The International Student Experience at St. Olaf College
So/An 373: Ethnographic Research Methods
Prof. Chiappari
Co-Author
Ben Provencher
Ben Swenson
May 17, 2006
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Abstract
The aim of our research was to discover how international students at St. Olaf feel about
the St. Olaf community and their place within that community. Students were asked questions
about many different aspects of St. Olaf (social life, diversity, community, the classroom, etc.).
Our findings show that international students have fairly varied opinions on the different parts of
life on the “Hill,” although most agree that they feel fairly welcome at St. Olaf, even if they
don’t like certain parts of life here. Most international students also tend to be friends with other
international students because it can be hard making American friends, which results in
stratification between international and non-international students that can be difficult to
overcome. One of the most common dislikes of international students, we discovered, was the
perceived ignorance/unwillingness of American students to learn about other cultures.
Setting/Community
The international student community at St. Olaf College is one that is respected and
frequently mentioned by the administration. International students commonly share the
challenge of English not being a first language, and as a result, American students do not interact
as much with international students. Instead, they are left to bond together with one another and
share with one another the challenges and difficulties they face.
Our study attempted to see if there were similarities of concern and interest in the
international student community. We discovered that the differences of opinion could be as
large on one question as they were small on another. Overall, the opinions were very diverse.
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However, there did seem to be a theme of concern about diversity and integration; most
international students were concerned about the lack of both of these going on in the community.
The Problem
The United States attracts more international students than any other country in the world
(Yeh 2003). These students are often the brightest students from their countries and winners of
scholarships (Mitchell 1995). In the 2005-06 academic school year, St. Olaf College hosts 33
international students from five continents. For St. Olaf students, a great way to learn about
international cultures, other than through the study abroad programs, is right here on campus: the
international students. The aim of our project is to understand the international student’s
experience at St. Olaf. To accomplish this we will investigate both the academic and social
realms of international students currently enrolled at St. Olaf.
Items that are central to the experience of international students include the challenges
that go along with adjusting to a new culture, their social interaction on campus, and their
academic habits and pursuits.
In the social and academic realms, international students have been studied in a variety of
ways. Upon coming to a new country, international students encounter a variety of challenges
while adjusting to the new culture. In a 2002 study, Teru and Noriko Toyokawa noted that the
more international students interacted with the host students, the easier the process of adjustment
to the host culture was, and the more welcomed they felt in the community. Interaction with the
host students will increase the international students’ language proficiency, and familiarize them
with the host culture (Toyokawa 2002). Their language proficiency plays a specifically large
role in shaping their academic adjustment, because their lack of English skills will most likely
hinder their academic performance. In addition, their inability to communicate, and their cross-
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cultural differences with the host culture may prevent potential interactions with their American
classmates and dorm mates (Yeh 2003). Cross-cultural differences have also stopped close
relationships from forming between the two different types of students, because many times the
international students perceive the social relationships to be fake or superficial in U.S. culture.
In Rebekah Nathan’s ethnography My Freshman Year (2005), she described the ignorance of
many American students as another barrier in the formation of close relationships with
international students.
A study by Michael T. Schmitt et al. illustrated how on a campus international students
form a group identity out of a shared rejection by the host culture. Concerning the social identity
theory, the famous senior psychologist Henri Tajfel suggested that a minority group identity
could be imposed from the outside in situations where there was no identity previously. This
sort of group identity can arise out of certain situations when there is a barrier between majority
and minority groups. Tajfel described how perceiving a common negative treatment by the
majority group and others could create a group-identity (Schmitt 2003).
“Based on the social identity theory, the rejection identification model argues that
members of the minority groups increase identification in response to perceived prejudice and
discrimination” (Schmitt 2003). Along with forming a group identity, Schmitt’s study on
international students demonstrates how the well being of the international students increased
because of this shared sense of rejection.
George Ritzer and Douglas Goodman’s book Modern Sociological Theory provides
overviews and outlines on sociological theories that proved useful in our analysis of international
students at St. Olaf. Peter Blau’s exchange theory (1964) focuses on exchanges and reactions to
these exchanges. This theory provides a solid basis for our theoretical framework: personal
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transactions lead to differences in status and social standing, which leads to further isolation and
eventual “opposition and change” (Ritzer & Goodman 2004). Exchange theory ties into the
many other social identity theories and the collaborative focus is one’s social identity and
personal identity and how personal identity and social identity are entwined and both influenced
through all social exchanges. This theory is at the heart of our research, because it describes
what we were trying to discover about international students: how their daily life at Olaf inside
and outside of the classroom has affected them and where they see themselves fitting in within
the St. Olaf community.
Another useful theory from Ritzer & Goodman’s book was one that resonated with some
of the feedback we received from international students: W.E.B Du Bois’ notion of the racial
“veil,” which is defined as a division that is present and forceful within society but that is
transparent enough to people that they don’t recognize it as a problem and just accept it as part of
their everyday lives. As we progressed in our research, one way that we reframed the problem
that we were facing was to find out whether or not race was a very important issue for
international students in their interactions with other Olaf students.
Information on the topic of the international student experience may be very useful to St.
Olaf College if they see a need to enhance the integration of international students among
American students and the host culture. It is apparent at St. Olaf that international students hang
out with each other more so than with American students. St. Olaf is a college with one of the
highest percentages of students who study abroad to learn and interact with international
cultures. Why does this same intention not manifest itself on its Northfield campus in the same
proportion?
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Methodology
Our findings from investigating the international student experience were based on
surveys and interviews that we conducted on international students. Our goal was to survey and
interview a sample that represented the true population of international students on St. Olaf’s
campus. Ideally, our subjects would come from all the continents that were represented on
campus and all years in school. In actuality, we did receive responses and interviews from
students from three continents, but the majority were from Asia. There were three respondents
from Europe, two from Africa, and six from Asia. However, these numbers actually represent
the international population well since there is a slight majority of Asian students (with
European’s a close second).
