Stormy Outlook? Domestic Students' Impressions Of International Students At An Australian University

The education of international students in Australian universities has grown significantly over recent years and Australia has the highest ratio of international students to domestic students among the major English speaking destinations popular with international students. While there is a variety of research that examines the learning experiences of international students, little research has been conducted that examines the impact that international students have on their domestic counterparts. This paper reports on research that solicits the perceived advantages and disadvantages as held by 300 domestic students who are sharing their educational experience with international students studying hospitality and tourism management. This paper identifies that there is a sizable proportion of domestic students who consider there to be too many international students on campus; that domestic and international students do not readily mix and highlights that racist incidents, while uncommon, do occur. This paper suggests that institutions wishing to increase their number of international students must take into consideration the feelings and concerns of their domestic students