
Many universities are actively developing comprehensive adaptation programmes for international students. Baktygul Sulaimanova, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Head of the 'Economics and Management at the Enterprise' department at I. Razzakov Kyrgyz State Technical University (KSTU), presented KSTU's nine-step programme, which includes measures aimed at helping foreign students academically, as well as providing career support, financial assistance, and mentoring.
Universities host multicultural events to help international students adapt to their new surroundings. For instance, HSE University provides an extensive orientation session which includes bilingual information seminars (with handouts), informal meetings with administrators and youth communities, and events such as the HSE Unity Fest and 'The Whole World in HSE' student festivals, celebrations of national holidays, cultural events, and sports competitions. Tokai University in Japan hosts the Global Agora festival, which serves as a platform for international students to connect and interact. KSTU frequently organises festivals, fairs, cultural events, and themed exhibitions for its students.
Sekou Wieh Konneh, Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Liberia, and Sergey Zhmaka, Head of the International Cooperation Department at Astana International University, both emphasised the significance of supporting mobility programmes as an excellent opportunity for talented students to engage in collaborative efforts and exchange ideas, experiences, and knowledge.
Kirill Kisel, Director of the HSE Department of Internationalisation, and Dmitry Shminke, Deputy Vice-Rector for Youth Policy at HSE, deliberated on the measures taken by HSE University to facilitate the integration of international students into campus and academic life. These include extracurricular projects such as the HSE Charity programme, the Cyrillic student network for implementing social development initiatives, the Entrepreneur's Journey, and the Science Republic.
Mentors and Tutors
Universities often engage local students to help with the integration of their international peers.
'A mentor is someone who can build a bridge between a student and the university,' explains Baktygul Sulaimanova. Mentors at KSTU play a crucial role in facilitating the adaptation of international students to their new environment; in particular, mentors assist with accessing books and academic journals in the library, get their foreign peers involved in student life, and help with any everyday issues that may arise.
HSE's pastoral care programme* serves a similar function. 'Some 600 pastoral care providers work at HSE annually,' says Dmitry Shminke. In addition, HSE University runs the Buddy mentoring programme, in which current HSE University students—‘buddies’—volunteer to help incoming international students to settle into life in Moscow and to feel more confident in the new cultural and social environment. Buddies can welcome international students upon their arrival in Russia, assist with paperwork, guide them in making their initial local purchases, and offer recommendations for events and places to visit. Whenever feasible, buddies offer ongoing assistance to international students throughout their time at HSE University.
An important area of focus is the study of exchange students from HSE at foreign universities.
At Tokai University, tutors perform a similar role to that of mentors at HSE University. 'The university employs a student as a tutor for modest compensation,' explains Yaroslava Gladysheva, Adviser to the International Department of Tokai University. However, this system does not always operate seamlessly; at times, students may complain that they cannot easily reach their tutor or receive the assistance they require. `In Japan, there is a tendency to overlook such complaints due to the assumption that individuals cannot be deceptive or perform their job inadequately. It is therefore necessary to introduce a system of performance appraisal for tutors,' Gladysheva asserts.
'People who travel to Japan to study are often highly motivated,' she continues, 'but the Japanese side may not always view foreign students as young individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. Instead, the host institution may perceive them primarily as sources of revenue, given that the education is fee-based.'
Exchange Students
There are currently over 5,000 international students from 128 countries at HSE University,' says Zhanna Sorokina, Director of the HSE Support and Career Centre for International Students and Alumni. 'The university pursues a consistent and systematic policy aimed at facilitating their adjustment to studying and living in Russia, as well as fostering their integration into HSE's academic community and extracurricular activities,' she says.
According to Mariam Voskanyan, Head of the Russian-Armenian University (RAU) Department for Economics and Finance, in 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the majority of foreign exchange students at RAU came from Russia.
'The language spoken at RAU is Russian, making it much easier for international students who speak Russian to adapt,' she adds.
Successfully integrating international students into a new cultural and academic environment continues to be one of the primary goals for universities. The speakers were in complete agreement that platforms such as International Partners' Week play a vital role in fostering the exchange of practical experience and available expertise in establishing a favourable international environment within universities.
Text authors: Artem Samoilov and Maria Mishina, Research Assistants at the HSE Laboratory for Economic Journalism