Dining Together

Social Networks With International and Domestic Students as Predictors of International Students’ College Success

Bibliographic Data

ID9016342
AuthorsNicholas A Bowman (0000-0001-8899-7383, University of Iowa, corresponding author), Shinji Katsumoto (0000-0002-2902-9814, University of Iowa), Brooke H Tran (University of Michigan), Alberto M Segre (0000-0002-8886-6559, University of Iowa)
Year2023
Volume95
Issue6
Pages778-799
Publication date2023-08-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1546 • E-ISSN: 1538-4640
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00221546.2023.2241329
OpenAlexW4385769591
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited39

Prior research has explored how international students’ interactions with domestic students and with other international students predict their self-reported short-term outcomes, particularly in the context of the environmental challenges that international students may encounter. The present study builds upon this earlier work by using institutional data from dining hall meal swipe cards to measure interpersonal relationships and examine how these meal-indices from the first semester predict international students’ subsequent credits earned, grades, retention, and graduation. Within a sample of 1, 634 first-year international students, the results indicate that social networks with international students and with domestic students both predict postsecondary success outcomes; the findings are even significant when based on dining hall data measured at the end of students’ first week of classes. The patterns vary somewhat across outcomes: meal-indices with both groups of students consistently predict international students’ chances of graduation, relationships with international students are more consistently related to retention, and relationships with domestic students are more often associated with college GPA and credits earned

Economic growth · Economics · Higher education · International education · Mathematics education · Political science · Sociology · Higher Education Governance and Development · Higher Education Research Studies · International Student and Expatriate Challenges · Psychology