Integration Report
Integration Report
“Business Communication”
MA-BW 06
MA-WI 06
Wismar University
2006
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Integration Report
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Preface
Presentation on the Questionnaire
Conduct
Brainstorming
Presentation of the first version of the questionnaire
Notes on project by Mrs. Reese
The party
Reasons for choosing the setting of a party for the gathering of information
Answering the questionnaire
Structure of final questionnaire
General part
The four main topics
Integration evening
Preparation
Procedure of activity
Looking for a location
Realisation
Culture here & there
1. Identification of the target group
2. Germanic vs. Eastern European cluster
3. Findings of the questionnaire
4. Conclusion
Staying in Germany
Destination
Evaluation
Precognition and destinations
Staying in Wismar
The study and the language
Statements about Wismar
Result
Integration 1: Studying at Wismar University
The International Class
Studying at Wismar University
What about the German language skills?
Contact to German students
Care of the students
Ideas for a better Integration in the German study community
Integration 2: Integration through University
Recommendations:
Summary and Conclusion
Summary of Facts
Suggestions
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Integration Report
Preface
Stefan Wissuwa
Wismar University is a medium-sized, modern university with an emerging international
focus in research and teaching. Thus, Wismar University attends relationships with foreign
universities, which results in a relatively high number of foreign students compared to other
German universities. Because Wismar was a centre of international commerce during the
Hanseatic League, there is a traditionally strong focus on relationships with countries in the
Baltic Sea Region.
At the beginning of the winter semester 2006/2007 there were a total of 4373 students
matriculated. 367 of them are from foreign countries. This survey focuses on those students
who are in the International Class. Because these students usually have no German language
skills and their stay is limited, intense support and integration is needed. The experiences they
gain are immediately transferred back to their home countries and fellow students.
The “International Class” is a special interdisciplinary study program which is designed for
two semesters. It covers Business Administration, Business Informatics and Business Law.
Currently there are 40 exchange students involved. Most of them are from European
countries, especially from the Baltic Sea Region, but some are also from Asia.
This report is based on information gathered from a survey and individual conversation. In the
following chapters, the survey, the results and suggestions are explained in detail.
The first two chapters explain how the survey was done. In “Presentation on the
Questionnaire” we will introduce the organization and preparation of the survey, including the
development of the questionnaire and the planning of the Integration Party. “Integration
evening” focuses on the ‘Integration Party’, which played a key role in gathering information
from the students.
From the following four chapters, each addresses one of the four main topics of the
questionnaire. “Culture here & there” analyses the cultural background of the students and the
differences between Germany and their home countries as it is experienced. “Staying in
Germany” is related to the intentions, expectations and impressions of their stay. The chapters
“Integration 1: Studying at ” and “Integration 2: Integration through University” focus on the
integration of the students regarding the study program and the social and organizational
aspects.
Finally, “Summary and Conclusion” states the most important facts and gives suggestions,
how to improve the integration of foreign students at Wismar University.
This report was written by the students of the 2006 master’s program in Business Informatics
and Business Administration. I would like to thank anybody involved for their contribution
and support.
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Presentation on the Questionnaire
Marcel Brätz, Anne Przybilla
Conduct
Brainstorming
The first issue we had to address was how to organise the questionnaire. One of the main
points, here, was the question whether to draft one or more questionnaires. Because the
project work was to be organised in teams, we had to decide, how to split the work, by
countries or by group.
In order to provide a base of comparison, we decided to draft only one questionnaire where
everybody would be able to contribute questions in advance. These questions were collected
using StudIP. This provided a possibility for every participant to contribute and to prevent
work from being done twice.
The management group then reviewed the contributed questions. From this we compiled a
first version of the questionnaire. Because of the nature of this version of the questionnaire
this was only the basis for discussion. One of the issues that were not decided up to this point
was the type of question we wanted to propose. Options were open questions, Yes/No
questions or questions asking for tendencies.
This draft was then published on StudIP, so that everybody would receive a copy in advance
to the meeting. The meeting provided an opportunity to criticise and implement additional
thoughts.
Presentation of the first version of the questionnaire
The questionnaire was handed out for review. Since this was an open issue, the question type
was to be decided, now. There was a discussion on whether to propose the questions as open
questions or in a form, which is easier to analyse.
During this meeting Mrs. Reese introduced a number of thoughts on the project and on how to
conduct the survey. We were a little shocked on the sheer number of points to consider, since
a number of them even contradicted our own thoughts.
Notes on project by Mrs. Reese
The list of notes by Mrs. Reese was called „18 points to consider“.
From it we extracted the most relevant points and implemented them as good as possible.
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
The task given to us by Mrs. Reese was to find the problems with the integration of
the students of the International Class. This defines our target group and the target
problem.

The main source of data is supposed to be a form of communication, like a
questionnaire or oral communication. This is why we chose the setup of a party where
we could hand out a questionnaire to the students and actually get to know them.

There have to be target questions. These are included in the questionnaire.

The answers of certain questions may have to be verified through a second question on
the subject.

As we are unknown to the students of the International Class, we have to create
empathy in order to decrease hostility towards our questioning. Therefore we chose to
organize a party.

The subjects of the questionnaire have to be aware of the reason for being given the
questionnaire.

The order of events is important, since we decided on a party to attract the students of
the International Class. As most parties tend to be open-end-events, we decided on
conducting our survey at the beginning of the party, followed by a game show that
was organised by the management team.
Let us have a quick look at suggestions for the structure of the questionnaire:

The questions should be suitable for gathering clear information and should be easy to
answer.

It should contain short interesting questions.

The questions should go from general questions to specific questions.

There should be no leading questions.

There should be provisions for all types of answers: room for open questions and
options for other types of questions.

Provide a suitable place and enough pens to answer the questionnaire without waiting
periods and sharing of pens.

