Taking initiative and constructing identity

International graduate student spouses’ adjustment and social integration in a rural university town

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11424367
AutoresKimeka Campbell, Esther Prins (0000-0002-9630-6105, Pennsylvania State University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen35
Número4
Páginas430-447
Fecha de publicación2016-07-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Lifelong Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0260-1370 • E-ISSN: 1464-519X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02601370.2016.1197332
OpenAlexW2463502436
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas24

Nearly one quarter of international graduate students in the USA and Canada are accompanied by their spouse, typically highly educated, professional women. Because they are not students, accompanying spouses’ distinctive needs and experiences are often invisible. This article focuses on an overlooked population of adult learners: accompanying spouses who enrol in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. Qualitative data are used to explore the social integration and adjustment of 13 accompanying spouses who attended an ESL class in State College, Pennsylvania, a rural university town in the USA. Specifically, we examine how accompanying spouses described their social integration and changes in roles and identities, how perceptions of sacrifice for their partner related to their adjustment experiences, how they gained entrée and navigated social spaces in the host community and what they believe enhanced and hindered their adjustment and social integration. Accompanying spouses portrayed themselves as initiators who created meaningful experiences by locating and taking advantage of opportunities and resources, including language and culture classes, to forge new identities and structure their lives. The findings can inform the design, development and dissemination of adult education and support services for accompanying spouses, especially in geographically isolated areas

Economic growth · Graduate students · Identity (music · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Social integration · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Governance and Development · International Student and Expatriate Challenges