Chinese students' adjustment to studying in UK Higher Education : academic self-efficacy and psychological well-being

With the internationalization of higher education and the rapid economic and social development of China the number of Chinese international students pursuing higher education in the UK has expanded considerably over the past several decades. These sojourners face a variety of challenges, both academically and psychologically, in their adjustment to this new cultural environment. This longitudinal research explored the academic self-efficacy and psychological well-being of Chinese international students and the relationships between these two variables over time, during their adaptation to UK higher education. In addition to Chinese international students in UK universities, data were also obtained from Chinese university students in China to be used as a comparison sample to better understand the general academic and psychological status of Chinese students studying in their home country. Data was collected through a quantitatively driven mixed methods design utilizing questionnaires and semi-structured in-person interviews. The questionnaire included brief measurements of academic self-efficacy, academic stress level, personality, and flourishing scale. Findings show academic performance, academic stress, academic support, and English language proficiency contribute greatly to students' academic self-efficacy. Interactions with host nationals, social difficulty, academic stress, discrimination, and personality were proven to be predictive of students' psychological well-being. Findings also revealed that students' academic self-efficacy and psychological well-being are positively correlated with each other across time. These findings will be useful for faculty, staff, and even future international students to enable them to better understand the adjustment difficulties faced and to offer programming and support to facilitate this process.