Perspective Chapter: Analyses of Literature on the Lived-Experiences of International Post-Graduate Students during COVID-19

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, university students experienced difficulties with their education. Research shows that the constraints were mostly felt by international post-graduate students. Possibly, their small social networks, constrained employment options, and travel restrictions worldwide could have played a part. This chapter does a literature review on the lived-experiences of international post-graduate students studying in foreign universities, especially in a South African university. Questions guiding the review were: 1. What inferences are made from literature on experiences of international post-graduate students studying in South African universities? 2. What suggestions are made by literature to alleviate their difficulties? The chapter demonstrates the discriminatory tendencies of government programs and how higher education institutions were required to abruptly close residences. The closure escalated the adversity of most international students. Further, the chapter partakes in the discourse analyses of the plight of international students and hopes to influence future direction of international education policy during crises times. The chapter concludes that in internationalisation issues, a more conscious decision of the interests and needs of international post-graduate students should be seriously considered to be socially acceptable, justifiable and fair.

1. Introduction

Students who have crossed a national or territorial border for the purpose of receiving an education outside of their country of origin are referred to as international students [1]. In South Africa, foreign students who enter the country in search of a master’s or doctoral degree are referred to as international post-graduate students. In December 2019, Wuhan in the Chinese province of China was the site of the outbreak of the coronavirus, commonly known as COVID-19 [2]. According to [3], the virus’ fast spread resulted from many people crossing borders in the beginning of 2020. This chapter is on how international post-graduate students fared in South Africa during the COVID-19. An overview of international students’ profiles has been described, their experiences before and during COVID-19 that includes the process of switching to remote teaching and learning. Writing on their lived experience as they navigated through this crisis will help gain an understanding of their lives in their context and potentially increase a cross-cultural awareness in advancing diversity and increase inclusion on university campuses. Specific information about how students felt and experienced things as well as what administrators did in response to the myriad of problems, their experience will be documented to help educators support the retention and success of international students, particularly, during times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is worth noting that [4] this explains the importance of concentrating on the academic and daily lives of international students. As such, if this focus is important during normal conditions, then exploring the lived experiences of international post-graduate students in abnormal circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic is even more significant [4]. Continue by noting that its significance is not only for internationalisation itself but also for humanitarian work to help them in the future adapt to changing circumstances within a policy framework that includes them. From the above statement, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have created several real-world problems to be researched by researchers. Foci are on students, either local or international, an exploration of their experiences during crisis times, which in the case of COVID-19, gave rise to pandemic pedagogy.

Authorities in Wuhan, China, reported treating a cluster of dozens of pneumonia cases from an unidentified source in December 2019 [2]. The unique COVID-19 virus was quickly found, and its source was found to be a seafood and poultry store in Wuhan [2]. When in close contact with other people, the coronavirus mainly transmits by ‘droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes’ [5]. The virus had already spread across the globe when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic in March 2020 [3]. Thus, WHO proclaimed ‘a public health emergency of international concern’ on January 20, 2020, following the confirmation of COVID-19 cases outside of China in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the first case in the United States [2]. Soon, coronavirus cases and fatalities were recorded everywhere, and by March 2020, the number of deaths worldwide had surpassed a million [3]. Given the easiness of transmission of the coronavirus and the sharp rise in cases worldwide, governments all over the world started looking for strategies to stop the virus from spreading quickly [2, 3, 6]. Other countries that had not yet reported their first cases of the virus began looking for ways to prevent it from spreading into their country [7, 8]. However, these efforts appeared to be in vain as all developing countries reported their initial small number of cases, which ultimately grew to hundreds of thousands [3]. This resulted in the announcement of a national state of disaster in many countries, which forced the suspension of most activities, including schooling, and the temporary closure of all educational institutions [9].

South Africa is considered an advanced knowledge hub on the African continent that draws many foreign students, especially African international students [10]. South Africa has a knock-on effect that includes a more reasonable cost structure when compared to the United States and the United Kingdom, which makes it a destination of choice for most African international students [11]. As a result, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa declared a national state of disaster on March 15, 2020, to curb the virus’s spread [6]. The South African government-imposed measures based on a risk-adjusted strategy, considering factors such as the number of infections, the rate of spread, the capacity of health institutions, and the economic and social consequences of implemented limitations [6]. This strategy comprised a five-tiered alert system that determined the level of restrictions to be imposed throughout various stages of the national state of disaster. The system went from lockdown level 5 (high spread and low health system readiness) to lockdown level 1 (low spread and high health system readiness). Most, if not all, students have been affected by COVID-19-related measures like travel prohibitions, campus closures, and the shift to online teaching and learning. Some of these measures may have posed unique difficulties for international students, which local students may not have experienced at all or may have encountered differently. It is against this background that this chapter seeks to document the lived experiences of international post-graduate students in a South African university during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. The twenty-first century higher education

Without a doubt, the knowledge economy of the twenty-first century depends on higher education [12]. Nonetheless, this century has reached a tipping point because of the huge shocks it has already suffered. The world has changed and technological advancement has reawakened it, including higher education. Since December 2019, higher education has been considerably disrupted and affected by COVID-19. This has severely affected educational institutions, and the consequences are still being felt around the world. Indeed, this global pandemic has severely impacted internationalisation of higher education [13, 14], at best since the World War II.