The international students who first agreed to participate were two students that are
friends with one of the authors of this ethnography. Other than personal friends, the main tools
we employed for finding the names of international students that were currently living on
campus were facebook.com and the telephone and email directories of St. Olaf that listed
students, faculty and staff. Using these engines to find official international students on campus
were fruitful yet had some problems. In the beginning of our search we visited the facebook
profile pages of the few international students that we knew, and from there we looked at the
profiles of their listed friends. Facebook.com is set up so that each member of the site has their
own webpage that describes (among other things) their hometown, interests and hobbies,
extracurricular activities, a listing of their other facebook friends, as well as a list of comments
made by their facebook friends. The majority of St. Olaf facebook profiles are available to view
by all other St. Olaf members of Facebook.com. We used this specific technique of looking at
known international students because we guessed that many of them would be friends with each
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other. Although this method did not employ an official St. Olaf listing of its international
students, it was useful. The main purpose of this exercise was to see which students listed
hometowns outside of the United States. If their listed hometown was outside of the U.S. we
guessed that they were most likely official international students of St. Olaf, and we used these
names to make a list of survey recipients. In addition, we also tried to contact potential
respondents by getting in touch with the International Student Organization (ISO) on campus and
the International Student Advisor. These means were not as successful as the surveys.
Once we had a list of possible international students, we placed an envelope in their
P.O. box in Buntrock Commons containing our project information list, a survey, and a letter
asking for their participation by filling out the survey as well as if they were willing to
participate in an interview. This method proved to be valuable, but it did create some problems.
We had 25 packaged envelopes, but only 18 envelopes were placed in the P.O. boxes, because
some names taken from the Facebook.com website did not have a P.O. Reasons for this setback
could have been because the international student left St. Olaf but still had their facebook profile
or the name they used on facebook.com was not their official name. In the three weeks after we
handed out the surveys, we received nine back. Out of those nine, six were willing to be
interviewed. Other problems that occurred included a respondent who answered that she or he
was not an official international student, and also, the proportions of exchange students and
degree-seeking international students on campus were not proportionately represented in the
surveys that were returned to us. Exchange international students (students who stay here for
one year) represent the majority of international students on campus (compared to the four-year
degree-seeking international students), yet we received two exchange student respondents
compared to nine degree-seeking students. Our sample size of subjects does not represent the
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actual population of international students on campus, but as we will discuss later, there may
have been a reason for the low return by exchange students.
To conduct the interviews we emailed the survey respondents that indicated they were
willing to be interviewed, and we gave them the choice of when and where to meet. The
interviews usually took place in a quiet public area like Buntrock Commons or the library.
Interviewees were also in control of how long they wanted the interviews to last. In retrospect,
the subjects that were willing to participate were probably the students eager to talk and give
insightful answers. The questions that we did ask were mainly open-ended questions; the
respondents were able to openly talk about a variety of topics dealing with the all-around
experience they have had at St. Olaf.
Originally, along with interviews we also wanted to conduct focus groups that may
have brought the international students to a group consensus on certain issues, but time issues
limited the amount of research we were able to do. Overall we think our subjects do represent
the population of St. Olaf International students, but we regret not being able to interview or
survey students from Latin America.
Our Interview Respondents:
*Al international student names used below are pseudonyms
Hong - A four-year degree-seeking student from Asia
“I also think it’s ironic that I have met most of my really good friends through the “drinking
culture” here at St. Olaf while the administration shuns drinking and brings disciplinary
procedures against people caught drinking on campus.”
Hong is a senior international student who was born and raised in Asia and came to
America as a college freshman; he has been at St. Olaf for all four years of college. He still isn’t
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sure on his career plans, but likes the United States and says he will probably stay here although
he is open to travel. He has many friends, about the same amount of both international and non
international students, which he attributes to the fact that he has gotten to know so many
different people through various outlets on campus – whether it’s an organization, a party, or
anything else.
Hong explained that he feels like he has added to the diversity of the school, not just
because he’s not white but more so because he participates in dialogues both inside and outside
of the classroom and he shares his background and culture by doing so (and also gets to hear
about others in return). He believes that the purpose of college is “to give young adults (and
older ones) the opportunity to pursue the field of study that interests and motivates them and to
give them the tools and information necessary to find a job in this field that they will enjoy and
be happy with.”
Suchin - An exchange student from Asia
“I study harder at Olaf, but that’s because of the disadvantage of not having English as a first
language so I have to study harder to keep up with my fellow students.”
Suchin is a sophomore exchange student who lived in Southeast Asia all of her life until
she came to Olaf at the beginning of this school year after receiving free tuition through a
scholarship she earned. Her major is English and her career plan is to use the English she has
learned here to get a job back home (where English knowledge is much more valuable and
sought after). She mentioned the possibility of becoming a flight attendant after college.
She said that her group of friends consists of about 50% international students, 25% nonwhite but non-international students and the other 25% are white, American students. She said
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her friends are pretty typical socially – they go out and have fun, but not on an always regular
basis and rarely on weekdays. She says that when she hangs out socially with her friends she
drinks and most of them drink, but that there is no pressure to do so and that some people choose
not to. So, the type of social scene that we envisioned from what she described is one where
friends just hang out in each other’s rooms or at friends’ houses off campus and drink a little bit
socially, but they are not getting severely intoxicated or being loud and rambunctious to the point
that it causes any trouble.
She said she believes she is a benefit to the overall campus community in terms of
diversity since she is non-white and from a completely different background than the typical St.
Olaf college student.
Lena - A four-year degree-seeking student from Scandinavia
“Everything is taken care of, adults are here to care for you – at home I would be very
independent and responsible for finding out everything on my own.”