Further questioning and personal contact may be needed to verify and complement the
collected data. Therefore the setting at a party is not only suitable to answer the
questionnaire but also provides a perfect setting for the German students to get to
know the students of the International Class.
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Integration Report
The party
Reasons for choosing the setting of a party for the gathering of information
After careful consideration we decided on a comprehensive questionnaire. In contrast to the
recommendation of Mrs. Reese, who suggested having a short questionnaire we chose to ask a
lot of detailed questions. Answering the final version of the questionnaire takes some time,
about half an hour if one does so carefully. For this we wanted to provide a comfortable
setting.
After talking to Mrs. Reese we inquired the size of the International Class and decided that we
are capable of inviting everybody to a get-together-event. We decided to serve free drinks and
to cook for our guests and then use the opportunity to have some fun together. This then
would probably serve the point of integrating the students best. Just talking about it and doing
research usually doesn’t change much.
Answering the questionnaire
At the beginning of the party we gave a short introduction explaining the reason for the event
and more so the questionnaire. We also explained in advance, that we felt, that just handing
out the questionnaire was awkward, which is why we organized the party for them and us.
Immediately afterwards we gave the students about half an hour to fill in the questionnaire.
During this time we provided drinks and some help for understanding the questions when
needed.
After this hard work everybody was rewarded with German home cooked food and a two part
game show followed by opportunity for dancing. After 10pm, the Block17 rearranged the
setting of the party in order to open the party for everybody.
During the evening we had lots of time to talk to the students of the International Class. Thus
we had opportunity to get to know each other on a more personal level. All in all it was a nice
evening for everybody.
Structure of final questionnaire
The questionnaire is very long. It has 54 questions. Only a small part is asking general
questions.
Many questions are open questions that require written text as answer. This was important to
us, because we wanted the foreign students to write down opinions, while giving them enough
freedom to answer. A large part of the questions are multiple choice questions. There are
many questions that ask for opinions.
Since there was very little information to go by when designing the questionnaire we decided
to ask on a wide variety of topics in four groups in addition to the general part of the
questionnaire.
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Integration Report
General part
The questions of the general part distributed throughout the entire questionnaire. Since we are
asking many specific questions we use the questions to separate the four parts of the
questionnaire from each other. For example we ask for known languages and typical food or
beverages as well as stereotypes about Germany. This mainly aims to ease the tension.
At the end of the questionnaire we ask for some general information concerning the country
of origin, as well as the Region and the city and the gender of the participant, in order to have
a reference by country.
The four main topics
The questions for the four main points where then distributed to the four teams. The questions
are grouped into four groups:

Culture (here and there),

Staying in Germany,

Studying,

Integration through the University.
The main goal of the questionnaire is to identify the reasons for difficulties for integrating the
foreign students. It is our intention to provide approaches to solving the integration problem.
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Integration Report
Integration evening
Matthias Buse, Christian Rein
Preparation
To manage the integration evening we applied for resources in different departments of the
University of technologies business and design. Following departments were asked:
●
Fachbereichsrat
●
Fachschaftsrat
●
ASTA
Only the ASTA were willed under the conditions of agreement of the STUPA to give us
money. We got 150 Euro from the ASTA. That is a normal amount what you get for students
activity.
For further preparation you need to check locations, if they are suitable for suchlike activities.
For choosing a location you got a variety of places at the University of technologies business
and design. Among there is the "Mensakeller", "Cafe PM", "Haus 3" and the student club
"Block 17 e.V."
Procedure of activity
The integration evening is planned as follows. All members of the integration evening were
disposed in different groups. As soon as the disposing were managed every group filled out a
questionnaire which was prepared by students of the course "Business Communication". Later
on the questionnaire were evaluated by different groups in time after the integration evening.
Further we did some games with all students to got to know the students of all different
nations. Before the general discussion were about to start with its all different topics, we got a
fine dinner. The whole activity were planned in several meetings of the management team.
Looking for a location
The Management Team decided that "Haus 3" is not the right place for such a party, because
the organisation work would be to much.
The "Cafe P.M." has a wonderful atmosphere but the location is to small for the integration
evening.
To book the "Mensakeller" we asked to late, and a party with 50 person is to small for such a
big location.
So the Management Team decided the best place for the integration evening would be the
student club "Block 17 e.V." It was no problem to get a appointment and so we took Tuesday
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the 28th of November. A Tuesday is in the student club a good day for a party because at 22
o'clock the normal party starts there. So the foreign students won’t be not only integrate into
the business communication class.
Another issue for the decision to celebrate the party in the student club were, two students
from the business communication class are members at "Block 17 e.V.". Because of the
connections we got a good price for the whole dinner. The barkeeper for this evening works
for free and the members of the student club were cooking a dinner.
Last but not lease the student club is hoping that such a evening will be celebrated each
semester again.
Realisation
At the beginning of the integration evening some words were spoken by some members of the
management team. It involved the main reasons why that integration evening were planned.
Also all students were told what will happened later that evening.
To use the good mood instantly the first questionnaire were started to fill out when they got
there first free drinks. After a break with some more drinks a little show called "Hangman"
were started. A bit unexpected all attendees loved that game.
All attendee were disposed into 3 groups. The winning team got a bottle of "Jägermeister".
After it we were having our dinner finally.
Despite the little money we were able with the help of "Block 17 e.V." and the management
team to do a gorgeous soup out of cheese, leeks, potatoes and for the non-vegetarians with a
lot of fried mince, for around 50 people. After the table was cleared away another round of
games were started. This time we played "Taboo".
Afterwards some students started to dance. And with even some more drinks we started into a
open discussion in smaller groups. Later on, the normal Tuesday party stared. We are thinking
everyone had a good evening with nice company and everyone were able to get an idea of
other cultures.
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Culture here & there
Michael S. Schütz, Thorsten Germer, Sebastian M. Meyer
To integrate students from other nations effectively it is very important and one of the main
components of the whole questionnaire to know, where they are from. The reason is clear:
Every nation has its own roots, its own cultural background. Otherwise the different cultures
had influenced each other, so you can say that there was a great interaction between the
nations, primarily in Europe.
Thus, the next part will be separated into four chapters. While the first chapter deals with the
identification of our target group, the second will show you the differences between the
“Germanic Europe cluster” – consisting of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and
Switzerland – and the target group cluster.1 The findings of the questionnaire will be
presented in chapter three. Chapter four will conclude the findings and results of the present
work.
1. Identification of the target group
The interviewed group – the international class – consists of thirty-four members from
different nations. Altogether there are ten different nations featured on the questionnaire.
Table 1 presents the composition of the international class.
number of countries Placing Country number of members
1
1
Russia
7
2
1
Finland
7
3
2
Poland
6
4
3
Bulgaria
3
5
4
Slovakia
2
6
4
Latvia
2
7
4
Sweden
2
8
5
Estonia
1
9
5
Scotland
1
10
5
Vietnam
1
11
6
other
2
Table 1: Composition of the international class
With about one third the “Eastern European cluster” – consisting of Albania, Georgia, Greece,
Hungary, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, and Slovenia – represents the greatest group in the
1
cp. a.o. Weibler, Jürgen: The Germanic Europe cluster: where employees have a voice, in: Journal of World
Business (JWB), number 37, 2002, p. 55.
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international class with thirteen members at all.2 Thus the following parts will show the
differences between the “Germanic European” and the “Eastern European cluster”.
2. Germanic vs. Eastern European cluster
With respect of the considerable proportion of the German (about 80 million; 75 % of the
Germanic European cluster) and the Russian population (about 146 million; 63 % of the
Eastern European cluster – if you add the Polish population of about 40 million you get about
80 % of the Eastern European cluster) we limit our analysis to these countries.
To compare these countries it is helpful to take the GLOBE Report into consideration.3
“GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) is a research
program focusing on culture and leadership in 61 nations. National cultures are examined in
terms of nine dimensions: performance orientation, future orientation, assertiveness, power
distance, humane orientation, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, uncertainty
avoidance, and gender egalitarianism.”
Due to the major differences between the two clusters in four of the nine dimensions, all
further findings will be based on the following dimensions:

