2023 Summer Forum: Well-being without borders
International experiences extract us from familiar home environments for a temporary immersion in a world of difference. Navigating the challenges of this process is precisely what fuels the kind of transformative learning that is at the heart of internationalisation. However, the corollary to these well-documented benefits is the host of mental health stressors that come with encountering cultural difference. International students are broadly considered a vulnerable group when it comes to mental health, with a higher risk of demonstrating signs of depression, anxiety or culture shock, and often tend to avoid psychological services on campus for a variety of reasons, such as fear of stigmatisation due to language and cultural barriers. Additionally, staff at higher education institutions – whether participating in mobility themselves, or shepherding students through their own experiences – face a unique set of stressors.
With this edition of Forum – the exclusive EAIE member magazine – 14 authors representing perspectives from 8 different countries around the world address these questions and others related to mental health and well-being in the context of international higher education. From Jessica Price’s article on how HEIs can help students thrive rather than simply survive, to Middlesex University Vice-Chancellor Nic Beech’s insistence that "everything comes back to belonging to a diverse community, with fewer and more porous boundaries"; from Anu Gräfin zu Dohna’s insights on the role of the international office in student mental health, to Géraldine Dufour and Stella Saliari’s personal take on inclusive services and safe spaces; the Summer 2023 edition of Forum offers a broad variety of perspectives on well-being in international higher education.