Lena is a first year from the Scandinavian region. She is twenty years old. She came to
the United States at the end of August last year. After graduating from St. Olaf, she plans to go
to graduate school in the United States and then return to her home country to work as an
engineer. On her survey, she answered that she believes the purpose of college is to become
independent and gain academic, as well as, social intelligence. Thus, she found it interesting that
the bathrooms in Olaf’s dormitories are cleaned by someone besides students. In her home
country, students in college are far more independent. They are not taken care of by the college
staff and administration, class attendance is not always required, and there is no homework
because grades are based on a final comprehensive exam only. Other differences between Olaf
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and her country’s academic system are that at the end of high school, students almost always
take a year off to travel or enroll in classes that are not graded.
Also, in her home country, there are no liberal arts colleges; university students study the
one area they are interested in for their career. Students do not live in campus-owned housing.
Everyone has his or her own “flat,” but if you need help finding one, the university will help.
One of the biggest educational differences is that students do not pay for their education. Tuition
is paid for by the country’s taxes. Government financial support does not depend on how much
money one’s parents make, it only depends on how much the student makes. She saw positives
and negatives within our educational system. The positive things are that homework, and other
assessments (besides just a final) make students learn more over the course of the semester.
When your total grade is based on a final, there is a tendency to cram for the final instead of
slowly learning throughout the semester.
However, she wishes there were more independence and independent study options at
Olaf. She found homework on the weekends to be strange and a negative thing. Also, she
thought Olaf, and the American education system in general, “babies” students too much, which
is a definite negative in her mind. On a social level, she saw Oles as being a little bit fake and
superficial. Also, she commented on the people she sees as being “overly happy” and bubbly all
the time, because she saw this as being mostly put-on. Also, she believes people here are overinvolved in extracurriculars, because people are always telling them that more activities will
make them a stronger candidate to an employer or a graduate school. She sees people as
sometimes being involved more because they feel they have to than because they want to. In her
country, the only thing that matters is one’s GPA, so the culture of involvement is not present.
Her experience thus far at St. Olaf has been a positive one, though.
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Chelsea - A four-year degree-seeking student from Nigeria
“…the unwillingness to learn more about different cultures really bothers me – we are open to
learning about America, why not vice versa?”
Chelsea is an eighteen-year-old first year student from a West African country and her
parents are missionaries in this country. She initially felt very welcomed at St. Olaf because of
all of the activities that were focused on her peers and her during “week zero” (International
students arrive one week before everyone else – “week one”— and they have a whole week on
campus to themselves). Throughout her first year, she says she has sometimes felt less
welcomed and happy because some people are unwilling to learn about her country. As hard as
it is to believe, she says that some people had never even heard of her home country and one
even asked if it was in Europe. The biggest negative she sees at Olaf is its lack of diversity. She
sees very little diversity here, which has made her think about transferring, because diversity is
important to her. Most of her closest friends here are other African students or they are
missionary kids, because they share many commonalities and they just “get each other.”
She has some non-international student friends, but not very many. She has many more
acquaintances here than actual friends. In her opinion, international students seem to want to
travel and dedicate their lives to mission work, “helping people” jobs, developing nations, etc.,
while the non-international students want to stay in one place and achieve the more “simple”
things in life – being able to bring up their kids well, make money, be happy, etc. Chelsea feels
that the purpose of college is to “further your education and open up opportunities.” Her favorite
thing about St. Olaf is the music program. The American high school she attended in her home
country was very small, so there really was no music program. She loves going to concerts here.
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Olaf’s extensive travel abroad program is also a huge positive for her. After she graduates from
Olaf, she plans to go to graduate school to earn a degree in nursing and then return to Africa to
work for UNICEF, WHO, or Doctors without Borders.
Senichi - A four-year degree-seeking student from Asia
Senichi is a senior who has been at St. Olaf since he entered as a freshman. He had no
particular reason for coming to St. Olaf but told us that he “wanted to come to the U.S. and try
something different.” His choices of schools were based on Internet searches that he performed
in his home country. After being rejected from his first choice, he was accepted by St. Olaf, his
second choice. Because of the culture and educational system from his home country, Senichi
definitely had problems adjusting to life at St. Olaf, and knew very little about America. Being
the independent person he is, Senichi visited the college campus for three days in the summer
prior to his freshman year. Upon his arrival to Northfield, he locked himself in his Country Inn
room, because he was under the impression that everyone in America carried a gun. For the hour
that he left the room, he was very afraid that he would be a victim of robbery or something while
he visited the St. Olaf campus. During his introduction to classes at St. Olaf, he felt that the
educational system in his home country had affected his academic performance in a negative
way. In Senichi’s home country the educational system is very different because the class is
completely based on lecture and tests. He never had written a single paper or done a presentation
before he came to St. Olaf. This had great consequences when he came to St. Olaf. “When I
was a freshman, I had to write a two page paper, double spaced, and I was like, “what is double
spaced?” So I didn’t know how to type, I didn’t know how to use a PC, and my first presentation
was just awful because I didn’t know how to talk in front of a bunch of people.” In his classes at
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school he also felt that professors would call on him to gain different perspectives, and at the
same time he thought the professors sometimes would give him better grades than he deserved.
Throughout his four years here, his closest friends have been international students. In
his first two years at school he tried to meet and become friends with as many people as possible,
but many of them only became acquaintances because he had a hard time relating and
communicating with them. He knows most of his friends through extracurricular activities, like
through the International Student Organization where he helped organize International Night.
He also knows many of his friends because he is an international student counselor this year.
The role of this job is to take the new international students at the beginning of the year through
orientation week so they get to know each other and he helps them with their transition to
American culture. Senichi explained that these new international students and other international
students on campus are the friends he feels most comfortable with, because they share a similar
background and they speak English slowly so they can understand each other. When asked if his
usual day was any different from that of an American student he answered that the only
difference is the people he hangs out with. To Senichi, the purpose of college is to help you get a
better job, not to study, because you can do that anywhere. This purpose was fulfilled for him
when he traveled alone to a job fair in Los Angeles on a weekend in the spring of 2006 and was
hired for an engineering position in his home country.
Sophia - A four-year degree-seeking student from Scandinavia
“I love liberal arts colleges! The purpose of college is to become a well-rounded person with
education/knowledge about the world. The purpose is also to grow as a person and find your
vocation in life.”