uncertainty avoidance

future orientation

performance orientation

group and family collectivism
Uncertainty avoidance:
Uncertainty Avoidance is defined as the extent to which members of an organization or
society strive to avoid uncertainty by reliance on social norms, rituals, and bureaucratic
practices to alleviate the unpredictability of future events.4
Future orientation:
Future Orientation is the degree to which individuals in organizations or societies engage in
future-oriented behaviors such as planning, investing in the future, and delaying gratification. 5
Performance orientation:
Performance Orientation refers to the extent to which an organization or society encourages
and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence. This dimension
2
cp. a.o. Imrek, Viktor: Eastern European cluster: tradition and transition, in: Journal of World Business (JWB),
number 37, 2002, p. 69.
3
GLOBE Report (2002), in: Journal of World Business, number 37, 2002, p. 1-80.
4
a.o. Dorfman, Peter: Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction
to project GLOBE, in: Journal of World Business (JWB), number 37, 2002, p. 5.
5
Ibidem, p. 6.
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includes the future oriented component of the dimension called Confucian Dynamism by
Hofstede and Bond (1988).6
Group and family collectivism:
In-Group Collectivism reflects the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty and
cohesiveness in their organizations or families.7
Country
dimension
Uncertainty avoidance
Future orientation
Performance orientation
Group and familiy collectivism
Germany
5,19
4,11
4,17
4,27
Germanic
European cluster
5,12
4,40
4,41
4,21
Russia
Poland
2,85
2,80
3,32
5,67
3,62
3,11
3,89
5,52
Eastern
Gap between the
European cluster
clusters
3,57
1,55
3,37
1,03
3,71
0,70
5,53
-1,32
Table 2: Dimension gap between the clusters
Societal culture scores
Uncertainty avoidance
7
6
5
4
Germany
3
Russia
2
Poland
1
Group and familiy collectivism
0
Future orientation
Performance orientation
Figure 1: Societal culture scores
Figure 1 illustrates the existing gap between the German and the Eastern Europe cluster.
While Germans (5,19) have high uncertainty avoidance, Russians (2,85) and Poles (3,62)
have unequal lower uncertainty avoidance.
A short view of the history of the three countries helps us to understand this difference.
Poland, as a member of the Warsaw Pact with Russia as the dominating country, slept a
“sleepy way of life” for about 50 years in communism. After the fall of the Berlin Wall along
with the Iron Curtain in 1990, both countries are on their way to establish themselves as
industrialized nations. As a result, it isn’t astonishing that they don’t have such a bureaucracy
like Germany.
6
a.o. Dorfman, Peter: Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction
to project GLOBE, in: Journal of World Business (JWB), number 37, 2002, p. 6.
7
Ibidem, p. 5.
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The gap at the point future-orientation is based on the same causal relationship. Communism
prevented people from having a future-oriented view of life. There was no reason to invest in
the future because there was always a protective hand. Consequently, the performance
orientation couldn’t be established.
On the other hand there is a very strong group and family collectivism in Eastern Europe,
while in Germany the collectivism is also high established, but low in contrast to Russia or
Poland.
3. Findings of the questionnaire
After the explanation and a brief overview about the Germanic Europe cluster as well as the
Eastern European cluster, this chapter provides an impression of selected questions and
answers of the questionnaire, which gathered the information needed.
The aim of these questions is to identify and evaluate the main differences between the home
countries of the international students and Germany with regard to the above-mentioned
GLOBE report.
The questions pointed out for this chapter are the following:
First of all the international students were asked about the major and most obvious differences
regarding Germany and their home country. Most of them had the tendency to say that
Germany is really organised in a way they do not know from their home country. Another
relevant point was that, mainly in Finland, there do not exist one and two Eurocent coins.
Furthermore, the weather conditions seems to be better (warmer), the cost of living is lower,
most people are more open minded and people in Germany eat more meat as in other
countries are the main answers besides the aforementioned.
Folklore about Germany from the point of view of an international student is the second
question. For a majority the main myth is that Germans are punctual and precise. Football and
excellent beer are followed by the “Oktoberfest” and German leather trousers as Bavarians
wear. The next question can be seen as complementary to the previous. We wanted to know
how true the folklore is from their perspective. To facilitate this, the questionnaire provides
the option to give grades from 3 = very true to -3 = very false. In total 27 of 30 of the
interviewees claimed that the folklore about Germany they heard is comparatively true.
Did you prepare yourself for your stay in Germany? If yes, how? This is the third significant
question to be asked. Simply 13 out of 29 students who answered this question affirmed to be
prepared for their stay by learning the language, hiring an apartment or doing psychological
training. This piece of information provides the chance to make use of two of the four cultural
dimensions we took into consideration. From our point of view, Future Orientation (FO) as
well as Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) are relevant concerning this aspect. Both, UA and FO,
are much higher in Germany as in Russia or Poland. Consequently, we can say that a German
student is more likely to be prepared for a stay in another country than a Russian or Polish
student is. Countries with a low degree of FO do not show a strong future-oriented behaviour,
do not planning or investing in the future. In countries with a low degree of UA, people do not
use social norms, rituals and bureaucratic practices to avoid the unpredictability of future
events in such a way as countries with a higher degree of UA would do.
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“What is difficult about Germany?” is the penultimate relevant question. Speaking of the
German language is the major difficulty for the international students. Contact to German
students can be seen as belonging to the fact that some Germans are less communicative than
others. Finally, some international students criticized that many Germans speak little or bad
English.
The final question took a closer look at aspects the international students like about Germany.
Many mentioned buildings, sights and the nature as most relevant things they like. The
organisation in Germany or the University was also pointed out as well as good food, beer and
low priced alcohol.
4. Conclusion
From the point of view of culture we can say that there are many different attitudes which are
the result of peoples behaviour due to the Germanic Europe cluster on the one side and the
Eastern European cluster on the other side. This chapter provided an overview about cultural
differences in context to four out of nine dimension of the well-known GLOBE Report. It is
obvious that culture is one main point when we think of successful integration but should not
be considered alone due to other relevant aspects. Furthermore, it has to be clear that the
evaluation of culture during this chapter was only based on a group of interviewees which
represent more than a third. Consequently, the authors decided to cover as many candidates as
possible in order to obtain a result for the largest group of students of the International Class.
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Integration Report
Staying in Germany
Thomas Brosowski, Robert Hornburg, Sebastian Schriever
The questions in the complex „Staying in Germany“ are directly related to the social setting
around the university and the study, in relationship to the differences of the students’ home
