Cultural Barriers Faced by International Student Athletes

The purpose of the research is to identify the cultural barriers faced by international student athletes and gather in what ways they can preserve or integrate their culture within their school and sports environment. In this study, we will learn the challenges international students face on and off the field and how they have navigated these challenges to facilitate a better, more tailored effort to improve international student athletes’ experiences on campus. Many college student-athletes are international students that have come to the United States for better opportunities for school and sports. International students typically leave their families and travel to a school in the United States on their own. This yields an inevitable culture shock as the individual must adapt to not only the American culture, but the American college culture, and further American college sports culture. This area of research will explore the experiences of these international student athletes and the varying culture barriers they have faced. Further, this research will help identify ways that student athletes can preserve and/or integrate their native culture into their new environment. By gaining the thoughts, experiences, and feelings of this group, this can contribute to existing research on how to create a more equitable and unifying environment in college sports. Participants will complete a one-time survey via Qualtrics that will be sent via email. Surveys will be conducted anonymously. The survey will consist of twelve questions and will highlight their thoughts, experiences, and feelings as an international student athlete. There are no anticipated risks for this study. However, if a question is uncomfortable or stressful, you can always refuse to answer or skip a question. This research may benefit other or future international student athletes or students to understand the lived experience of being away from home and living in the United States. Participants may gain satisfaction by contributing ideas on how to better integrate one’s culture into their environment. Participants may benefit personally from sharing their experiences to help future internationals overcome cultural barriers