Sophia is a junior who has lived in America for five years. Before coming to St. Olaf she
was exposed to different cultures other than her home country when her family lived in
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Jerusalem for a period of about 6 months. She also spent two years as a high school exchange
student in a small town in Wisconsin and in urban Minnesota. Sophia described the students
here to be more independent than students in the educational system of her home country, and
she prefers St. Olaf’s system of education. Concerning her social life, Sophia has a diverse
network of friends through her sports teams, classes, extracurricular activities, and the
International Student Organization. “My friends are from totally different groups, I have
international friends too.” The friends she hangs out with change during the year depending on
what sport she is participating in. The reason for this is because the sport schedules are very time
consuming and the teammates are constantly together. In her freshman year, she spent a lot of
time with international students, but in her junior year she has not spent very much time with
them at all. She described how it was easy to become friends with international students because
they are the first friends she met, yet she also said it was important for her to get to know
American students. Upon graduating Sophia plans to go to the University of Minnesota to
become a nurse, and later move back to her home country.
Mali - A four-year degree-seeking student from Asia
“This is a different culture, like we don’t get each others jokes, but I’m trying to build
good relationships. It’s easier to meet people here, everywhere you go you see the same people,
like it’s the nature of St. Olaf.”
Mali’s first visit to the U.S. was during the international student orientation at St. Olaf,
week zero. She grew up in Southeast Asia, and traveled to a nearby country for high school
where she lived with a family friend. This particular high school was an international school,
and it was very valuable in helping her transition from her home country’s to St. Olaf’s campus.
This international school was very diverse, including 60 percent American students and the
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educational system was very much the same as in the U.S. because they had American teachers,
and American-made tests and textbooks in English. Because of this experience, Mali’s English
is indistinguishable from the majority of students on campus. Her transition to college
academics has been smooth as has been her transition to meeting new friends at St. Olaf. “I have
international student friends and I have my Minnesota friends which is cool.” Unlike many
international students, Mali’s closest friends were not found through international orientation
week (although she did become great friends with these students), but rather from her freshman
dormitory and the people who live around her. Her three best friends are from Minnesota, and in
a period of only 7 to 8 months they have become such good friends that she has visited their
hometowns with them. She said that she is closer with her friends from her home country, yet at
St. Olaf she is “building new kinds of friendships.” Other social activities that Mali is involved
in include International Student Organization, Asian Culture Association, and an intramural
sport. Mali is planning on attending graduate school for a medical profession, after which she
hopes to “make a lot of money” and go back to her home country.
Analysis
“Friendly” Culture
“Friends from home: diverse, knowledgeable, intimate, unconditionally loyal and loving.
Friends at Olaf: very white, naïve, ignorant, guarded, hesitant to open up (like their bubbles).”
Nearly every international student, either in an interview or on a survey, commented on
what we will call the “friendly” culture at St. Olaf. Most said that people here are more outgoing
and friendly, at least initially: “…I think that Olaf kids are really open and available to the
opportunity of friendship.” Another person said, “People here are a lot more outgoing, friendly
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and not afraid to strike up random conversation.” Almost every person that participated in our
research said that when they initially arrived at St. Olaf and met the students here they felt that
everyone was very friendly.
However, most also said that, on the flip side, they felt as if there was fakeness and
superficiality at Olaf among some students. One student wrote, “People are really outgoing and
friendly here (although sometimes superficial).” Most people expressed that they felt there were
two sides to the “friendly” culture at Olaf. There were statements that showed uncertainty when
it came to the true intentions of Oles. One such statement said, “American students are very
nice, but it’s not always easy to know where they stand. Sometimes they are just being polite.”
Another such statement read, “The thing I like least [about Olaf] is the feeling I get that some of
this nice can be fake sometimes and that people don’t really care as much as they might want you
to believe.” Clearly, there exists at St. Olaf a “friendly” culture, which has its pros and cons.
Not all international students agreed on whether or not they thought the “friendly” culture was a
good or a bad thing, but they agreed that what this culture produces is a plethora of
acquaintances and few real, lasting friendships.
The “friendly” culture at Olaf means that international students meet more people, but it’s
a real challenge for them to develop lasting friendships. One student said, “…it’s easy to get to
know people, it’s just, I think I kinda [sic] felt that it’s hard to keep going [with the friendship].”
Another student wrote, “…if I consider my acquaintances, I can’t help saying they are (maybe)
afraid of or think “that will be too much work” to have close friends [emphasis mine].” One
person put it simply: “I have more acquaintances here.” In more than one instance, students
expressed the challenges they have faced in making deep friendships. Changing an acquaintance
relationship to a friendship relationship is something that many of our respondents have had
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trouble with. Part of the problem seems to be the differences between friendships in the
respondents’ home countries and friendships in the United States.
There are a lot of people, like the person who wrote the title quote, who feel that there are
many, sometimes confusing, differences between what they understand to be a friendship and
what many Oles consider friendship. These cultural differences are undoubtedly partly to blame
for international student’s struggle to make friends. One of the best examples of these
differences is the meaning of “how are you?” One person said that in their home country, only a
friend would ask, “how are you?” and that person genuinely wanted to know how you were.
Here in the U.S., she said, it’s used casually, usually after “Hi,” which was very confusing to her
initially. Also, many people, in different ways, said that due to cultural differences, it was
difficult to find a common ground in conversations with Oles, which also makes it tough to go
from acquaintance to friend. One student wrote, “My friends at home, and also my international
friends here, are much more critical than my American friends here. We like to criticize politics,
[the] school system, etc., and we do not accept everything just like that. It seems to me,
however, that many American students are much more willing to accept “things” without
questions, whether it’s good or bad.” Differences in societies and upbringings, which determine
so much about a person, clearly play a role in the international student experience when it comes
to making friends.