country.
With the help of this part of the questionnaire, we can reflect how foreign students organize
their studies and which important position the studies capture in life. A part with more
individual questions is also included in the questionnaire to evaluate the personal preferences
of the students.
Destination
The aim of this explanation is to describe, why foreign students’ exactly decide for Germany,
more especially for Wismar and how they assess their residence.
Further we have to check which aims the students pursue and what kind of studies they did
before. Besides that we want to present how much time the foreign students spend in
Germany and what kind of language knowledge they have. With the help of the answers of
the questionnaire we will try to show the dependence and to form some conclusions from the
results.
Evaluation
Precognition and destinations
A host of the students had already started a study in their home country, before they came to
Germany. Almost half of the foreign students came to Wismar with an exam. Most of them
came from Poland. So we can certify that approximately half of the students use the chance of
achieving another qualification in Wismar. The other groups of the students uses the residence
in Wismar to solve a specialized training program in a foreign country or to gather some
experiences. Only two of all asked students didn’t have any kind of exam.
So it is no surprise that approximately 100 per cent of the asked students study in the same
field that they had started at home. All of the other students study in agreeable directions.
For 25 per cent of the asked students the motivation of going to Germany was the very good
image of the German education. 15 per cent of the students came to Germany to learn the
language, because our country is associated with more advantages in the job market.
To the question why the student just decided for a small town like Wismar nearly 50 per cent
answered that their school at home provides good relationships or even partnerships with
Wismar.
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Staying in Wismar
If you talk about the means and possibilities of making the foreign students’ stay more
comfortable and giving them a more complete inside into German culture and language you
have to consider the time that is available for everything.
detention time
29%
39%
4 month
6 month
more than a year
32%
The survey has shown that almost over one third of the foreign students leave Germany or
rather Wismar after only one term. Mainly it concerns the Finnish students.
There is a wider range of possibilities for those students who have planned to stay in Germany
for half a year or longer; these are two thirds of the students.
The students from our neighbouring country of Poland are an exception because of the
following reason. Within the bounds of the German-Polish course of study for “Business
Informatics” they at least stay here for 36 month and spend most time of their studies in
Wismar.
More than half of the students who were questioned have already been to Germany for several
times. Especially the Poles visited Germany very often. Probably they like to come here so
often because of the good location to our country.
The study and the language
As a result of the survey we have found out that the subject of area of economic is the most
favourite for the foreign students.
Almost half of the students said to study economy. The Master subject is in second place of
the most favourite studies in the field of “Business Informatics” which almost 20 per cent of
those questioned study.
Interestingly enough, all students of the “Business Informatics” come from Poland. The other
students are divided into different groups for jurisprudence, business ethics or design.
Although the studies in a foreign country are a challenge and a great change of life for the
students there are only a few of them who think the studies are more difficult than in their
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home country. And only one third of those questioned said that the German studies are nearly
as difficult as in their countries. One possible reason is that most of the foreign students are
able to use their extensive language knowledge. Only a few of the questioned foreign students
(less than 20 per cent) can speak less than two foreign languages. 85 per cent of all foreign
students speak the German language. Especially remarkable, the Russians and the Poles are
completely able to speak German. For some of the students the improvement of their
knowledge of German is one of the reasons for their stay here.
Here are some more reasons for studies in Germany. The students believe the German
education is very good and that’s why they will have more chances of finding suitable jobs
and climbing the career leader. In some cases the chosen course of study was mentioned. For
example, “Jewellery Design” was the decisive factor in choosing Wismar. Furthermore, an
important reason for studies in Wismar is that lectures are also given in English.
Statements about Wismar
This part contains questions which directly refer to Wismar. It is about what the those
questioned think of Wismar and the university. As a quite remarkable public opinion it can be
said that most of the students reacted in a positive way.
+++
- 0%
-- 0%
+ 26%
--- 0%
no answer 6%
++
+
---no answer
++ 45%
+++ 23%
Answers to the question, “How do you like the campus?”
Especially the small size and the central position of the University of Wismar are highly
estimated. Because of that it is easy to orientate yourself. In addition, all complexes of the
university are within walking distance. According to the statement of the questioned, the
university shows a pleasant calm atmosphere, because of its manageable size. You could
nearly speak of a familiar atmosphere.
In particular, the canteen and the green belts on the Campus were praiseworthy mentioned.
Less frequently but also, positively, the library was named.
Concerning the professors, Professor Reese is ranked to come first in the favour of the foreign
students. He is particularly popular due to the fact that he is humorous. Probably therefore the
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subject of business ethics, read by him, has got such a good place in the ranking given by the
students.
Result
The part of the questionnaire evaluated here, permits only a few conclusions to some degree
of the integration of the foreign students. Rather only the motives for studying in Germany
and particularly in Wismar can be analysed and the strengths and the weakness can be
evaluated and suggestions resulting from these relevancies can be given. That means, those
suggestions will not concern to the integration, but rather how you can get more foreign
students to Wismar.
The main reasons for a study in Germany are the improvement of the knowledge of
languages, in particular in German, and the qualified education.
The decision for studying in Wismar is to be due mainly to the facts, that there a partnership
with the university in the home country exists, courses of studies are also offered in the
English language and that there are special courses of studies with a good reputation or which
are unique. These facts show the possibilities of increasing the number of foreign students. On
the one hand the numerously existing partnerships with other universities should be
intensified and on the other hand new relations should be established.
The development of courses of studies in English should also be included in the consideration,
thus foreign students could in particular include to study in Wismar with longer residence
times.
The moreover in this context a focus could be put on special or few common courses of
studies. This could convince the students to study in the place, in addition to the qualified and
unique education here.
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Integration Report
Integration 1: Studying at Wismar University
Susanne Baumann, Sascha Simeonov
The International Class
Before we have a look at the integration of the international students in the daily live of study,
we should explain what the international students actually do at Wismar University.
