Changes in the perception of school climate and self-identified race in two Toronto cohorts

Drawing on Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Student Census data (2006 and 2011), we examine if there have been changes in the perceptions of school climate between two cohorts of high school students. First, we contextualize our study and review relevant policy changes to student inclusion and equity to set the stages for examining, by way of a sort of “natural experiment”, to see if there was a change in the perception of school climate by students after these policy changes occurred. We then review the scholarship on school climate, its relationship to race, and its relationships to educational experiences and outcomes. We then examine how self-identified race is associated with students’ perceptions of school climate in both cohorts, interpreting our results within a Critical Policy Analysis framework. We find evidence of improved school climate from 2003 to 2008, although the changes have not been uniform by self-identified race, and in some cases have worsened, particularly for self-identified Black and Latin American students.

Human flourishing: an enabler of entrepreneurial intention in Latin American students

Purpose This study aims to propose a causal relationship between the level of students’ human flourishing (HF) and their entrepreneurial intention (EI) and the mediation role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE). Design/methodology/approach The study uses a sample of 5,035 first-year university students who graduated from 950 different upper secondary schools in Mexico and abroad. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings The results reveal that HF increases EI and ESE; ESE positively impacts EI; and the student’s ESE partially mediates the HF-EI relationship. Practical implications These findings may improve educational strategies in upper secondary schools and higher education institutions’ management programmes to impact graduates’ HF and EI. To the knowledge, the authors are the first to measure how HF in upper secondary school graduates contributes to increasing their EI. Social implications Recommendations are made to increase Latin American students’ HF and EI. Originality/value The authors propose an inverse relationship between HF and EI, as HF can be enhanced in upper secondary education to boost EI later in students’ lives.

Trust and Mistrust in Relationships between Students of Different Cultural Groups

В статье раскрыты актуальные вопросы межкультурного взаимодействия субъектов профессионального образования с учетом интенсификации процессов интернационализации в высшей школе. На основе анализа теоретических концепций и эмпирических данных обоснованы специфические особенности отношений доверия и недоверия между студентами в контексте восприятия друг друга как представителей разных культур. Представлены результаты эмпирического исследования, раскрывающие содержание критериев доверия и недоверия студентов китайской, африканской и латиноамериканской общностей к сверстникам — представителям иных культурных групп. Методологической основой исследования выступила модель А. Б. Купрейченко, где в качестве критериев доверия и недоверия рассматриваются надежность, единство, знание, приязнь, расчет, недостатки. Проанализированы выявленные различия в содержании и степени выраженности критериев доверия и недоверия в межличностных взаимоотношениях студентов китайской, африканской и латиноамериканской общностей с ровесниками — представителями других культур. Результаты исследования представляют научную значимость для исследователей психологических проблем кросс-культурной коммуникации и взаимодействия, а также могут быть использованы при разработке мероприятий профилактической и коррекционной направленности по созданию в поликультурной среде высших учебных заведений условий для развития межкультурного диалога представителей разных социальных общностей. The article treats relevant issues of intercultural communication of vocational students taking into consideration the intensification of internationalization in higher education institutions. The analysis of theoretical concepts and empirical data is used to substantiate trust and mistrust relationships between students belonging to different cultural groups. The article presents the results of an empirical study focusing on the criteria of trust and mistrust between Chinese, African and Latin American students. The research is based on the Kupreychenko model, where reliability, unity, knowledge, affection, convenience, and deficiencies serve as major criteria of trust and mistrust. The article analyzes the content and intensity of trust and mistrust criteria in interpersonal relationships between Chinese, African and Latin American students and representatives of other cultures. The results of the research can be used by scholars investigating psychological problems associated with cross-cultural communication and can be used for prevention and correction of intercultural communication problems in multicultural learning environments of higher education institutions.

Australia as a destination for Latin American doctoral candidates: Four personal reflections

Universities are important drivers for transnational migration to Australia, especially for students who are economically mobile, or who might be seeking to convert a transitory study experience into a more permanent migratory one. The economic growth experienced in a number of Latin American countries in the twenty-first century introduced new cohorts of Latin American students into Australian tertiary education institutions, including some from countries that may have had minimal prior presence in Australia. This includes students working towards research degrees. This article presents the autoethnographic accounts of four doctoral candidates from Latin America studying in Australia. It considers their motivations for undertaking graduate research, and the factors that brought them to choose Australia as a study destination, and the benefits and challenges they have experienced in coming here. While the candidates are all from different research fields, their experiences reveal commonalities around three key themes: opportunity, safe exploration and the role of family in enabling decisions about transnational doctoral education.

International student mobility from Latin America in Australia: What we already know and what we still need to find out

This article identifies five main mobility characteristics of international students from Latin America in Australia by comparative analysis of the overall student population. International student numbers from Latin America to Australia have reached unprecedented levels. A growing body of research exists on Latin American migrants in Australia and scholars such as Burges and Calderon have provided insightful analyses into educational trade relations between the two. Despite this, there still lacks a deeper understanding of the mobility characteristics of Latin American students, embedded within the scholarship of international migration broadly and international student mobility (ISM) specifically. In order to address this gap, the article interprets publicly available data in a growing segment of ISM research that understands mobility as an ongoing, processional and lifelong journey. This article therefore paints a picture of what we already know and what we still need to find out about Latin American students in Australia.