International students also mentioned the difficulty of making long term friends because
of some American students possibly looking at international friends as “too much work.” This
ties into social exchange theory because it suggests that when people have exchanges with one
another they make “cost-benefit” type decisions that dictate relationships. When exchanges
(relationships) with people are cost heavy people tend to distance themselves or cut off
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relationships: this could be the mentality here since American students may not want to get too
attached to an international student since the big cost of them returning home looms on the
horizon. When international students see a lack of effort like this, they become less motivated in
their social exchanges with Americans and turn to one another to form their own social identity.
The “friendly” culture at St. Olaf has its positives and negatives in the eyes of
international students. It makes turning an acquaintance into a good friend difficult, but most
respondents were very complimentary of their non-international student friends here, even if they
didn’t have a lot. Overall, many students attributed their experience with friends at Olaf to
cultural and social differences. One wrote, “…more students here are fake, but [I] don’t know if
it’s influenced by culture or media or whatever else. I just get the feeling that more people here
are fake than back home, maybe it’s because I don’t understand the culture or personal
interactions as well.” In an article by Mima Mohammed on international students at Stanford
University, he asserts that perhaps the biggest advantage of the international student experience
in America is learning about another culture – its ideas and customs. One international student
he interviewed said, “On a positive note, as an international student, I don’t only benefit from my
course of studies but also from the exposure to a different culture and ideas…This has been, by
far, what most affected my experience here” (Mohammed 2006). As every college student
knows, college is far more than courses and assignments; a lot of what is learned is learned
outside of the classroom. For an international student, this learning experience is even more
extreme because of cultural differences. The friendly culture at St. Olaf got mixed reviews from
our respondents, but most recognized that this perceived “fakeness” is mainly due to cultural
differences and the way and place in which one is raised. To put it simply, as one person said, “I
think it’s just another culture. It’s not good or bad, that’s the way it is.”
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Unwillingness to learn about an international student’s culture
“All my close friends here are international or minority students. It draws us together because
we are all aware and interested about life outside of this college and the U.S.”
“I do feel different in the caf, for example when many times people will pass by a perfectly empty
table where two of us international students are sitting. And just the unwillingness to learn more
about different cultures really bothers me. We are open to learning about America, why not vice
versa?”
Every international student that participated in this ethnography experienced some form
of ignorance or unwillingness to learn about his or her culture from the host community. This
unwillingness to learn about their culture creates a barrier for international students to become
friends with American students. Friends in general come about because they can relate to each
other, but when students, like some Americans on St. Olaf campus, are unwilling to try and relate
to the international student, it is difficult to build friendships. Interviewees described how “some
students don’t know what’s going on in the world,” and “some are not willing to dig into what
they don’t understand and have a hard time seeing things from a non-American and nonprivileged point of view.” When international students experience this kind of unwillingness by
host students, it is logical for them to gravitate toward friends who they know are willing to learn
about other cultures: other international students. The very nature of being an international
student is a good sign that they are open to learning about other cultures since they have traveled
around the world to experience a foreign culture at St. Olaf. This unwillingness by some of the
host culture may be explained by the fact that many students have not been exposed to many
different cultures before college, and so they may be less likely to have a desire to learn about
different cultures while in college.
Contact theory describes that people who have had previous contact with other cultures
and races, are more likely to associate with diverse groups in the future. If students have had
21
minimal contact with other cultures before coming to college it may be harder for them to
associate with students of other cultures while in college. Some students felt a need to be
determined to become friends with American students, because as we have explained, it is not
always that easy because some American students are not as open as others to get to know
international students. Differences in religion also played a factor in preventing new friendships
among international students and American students. Some of the international students
interviewed felt that it mattered to some American students that they were not Christian or
Lutheran and that this meant they would not become friends. These friendship decisions again
are the result of social exchanges that lead to determining one’s social identity and background
and whether or not they are “friendship compatible.”
All the international students we have interviewed are close friends with other
international students; many of them found their closest or only good friends in other
international students. According to the rejection-identification model, this unwillingness to
learn about the international student’s culture may have shaped these good friendships among
international students. Among other things, this low-level sense of “rejection” that international
students have faced on campus is quite possibly a factor that brings them together because they
can identify with each other. This shared sense of rejection or unwillingness may have annoyed
or irritated the international students, yet all were happy they were students at St. Olaf. A large
part of the reason they found a sense of well-being was because of their friends many or all of
who were international students. The rejection-identification model describes that this perceived
rejection will have a negative effect on their well-being, but will also have a positive effect on
their well-being because they now have a sense of belonging with the other international
students. Although this sense of rejection felt by international students on St. Olaf campus may
22
be small, it is nevertheless plausible that it has formed the close relationships among
international students.
The difference between exchange (1year) and degree-seeking (4year) international students
“Most of the international students that are just going to be here for a year are all like seniors,
they already have their personal goals to shoot for. They don’t even have to make friends,
they’re just here to learn and study.”
This quote was possibly too simplistic, given by the degree-seeking student Mali whom
will be here for four years, yet it is not entirely false. There do seem to be differences between
these two types of internationals students that affect their academic and social experience on St.
Olaf’s campus. On a surface-level, all international students may have limited English skills that
reduce their interaction with English-speaking students. Students at St. Olaf are more often able
to break this constraint as they can develop their English skills and from here can more actively
participate in the social culture. Senichi also described that many 4-year students grew up in
international or American schools from their home countries so they usually speak English pretty
well upon arrival to St. Olaf and are more able to socialize and communicate with American
students. Senichi also said that since many exchange students have limited English abilities, it is
easier to resort to friendships that were made during week zero with other international students.
Another disadvantage of having limited English skills is that they may need to spend extra time
studying, so they can understand the English material of their classes. Of our subjects, four–year
students felt their average day was not any different than an American student, other than
sometimes the people they hang out with, yet the exchange student that was interviewed, felt her
day is different because she spends more time studying, working, and doesn’t have the mindset
to go and party instead of work like some students may do on campus.