The International Class is a special interdisciplinary program of the Wismar University. It
covers all aspects in doing business in Europe. The program should provide the students with
academic know how as well as the interlinked set of personal and social competencies which
are necessary for working internationally.
The program is designed for two semesters and combines business administration, business
informatics and business law. The whole program is in English. However, the international
students have the opportunity to join also any of the classes in the German programme. To
what extent the students make the most of this opportunity or if they know any about it, we
will see in the following part. There is also an offer of special German language courses for
foreign students and other people who are interested, which take place during the summer
months, but it is a voluntary course.
Furthermore the courses in the International Class have a volume of 4 hours per week (6
ECTS points). The students of the International Class are also expected to take part in the
regular final examinations of the courses they have chosen.
Moreover, we will give a little summary of the program courses, just to get an idea how it
looks like:
Courses of the winter semester 2006/2007 - overview
Business Ethics
Prof. Dr. Knut Reese
Cross-Cultural Issues in International Project Management
Prof. Dr. Herbert Neunteufel
Doing Business in Germany
Prof. Dr. Gunnar Prause
Introduction into Anglo American Law
Prof. Dr. Peter Kiel
Business Contracting
Dallas Reese
European Business Law
Prof. Dr. Andreas Bücker
Data Mining in Business Administration
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Cleve
Monetary Policy
Prof. Dr. Reimers
Econometrics
Prof. Dr. Reimers
German language an culture
Language centre
Courses of the summer semester 2007 - overview
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Integration Report
Courses of the summer semester 2007 - overview
Business Simulation Game
Prof. Dr. Neumann/Prof. Dr. Prause
International Controlling
Prof. Dr. Neumann-Szyszka
Business Communication
Ms. Dallas Reese
Export Marketing
Prof. Dr. Reese
International Economics
Prof. Dr. Peschutter/ Prof. Dr. Schleicher
Evaluate and Decide
Prof. Dr. Larek
*Business Ethics
Prof. Dr. Knut Reese
Cross-Cultural Issues in International Project
Management
Prof. Dr. Herbert Neunteufel
*European Business Structures
Coordination by Prof. Dr. Gunnar Prause, several
visiting tutors (n.n.)
*Doing Business in Germany
Prof. Dr. Gunnar Prause
Doing Business in Poland
Dr. Dominik Rozkrut
*Introduction into Anglo American Law
Prof. Dr. Peter Kiel
*Business Contracting
Dallas Reese
*European Business Law
Prof. Dr. Andreas Bücker
*Data Mining in Business Administration
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Cleve
Monetary Policy
Prof. Dr. Reimers
Business Transformation
Prof. von Schubert
*Starting a Business in Emerging Markets
Dr. Gabriel
German language an culture
Language centre
* Not offered in the summer semester 2007
To sum up we can say that the study program of the international class should build up
general international management competencies, including business English and specific
expertise about European regions.
However, the study program is not everything the International Class do. Wismar University
likewise offers each term a wide range of cultural activities including excursions and leisure
time activities like bowling or bathing, music nights etc. Even the students have the
opportunity to join the sport range offered by Wismar University.
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Integration Report
Studying at Wismar University
In this part we want to analyse and evaluate the part of the questionnaire that deals with the
integration in the study life of the students at Wismar University. For this purpose we
structured our results in three main topics, which deal firstly with the German language skills
of the students, secondly with the contact of the students to German students, and thirdly with
the care of the students during there stay at Wismar University. Finally we would like to give
some suggestions for improvement based on our answers.
What about the German language skills?
Since the topic of the research is about the level of integration of the foreign students at
Wismar University, their German language skills should be taken into consideration. To
achieve the goals concerning integration, the language skills of the foreign students must be
improved. That is true, because better language skills mean better understanding, thus making
the process of integration easier. The research shows that the foreign students don’t feel
competent enough when it comes to their German skills. 25 of them, or 83% of the inquired,
expressed the wish for their improvement. That should be taken into consideration when
planning the curriculum of these students. Maybe more German lessons will help achieve the
goal of better integration.
Better language skills alone won’t “do the trick”. The way of achieving them is more
important. The desires and wishes of the international students should be taken into
consideration, because they are the ones, which have to be integrated. As can be expected, an
overwhelming majority – 24 students, or 80% of the inquired, expressed the need for more
German classes. It can be seen that there is a strong need for more German classes that would
help the international students feel more integrated. Furthermore, the research shows that 10
students, or 40% of the inquired that feel a need for improving their language skills, suggested
that more and better contacts with German students would help achieve this goal.
Furthermore, 5 of the students suggested more German lessons. 3 of them, or 12% of the
students suggested more German courses. There were also other answers given, which
concentrate on better-organized and more frequent German courses and contacts with German
students. These answers should be taken into consideration by the authorities if they want to
get the foreign students integrated. That means that more events should be planned, where
German and foreign students participate together, and of course – more German courses and
lessons.
The way to get better language skills, however, is through more German classes. That’s why
research was done in which the foreign students were asked to express their need for more
lessons in German and show the researchers how strong this need is. As the results show, the
majority of the foreign students wish more German classes. 10 of them, or 36% of the
inquired, feel a very strong need for more. 4 of the students feel that the need is quite strong. 8
of the inquired, or 28%, feel that there is a need, but it isn’t that strong. 4 of the students don’t
really feel a need for more classes in German. 2 of the inquired don’t feel a great need, or feel
no need at all for more classes. This should be taken into consideration by the authorities at
Wismar University. The results show, that there is room for improvement concerning the
curriculum. Perhaps more German classes should be included. This would help improve the
language skills of the international students, making them feel more at ease when meeting
their German counterparts, which is a great step towards achieving the integration goals.
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Integration Report
14 %
4%
4%
28 %
36 %
14 %
3
2
1
-1
-2
-3
Figure 2: More lectures in German?
When dealing with the integration of foreign students, scholarship should not be neglected. If
they have more money, they can participate in more events, where they could eventually
make contacts with German students. 24 of the students, or 80% of the inquired, receive a
scholarship. 16 of those that receive one, or 67%, get it from the exchange program, known as
Erasmus. 4 of the receiving students get it from Wismar University. The university should
encourage the students by giving them more financial aid.
Contact to German students
First of all it should be mentioned that the feeling of integration and the feeling of belonging
result from a kind of membership to a specific group. When I don’t feel accept or recognize