23
In the social realm of St. Olaf, degree seeking four-year students had the advantage of
being placed in a freshman dormitory, a living situation where in the beginning, there were no
established circles of friends and most people were open to meeting new friends because they
were all new to college. Exchange students are placed in upper-class dormitories like Melby and
Larson, where groups of friends are already established and the dormitory is no longer the place
for meeting friends like it is in freshman dorms. This factor, along with limited English skills of
an exchange student creates a difficult situation to meet close friends and a damaging lack of
social exchange. Week zero always seems to establish good friendships among international
students so it is no wonder that many exchange students are closest with other international
students in light of these factors. Of our subjects, four–year students had more American friends
on average, re-enforcing this claim.
The roommate dilemma
“The people who apply (to be an international student roommates) are usually kind of like leftovers you know, they don’t really have friends and stuff like that, so every year like half the
students switch roommates, and that’s why like they don’t get along with the roommates and they
hang out with international students.”
Unlike four-year degree seeking international students, exchange students living on
campus for one year are placed in an upper-class dormitory since they are usually older and
further into their college career than freshmen. Close groups of friends are already established
among upper-class American students and it is hard for a new exchange student to get into a
groups of friends that is already established. All students are eligible to apply to be an
international student roommate, but many times the students applying are in fact applying
because they couldn’t find another rooming situation. Their reasons for not having other options
could be that no other students want to room with them because they are unfriendly, not very
24
social, or possibly an awful person to live with. This stands at odd with the administration’s
view that “social contact with Americans is one of the most important factors in an international
student's adjustment to college life. As an American roommate, you will have an opportunity to
provide that support” (stolaf.edu).” When we asked one international student about the daily life
of their roommate and how they interacted together, he replied simply “well, he’s never really
there all that often and when he is all he does is play X-box by himself.” Statements like these
make it apparent that this “support” the administration requests may not be so present and
available.
This dilemma at St. Olaf is a factor that leads to international students having much
closer relationships with other international students compared to American students. New
international students first become friends during week zero, and so when they are confronted
with an unsocial situation in their dormitories, they can easily resort to their already established
friends. Our subjects described that the international students begin to meet for most meals
together at the cafeteria, and through this their friendships grow among themselves and not as
much with American students (even though the website lists eating meals together as one of the
best ways to involve your international roommate in “daily life”). This situation follows a
logical set of steps, yet the college has not yet addressed this problem, which leads to a further
lack of social exchange (and the chance for international students to improve and diversify their
social standing) that has held back international students from being more immersed in the social
culture of St. Olaf College
Effects of Physical Appearance
“I don’t think I’m treated differently inside the classroom, and I don’t really feel people treat me
differently outside the classroom, but I do think people see me differently. Like it somehow
matters that I’m not white, Norwegian, or Lutheran.”
25
One of the topics we wanted to further explore was what effect, if any, an international
student’s physical appearance had on their experience at St. Olaf. In a 2005 study done by Krahe
et al. the researchers tested three groups: two from Germany (one group was comprised of
international students and one was academics) and one from the United Kingdom (students).
The respondents were asked to rate the level of perceived discrimination they felt from members
of the host country. The results found that perceived discrimination is based on three sometimes
interrelated factors: physical distinction as a foreigner, the quality of private contacts with host
nationals, and language proficiency. One interesting finding is that, “Across the three samples,
respondents who were identifiable as foreigners by their appearance reported more
discrimination.” Inversely, when respondents reported positive contact with the host nationals,
they reported lower levels of perceived discrimination. In the two German samples, it was found
that a lower level of language proficiency meant that international students were more likely to
feel as if they were being verbally discriminated against (Krahe et al. 2005). This finding seems
to make good sense, because if someone cannot understand a language fluently, they might feel
as if others are saying derogatory things about them. In reality, people may or may not be saying
anything discriminatory, but the respondents thought they were. This study is all about
perception; it is virtually impossible to be certain that others view you in a negative way, let
alone quantify said discrimination. Nevertheless, this study is relevant for our ethnography;
because some of our respondents did perceive varying levels of discrimination, or perhaps more
accurately, some felt as if they were an outsider to the St. Olaf community due to their physical
appearance. One of our respondents expressed this perceived discrimination extremely well (see
quote at the beginning of this section). She perceived being seen differently because she was not
a stereotypical Ole – Norwegian, Lutheran, white.
26
We put specific questions on our surveys and asked questions in our interviews that
addressed this subject. The question becomes: Are white, European-looking international
students treated differently at St. Olaf compared to international students who are non-European?
Out of all of the respondents, two students were from Scandinavian countries. The other
respondents were from either Asian countries or African countries. The differences in the
responses of these two groups are interesting. One person from Scandinavia said, “[in class] no
one knows [I’m an international student] because we haven’t presented ourselves and the
professor hasn’t said anything.” One Asian student wrote that there are a lot of students from
Europe at St. Olaf, but you can’t tell that they’re international students, because they “look
American.” Yet another student said, “If the teacher didn’t ask me where I’m from, then they
don’t know that I’m not international and I’m not treated differently in class.” In all of these
examples, what is implied is that because European students fit in physically at St. Olaf, no one
would ever think they are international students unless they heard their accents or were told that
they were an international student.
It appears from our data that European international students are able to easily blend in at
St. Olaf. So, now we must look at how European international students are treated once people
are aware of their nationality and how non-European international students are treated. Most of
the non-European students said that they don’t perceive any differences in treatment based on
physical appearance either inside or outside of the classroom. One example is when asked, “In
what ways do you think people perceive or see you differently on campus?” one non-European
student said, “I guess the obvious answer of actual, visual race. Other than that, I don’t think
people really see me as all that different.” The general consensus seems to be that they know
others recognize them as not being European, but they aren’t treated differently because of this.
27
One negative answer to this question was, “Some people don’t wanna [sic] talk to me not
because I’m a[n] international student but because I’m Asian.” It’s quite disturbing that on the
St. Olaf campus a student would feel that others don’t want to talk to him simply because he is
Asian. Whether or not this is what those students are thinking is unknown, but the mere fact that
this international student feels this way is shocking and concerning. Again, this issue is all about
perception. One could argue that these students are just being paranoid or overly sensitive and
perceiving some action or look as discriminatory when in actuality it was not. This may be true;
however, the key is that someone’s feelings should never be discounted. The very fact that
some international students at Olaf feel this way should be cause for concern. Perhaps there are
institutional and/or social norms at Olaf that are responsible for making international students
perceive discrimination, but that is an issue that would need further research.
Overall, we are happy to report, the vast majority of international students said that they
had not experienced any negative differences in other students’ perception of them based on their
race. It seems overall the respondents thought that they were sometimes treated a little
differently simply because they were an international student, regardless of their race. Some said
that they felt as if people respected them more and thought they were more intelligent and
worldly because they were from a different country. Others said they were looked at as being
“exotic” by other students. Most international students agreed that there was some difference,
both inside and outside of the classroom, in the way they were treated compared to Americanborn students, but luckily only some reported a negative difference. It seems that, more often
than not, the respondents felt they were treated as if they were superior to American-born
students.
Diversity
28
“Another thing happened when I was working in the caf. The cafeteria manager corrected me
and she added: ‘we learned that in class, but maybe you didn’t.”
St. Olaf is a college that prides itself on a claimed “diversity.” The school website claims
that students “come from 48 states and 18 countries throughout the world” (stolaf.edu).
However, when it comes down to the question of diversity, students at the school have very
mixed opinions about Olaf’s claim. We asked international students about how they perceived
this important aspect of life at St. Olaf. One student explained “it’s just white people, you know
the majority of the school, and everybody knows black people don’t want to associate
themselves with white people, and white people are too scared to talk to black people (for the
most part).” This method of thinking can be compared to the racial “veil” idea that W.E.B. Du
Bois made famous- he argued that this veil “creates a clear separation, or barrier, between
African Americans and whites” (Ritzer 2004). It’s important that it is a veil and not a “wall”
because then people can keep living their lives with false notions of racial harmony since the
racial lines remain transparent, but are still always there.
Diversity at St. Olaf and race relations both seem to be improving over time, but there
still seems to be some tension for non-white students. “I haven’t been on the receiving end of
blatant racism or discrimination, but I do feel different in the caf for example,” said one
interviewee. While St. Olaf’s aim may be to make students feel like race isn’t an issue, it
certainly is at St. Olaf since it is so overwhelmingly white and middle class: non-white students
are bound to stick out from the crowd.
“St. Olaf is the number one baccalaureate institution in the United States in both the
number and percentage of students who study abroad each year” (stolaf.edu) the website boasts.
The international abroad program at St. Olaf is one that is highly valued and stressed by the
29
administration, and it is also highly regarded by students and staff as being a very healthy and
informative part of college life. But there remains a glaring irony about this situation: why has
St. Olaf put so much into sending their American students to non-American countries when
international students at St. Olaf experience occasional feelings of less worth and importance in
the classroom and on the St. Olaf campus? The question is a good one and one that ought to be
kept in mind for future years: why not learn from the international students on campus about
other cultures in the same way students learn about these cultures through abroad programs?
Social Activity
One of the most important aspects of college life is that which takes place outside of the
classroom and tests: the social aspect of being a college student and finding out where you fit in
according to established social circles (friendly “cliques” if you will). For international students,
this can be an especially challenging situation because of the fact that they often don’t speak
English as well as most students and share a different culture that often doesn’t follow the
American method of social interaction and expectation (Yeh 2003). One way to view the social
construction of St. Olaf sociologically is through Peter Blau’s exchange theory, which “focused
on the process of exchange, which, in his view, directs much of human behavior and underlies
relationships among individuals as well as among groups” (Ritzer 2004). This seems very
applicable at St. Olaf because these social circles and who is/is not in them is dictated through
how students exchange thoughts and feelings with one another inside and outside of the
classroom and how they feel about other people and choose friends as a result of these
exchanges. For international students, these exchanges are often most positive with other
international students because of the “common ground” effect (not being American) and the
30
result is an international student social circle that is often fairly distant from the other Olaf social
circles.
When discussing St. Olaf in terms of the social life of students, it is important to focus on
the drinking/non drinking choice on campus. St. Olaf is a dry campus and enforces disciplinary
action on students caught drinking, something many international students are not prepared for
since they come from countries where attitudes on drinking are much more laid back. One
international student told us that she met her current boyfriend at a cocktail party and that some
of her most fun times with friends have involved alcohol – something that she doesn’t see as
wrong or bad. “Sometimes we like to go out to parties or get together at someone’s house and
drink but we are never excessive and dangerous with the way we drink like some other students
around here can be sometimes.” An ironic observation that can be made in lieu of the drinking
culture of international students at St. Olaf is that it has definitely helped them to meet friends,
often good friends, while the administration disallows alcohol and even openly seeks out and
punishes those who choose to drink on campus. One student told us: “I also think it’s ironic that
I have met most of my really good friends through the “drinking culture” here at St. Olaf while
the administration shuns drinking and brings disciplinary procedures against people caught
drinking on campus.” While we won’t go as far as to encourage alcohol use for students, it is
hard to deny that it seems to have the effect of taking away some social boundaries for students
and makes them much more likely to approach someone that they wouldn’t normally.
Another aspect of international student social life is campus-organized activities for
students to attend. Part of the reason that international students feel that other students aren’t
willing to learn about culture might come from the fact that attendance by non-international
students at international/multiracial events put on by groups such as the ISO (International
31
Students Organization) is commonly sparse. This type of attendance at events like this sends
messages to the international students that are there and hosting the event that people really don’t
care all that much and that they can’t be bothered to take time out of their lives to learn about the
lives of others. In this case, social exchange can be applied in the fact that there is a lack of it,
and thus a social “memo” that non-international students really aren’t interested in cultural and
personal contact with international students.
Major/Career
“Non-international students seem to want to stick to one place and want the more simple things
in life.”