by a certain group, I will always feel a kind of excluded from the whole. That’s why I suppose
that the contact to German students plays an essential role for the Integration beside the
certain knowledge of the language.
In addition to my remarks we take a look at the different opinions of the international
students.
From Figure 2, it can be seen that over 50% of the students have a quite good contact to
German students. Whereas only 3% of the students have a very few contact to German
students. Ultimately, it can be said that 81% of the students have good contacts to German
students. At this point it seems likely that there aren’t any integration problems and
everything goes well.
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Integration Report
3%
10%
13%
6%
16%
52%
3
2
1
-1
-2
-3
Figure 3: Contact to German students
However, when we take a next look at the Figure 3, we can get another picture of the whole.
There it can be seen that in spite of a relatively good contact to German students the desire for
more contact is huge, to be precise nearly 70%. Simultaneously on closer examination it can
be seen that is almost 100% of the students, who want more contact. There is only a
distinction of the intense of desire.
19%
0%
13%
68%
3
2
1
-1
-2
-3
Figure 4: Desire for more contact with German students
At this point the most interesting question is - where do the international students get their
contacts and in which way could we maybe improve the approach, but the improvement
should be done in the last part of the chapter.
From the answers, which were given by the international students, it can be conclude that the
majority of the students make their contacts on parties or by going out, for example in bars.
This is maybe also an explanation for the desire for more parties, which amount to 52% in the
highest marking (+3). Overall there can be seen a need or desire for more parties with an
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Integration Report
amount of 100%. It seems that having fun and partying with other people are the most
comment method to make contacts.
Furthermore it can be said that a large number of the students also make their contacts at the
university, for example in the classes, at meetings or by working and learning together.
For the third and the last point it can mentioned that the leisure time and the leisure activities
serve as a further contact address.
Besides this informal contact between the students, we wanted likewise to know, if the
international students like to visit more lectures with German students. Even in this case the
students give a clear answer - than over 80% of the students want to participate German
lectures. It is difficult to say why this amount is so high, when like I said before the students
have the opportunity to participate in the German program. At this point I can only make
some assumptions that the reason for this are maybe due to the communication shortfall. In
addition we also asked the students if they are interested in more trips with German students.
Similarly to the other results we can evaluate a high interest. To be precise over 90% of the
students prefer more excursions together with German students.
In conclusion we can say that there exist a big demand of making contacts with German
students. Sometimes it would appear that the International Class feel a little bit isolated from
the rest of the university, especially from the German students. I suppose that there is many
room left for improvement.
Care of the students
A further aspect, we thought would be of particular interest to asses the integration of the
students, is the care of the students during their stay at the university. At this point we can
clearly see how the students think about the attention which is given to them and maybe also
about the level of integration, of course only in a generalized way.
0%
6%
13%
16%
13%
52%
3
2
1
-1
-2
-3
Figure 5: Care during the studies
From the pie chart (Figure 4) it can be seen that the majority of the students is satisfied with
the care at the university - some of them a little bit more than others. Only 22% of the
students are dissatisfied with the situation at the moment.
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Integration Report
However, when we started to ask more directly about the behaviour and guidance at the study
than we can see more distinguishable views. On the one hand some people said for example
that they are leaded with the help of the International Office or with the help of some
professors. On the other hand they describes the level of guidance, which range from good to
not very well to any guidance at all. Even some students said that the guidance at the
beginning wasn’t so good, but with the time it gets better and when help is needed they get it.
As far as I can see we get here a wide range of different opinions, most of them have a slight
negative character, but not all of them.
At this point it should be thought about the possibilities how this aspect could be changed.
One opportunity could be a personal guide for each student. Than the majority of the students,
namely 71%, want to have a personal guide for the time of the study. Here it could be
considered if there is a need that this person must be a professor or maybe better another
German student. When it would be a student, there is maybe the first step to more contacts
and to more integration given. This can have the framework of a sponsorship or kind of
godparent hood.
Ideas for a better Integration in the German study community
I believe that steps should now be taken to ensure that the integration get better in the future,
because it seems obvious that there are still some problems. However the question is how can
we achieve this goal. For these reasons, I want to give some recommendation, which maybe
could help to integrate the foreign students better.
Firstly, it would be useful, when at the beginning of the stay there would be an intensive care
and guidance for the students, maybe for the first month. So that the confusion and the feeling
of get lost in all this new things at the beginning isn’t so big. Besides, it would be useful that
in this time the students make also their first contacts to German students with the help of a
welcome party, for example. Furthermore, it would help when someone explain again all facts
and possibilities, which exist for the International Class, to the students – eventually a little
paper guide also would help.
Secondly, it seems to be a good idea to integrate more German language courses into the
program of the International Class. From my point of view the language is a basic component
to understand another culture and to be recognize and accept by other people. Although it
cannot be denied that the desire of more knowledge of German exist. I think at this point
something must be happen.
Thirdly, it is important to make sure that there are more possibilities to come in contact with
other students. One opportunity can be the organization of a weekly language or country
evening, where either some people meet because of the interest in the language or at the
country. So the foreign students can also present their country and tradition to other people,
which are interested in such things and make new contacts and maybe friendships.
Finally it can be said that there are many open gaps that with the time should be closed, and
this few ideas should give only some impressions what is possible to do, to improve the
integration of the foreign students. Ultimately, it can be said that it will need a amount of time
and improvements to close this gaps, but with the help of a yearly research, like this one, it
will be get better and better.
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Integration Report
Integration 2: Integration through University
Christian Höhn, Stefan Brandenburg, Manh Quynh Vu, Martin Zimmermann
Recommendations:
Is the library okay for you? (Question 32)
The most of the asked foreign students (71 %) like the library. The library has a good
computer connection. You can learn there very well because it is quiet there.
More books in English in library? (Question 33)
A majority (58 %) what more books in English in the library. The most lessons in the
international class are in English. Therefore the foreign students need their books in English.
It is difficult and expensive for the foreign students to buy these books by their own.
Many foreign students don’t speak German very well. It is difficult for them to read books in
German language. They need more time to read them and have less time to learn and to do
other things.
Have you heard of StudIP? (Question 38)
If "Yes", do you use it? (Question 39)
Should StudIP play a bigger role? (Question 40)
A lot of the asked foreign students (45 % ) have never heard of StudIP.
Question 39 and 40 are only answered by the students who have heard of StudIP. 59 per cent
of the students who know StudIP do not use it and the majority do not want that StudIP play a
bigger role.
Professors:
Some professors don’t plan and organize their lessons by StudIP. They don’t provide their
documents for the students via StudIP. So it is not necessary for the students to use it.
Foreign student:
Some students don’t like technical solutions like StudIP for organizing their timetables. The
participants do not answer directly to questions.
It is easy for Professors and students to keep contact with each other. Students can asked
questions to the Professor without arranging an appointment. Professors can provide their
documents to the students very easily. Students can discuss topics with each other via StudIP.
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Integration Report
Perhaps more students and Professors would use StudIP, if somebody explained it to them. It
is necessary to inform new students about the advantages of StudIP. An English version of
StudIP would make it easier for foreign students to use it.
How do you like the Mensa? (Question 41)
All asked foreign students like the mensa. A majority (58 %) like the mensa very much. The
mensa is cheap and the meals are good. The the building is very beautiful.
Are
you satisfied with work of International Office? (Question 42)
An overwhelming majority (88 %) is satisfied with the work of the International Office.
The students have close contacts to the international office. The international office supply the
foreign students with information, organize accommodations, help the students with
documents and help them with many more things. The foreign students like this very much.
Did you like the campus open air festival? (Question 47)
A great majority (87 %) like the campus open air festival.
The foreign students like parties because they can meet there other students, who aren’t in the
international class. Parties are a good possibility for foreign student to use there German
language skills and to learn more about the German culture. The students of the international
class have only a few lessons together with German students, so they have only a few contacts
with Germans. Perhaps German and foreign students can organize parties together and present
their countries.
The answers are only divided in positive and negative answers.
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Integration Report
Summary and Conclusion
Andrea Kallies, Yulia Pavelko
There have been more than 400 international students enrolled annually in University of
Wismar. The majority of these students are regular students, they study in German or in
English (Master Architecture students) with other German students, they are involved in
every day life of the university and have no problems with communication and collaboration
with teachers and other students. However there is another category of students – Students of
International class. They are exchange students and they come to Wismar for 1 or 2 semesters.
They speak mainly English, they have classes just in English, they communicate only with
each other, and they practically have no contact with German students. That is why the
integration of international students into our educational institution and wider society is a
matter of concern.
The aim of conducted survey was to reveal the problem and ways of its elimination.
The main objectives of survey were:
1. To assess the attitudes of International students to the University life.
2. To identify the necessity of integration.
3. To find out problems of lack of contact with German students.
4. To consider the implications of the findings for classroom and university life in
general.
Summary of Facts
The analysis of the questionnaire shows some important results, which should be
implemented in future thoughts and actions.
The survey has shown, that students of international class have lack of contact with German
students, this cause a barrier to better integration of international students in every day life of
Germany in general and university in particular. International students have not enough
information about living and traditions in this country before they come here. They have some
stereotypes (for example, that Germans are very close), which can become a disaster while
communicating with Germans. International students are often very open and sometimes with
big international experience. They usually stay in Germany three months and longer but they
do not communicate with German students. Their problem is that not all of them can speak
German well, and German students show sometimes lack of knowledge of English or simply
do not want to speak English.
International students meet with German students, maybe in the Mensa or at the Campus but
they rarely speak to each other. The diagram below shows that there are only 4 students who
say that they have real contact to Germans.
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Integration Report
contact
amount
20
16
15
10
5
4
5
2
3
-
--
1
0
+++
++
+
---
degree of contact
One more question, which was posed concerns the desire of international students to have
more contact to German students. The result was obvious. The majority of students want to
communicate more. It is not a big surprise, because students take part in an exchange program
in order to know more about traditions, way of living and studying in other countries and of
course their people.
more contact
80,00
67,74
percent
60,00
40,00
12,90
20,00
19,35
0,00
0,00
0,00
-
--
---
0,00
+++
++
+
degree of wish
This situation can be improved only through the revealing its actual reasons. Some interesting
conclusions can be made based on the further questions and answers. Firstly some foreign
students say, that there is a high distance between the people in Germany. So it is difficult to
find new friends. Secondly, the Germans are afraid of speaking English. But it is the only
language used by international students for communication, because most foreign students
have troubles to speak German. However they say that they are eager to improve it. Certainly
this is the reason why they’d like to attend more lectures with German students to work on
group projects and of course to have more trips with them. Doing these they can know other
people and learn German. Furthermore they show a great desire to have more informal
meetings, parties and events.
The survey has clearly revealed, that there is a need to facilitate the integration of the students
of the international class , because they really want to.
Suggestions
The results of the survey shows that there is the big room for improvement and some
recommendations have to be made.
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Integration Report
Based on the research findings, a number of recommendations can be made to nurture mutual
understanding, respect and tolerance between international and German students, create an
infrastructure that encourages more frequent intercultural interaction in both academic and
extra-curricula domains, and promote cultural inclusiveness in the classroom. Inside the
classroom, the recommendations emphasise the effectiveness of international content,
collaborative learning, and the use of intercultural training tools. In extra-curricula domains,
the role of clubs, associations, festivals, and residence halls programmes should be discussed.
Recommendations were generated in connection with the objectives and goals, set in the
introduction part of the report.
Recommendations for the classroom are to:

Encourage German students to participate in the classes of international students and
vice versa.

Without any doubt some German students have a great desire to improve their
English. The best way to do this is communicate. That is why it suggested promoting
cultural inclusiveness and intercultural interaction in the classroom through
cooperative learning, buddy systems, and intercultural simulation exercises for
international and German students, etc.

Ensure that not only English language requirements but also German ones are set to an
appropriate level.

Implement classroom strategies for more effective communication
Greater collaboration in the classroom can be achieved in the following ways:

Provide for positive social experiences, for example by ensuring mixed groups, using
‘ice-breaker’ activities, provide opportunities to explore common interests.

Provide for full participation in classroom activities, for example through ‘buddy’
systems, seating arrangements that are conducive to inter-group communication, time
for peer clarification of tasks and peer editing of work.

Employ strategies to mix up who students sit and interact with. When facilitating
group work, assign students to groups randomly and regularly rotate groupings.
Alternatively ask students to make groups with students they don’t know.

Use cooperative learning tasks where possible in the classroom. The transactional
nature of such tasks requires negotiation and exploration of ideas in English in if
possible in German. They also have an important social dimension.

Ensure international students work with German students on pair or group based
projects.

Where appropriate, set up opportunities for interaction between German students and
international students whose language they are learning as a school subject.

Monitor on a regular basis the quantity of interaction experienced by each
international student. Take remedial steps if necessary.
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Integration Report
Recommendations for the community are to:

Increase face to face contact between international students and members of the
community through home-stays, peer mentoring, campus-community links, clubs, etc.

Provide accurate information to international students about cost of living, homestays, etc., before students leave their home countries

Provide training to service providers in the community to bridge language and cultural
barriers

Use the university media to present positive images of international students.
This list of strategies for encouraging interaction among cultural groups highlights the active
role that teachers and professors need to play in shaping the participation patterns in their
classrooms in order to overcome natural tendency for different groups to remain separate.
In addition to encouraging interaction, teachers can also play an important role in raising
awareness of internationalism. How? The following practices offer options for carrying out
this role:

Draw on the experiences of international students to enhance the learning experiences
of German students. Similarly, draw on the international experiences of German
students to promote a sense of camaraderie.

Make use of intercultural training and simulations exercises in the classroom to raise
intercultural awareness, improve intercultural communication, and promote positive
inter-group relations.

Build empathy for the language learning task by giving all learners experience of
communicating in a second language.

Encourage German students to compare their experience of learning a second
language at school with the linguistic accomplishments of international students.
In order to maximize the satisfaction of international students, and to encourage more students
to come o Germany for studying, the following recommendations should be made:
1. Increase face to face contact between international students and German students through
Home-stays

Peer mentoring schemes within the university

Campus-community links, such as international days with special programmes,
tutoring and community workshops

Ensuring the quality of the contact has positive features, such as cooperative, pleasant
and mutually beneficial encounters.

More excursions and parties with German students.
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Integration Report
2. Initiate and support activities that promote multiculturalism at local, regional and national
levels
One of the most obvious ways that university can promote the integration of international
students is through the home-stays. Very often students in home-stays are more satisfied with
their accommodation than those in flats or hostels. Sometimes relationship with host families
is the greatest source of satisfaction with the home-stay. The home-stay family is also seen as
a significant source of social support, particularly for practical problems. At the most basis
level, home-stay arrangements offer the opportunity to have more frequent contact with
international students, and greater contact is associated with more positive attitudes. It is not
only the frequency of contact, however, that is important. The home-stay offers the
opportunity to develop closer and more intimate ties with international students and to
increase cross-cultural awareness more broadly.
Home-stays are not the only domain for intercultural interactions. International experts have
argued that educational institutions should be responsible for developing campus-community
links in international education and recommended activities have included international days
with special programmes, tutoring and community workshops. Furthermore, “in-house”
activities such as “buddy” schemes or peer mentor programmes, which have been shown to
benefit both domestic and international students, may have spill-over effects into the wider
community as local students may assist their international peers to form social networks
outside of the campus environment. This strategy is easy to implement and can be used in the
university of Wismar.
All of these initiatives should contribute to more positive inter-group perceptions and
relations. They will help to integrate international students into every day life of the university
in particular and Germany in general.
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