One of the most important decisions that students will make during their college career is
what their major is and what they will use this major for in the future for a career. In order to
discover if there are any discrepancies in terms of major and career choice between international
and non-international students, we asked international students whether or not they felt like their
career and majors were different or similar to those of other St. Olaf students. Of the possible
trends that surfaced from the results, one is that international students seemed to think of their
travel potential and people-oriented jobs as slightly different from non-international students:
they want to gain skills here that many of them will bring back home and put to use in their own
countries. One student remarked “non-international students seem to want to stick to one place
and want more “simple” things from life – raising kids, making money, dying happy.” One
theoretical observation that can be made about these notions is that international students may
feel that they slightly appreciate their education more and aren’t just “going through the
motions” like some American students.
32
The most popular major for our respondents was psychology. Other than that, they have
a wide array of majors just like any other students: English, French, Asian studies, etc.
International students also seem to think that they are more academically oriented than most
people: some agree, “some international students are more open to the thought of working
abroad when they get older.” Students also stress the importance of getting to learn English here
since knowing English and being bilingual is a very attractive quality to have on a resume
outside of the United States. However, overall there didn’t seem to be any real differences
between majors and career goals of international and non-international students (besides the ones
just mentioned).
Conclusion
During our interview with Mali from Asia, she answered the question of what she
thought the purpose of college was with, “...To learn about people. I think the social part is
important, it might be a little more important than academics.” The social aspect of friends,
relationships, and learning is extremely significant in the international student experience. A key
finding of our investigation provided evidence of why the international students have made
certain friends and formed the relationships that they did. There was a varied sense of rejection
felt by the international students, as well as institutional practices of the college that played a role
in creating group identities and friendships among international students.
If St. Olaf College wants to increase building international perspectives among the
student body on campus, as well as with the study abroad program, then the college can use these
results to enhance or reshape college programs and policies that encourage more interaction with
host students and international students. Certain practices like the “international roommate” and
33
an exchange student dormitory placement should be reexamined because they have a strong
impact on the social groups that are formed by international students. The international
roommate application process should choose American students who are very open and
accessible to helping a new student who has been introduced to a new culture and has some to
little English skills. Unlike the freshman dorms, when these students are placed in upper-class
dorms, it is difficult for them to find Americans that are looking to build friendships because
more often that not the American students have already formed close friendship circles. The
current situation of dormitory placement and roommates does not adequately accommodate the
needs or desires of many international students to be fully incorporated into the American
students’ social culture. The week zero of international student orientation is very beneficial for
forming these great friendships of international students because it brings them together and
connects them through activities that help them to get settled in (like getting a bank account set
up or going to a movie), and these are usually the relationships that St. Olaf international
students fall back on when they are confronted with this institutional problem and a possible
sense of rejection by the American students.
Diversity is a concept students will frequently hear or see around the St. Olaf campus. St.
Olaf prides itself on diversity, but most of our respondents had a fairly negative view on these
efforts. There was an expressed desire for more interaction with American students and some
felt that American students sometimes don’t care and aren’t interested in learning about others
(i.e. not attending international student nights or social gatherings). The social exchanges and
circles formed as a result are ones that have been fairly detrimental to the overall diversity of the
campus, resulting in a international/non-international student division that many see as a problem
that needs to be focused on.
34
Social life at St. Olaf was a key sub-topic that we got enlightening feedback on through
our research. We discovered that international students have a strong tendency to be friends with
other international students; American students are often acquaintances instead of real “friends.”
The international students we dialogued with told us that they were pretty active socially and
liked to go out and drink once in a while and in fact this was often where they met some very
close friends, which leaves them weary of the St. Olaf administration’s drinking policy on
campus (something many of them already questioned because of much more relaxed alcohol
policies in their home countries).
Social exchange theories and the focus on personal interactions/transactions and how
they dictate social standing can be applied usefully to the international student’s social life
because of the common dilemma of making American friends. When international students have
contact and exchanges with American students, these exchanges lead to a personal status
determination and the whole of these social exchanges results in the formation of social circles
and identities. For a variety of aforementioned reasons (fakeness, ignorance, unwillingness to
name a few), these social exchanges between international and non-international students are
often not overly positive if they are even present at all.
The typical social structure that is evolving at Olaf seems to be one that involves less
diversity and interaction than had been hoped for, since difficulties and differences in exchanges
between students can often lead to an increasing lack of exchanges (or avoided exchanges) that
just further socially stratify international students. It is a stratification that is often hard to
overcome, since American students have much more cultural commonalities with one another
and become friends quickly and have a tendency to draw social lines quickly as well. This is
already a disadvantage to international students’ social standing, and subsequent social
35
exchanges are often marred by pre-existing notions of social structures and interactions (which
social groups associate with one another and which ones do not) that just further distance
students from those not in their social circle.
The research that we have completed and the insights we have gained would be very
useful for future research on international students. By using our findings, one might be able to
delve further into them and find out more about the topics discussed. For example, this
investigation could be used to further explore the roommate dilemma and suggest steps the
administration could take to improve international student roommate relations (as well as
roommate relations as a whole). Our research drew a troubling profile of the typical
international student roommate, one who is often socially distant and non-supportive, and it is
one that could be further examined in order to find a way of matching up international students
with more socially supportive roommates (an effort that could indeed lead to more increased
social exchange between international and non-international students). One might also consider
looking at the social statuses and interactions of international students at other colleges (such as
Carleton) and whether or not the construction of their social identity is different from St. Olaf
and if personal interactions are more diverse.
Further research in this topic could include the perceptions of American students on
campus and their perceptions and thoughts about international students. This could provide
further evidence on why international students do not form close relationships with American
students in the same way they do with fellow international students. There is a reasonable
suspicion that international students and non-international students may not see eye to eye on
how they perceived one another/think they are being perceived. If another project on
international students were done at St. Olaf, the researchers could use the information we already
36
have to compare it to the thoughts of new and incoming international students as well as noninternational (American students) to discover if any of these perceptions on diversity and social
interaction have changed and if so in what ways.
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