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, several studies have been conducted that look at how the pandemic has affected internationalisation of higher education around the world [15, 16, 17]. Numerous findings from these studies have shaped our view of how higher education is changing. While some researchers [18, 19, 20, 21] have written extensively about the various strategies used by universities during this pandemic. Maphosa [22] has written about the widened inequality caused by the pandemic due to the unexpected shift to online teaching and learning. Others [20] have focused on how this has affected university students, especially their psychological wellbeing. Though this is not the focus of this chapter, the inability of many universities that formerly relied on international students to recruit them back has been a significant problem affecting higher education because of the pandemic [23]. According to the [23, 24] ‘by mid-April 2020, 94 per cent of learners worldwide were affected by the pandemic, representing 1.58 billion children and youth, from pre-primary to higher education, in 200 countries’. It is evident that higher education institutions turned to online teaching and learning to preserve the 2020 academic year by utilising the Internet and digital platforms. These programs led higher education around the world into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Academics are still unsure of the full effects of the pandemic on students, higher education, and the internationalisation of higher education. Due to this, there is a study gap about how the pandemic is affecting and changing the internationalisation of higher education around the world. Toquero [25] calls on educational institutions to ‘conduct research to proliferate and record the effects of the pandemic on the educational system’ because of this gap. Indeed, information gained from such studies will assist different stakeholders in engaging with and comprehending current issues and developments to successfully execute the necessary policies and practices to strengthen the university’s essential components, as outlined by [26]. This chapter attempts to fill that gap. The current chapter focuses on international post-graduate students’ lived experiences during the pandemic because of the disruption caused by the global pandemic. Such understanding, according to [15], gives higher education around the world the chance to adapt and innovate in a future of uncertainties such as during crisis times.

3. Empirical evidence of international students’ experiences during COVID-19 internationally

As the literature regarding the experiences of international students was reviewed, it was undoubtedly seen that little to no study has been conducted to precisely investigate the lived experiences of international post-graduate students in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some studies that have been conducted in different countries, including South Africa and different countries regarding other international students, however, covered different topics on the experiences of international students during the epidemic.

Previous studies that explored international students’ experiences in the receiving country identified problems adapting to the host culture and education system, English language barriers and social issues [27]. International students experience greater cultural awareness and sensitivity in interactions with their peers, which results in more friendships with other international peers because their shared experiences contribute to a greater sense of belonging, helping them overcome negative experiences. International students face issues of discrimination and prejudice, particularly concerning ethnicity [28]. Yet, experiences of unintended prejudice and discrimination and perceptions of cultural intolerance, unfairness and inhospitality result in the distrust of international students towards domestic students and host institutions perhaps. Thus, the importance of engaging domestic and international students and faculty in dialogues to exchange perspectives and experiences, so that everyone can benefit from the great diversity in South Africa as a country. Hence, although previous studies have documented international students’ challenges in the receiving country, research is needed to investigate the lived experiences of international post-graduate students during COVID-19.

In addition, researchers conducted some studies in China [9], Australia [29], Canada [7] and South Africa [6, 8]. These studies were done on international students, in general, or on specific characteristics regarding international students. Precisely, the studies of [6, 7, 9, 30] have been carried out on international students in general. Along the same line, other research has focused on types of international students such as international medical and nursing students from low-and middle-income countries [31], international first-year university students [32], inclusion in times of the pandemic [6] and the effects of COVID-19 on international students [8]. These studies covered the experiences of international students during the COVID-19 pandemic from different angles such as investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students in Canada [7] and exploring ways of improving adaptability [32]. In addition, other studies looked at the quality of online learning [9], mental health status [33] and inclusion in times of COVID-19: the case of international students in South Africa [6] and the effects of COVID-19 on international students [8]. Therefore, it is presumed at this juncture that if international students commonly encounter some challenges while studying overseas even before COVID-19, these difficulties may have increased during the pandemic given that there were restrictions of movement, closures of airports and lockdowns, which caused everyone to stay indoors.

4. Overview of international students’ profile in South Africa

International students are thought of as degree-seeking and transient students. Most international students in South Africa are those pursuing degrees. The number of overseas students increased by 32.5% between 2005 and 2017 [34]. Nearly 6.5 per cent of the total student population of 1036 984 [35], or 68,036 international degree-seeking students, were enrolled in South African universities in 2017. Half of this rise can be attributed to an increase in the enrolment of international post-graduate students [34]. Aside from the positive economic effects, it seems that international students also contribute to the host nation’s intellectual and cultural capital, life experiences, unique skills and perspectives of the host countries. From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the presence of international students fosters cross-cultural understanding while also broadening domestic students’ perspectives on the world. Regardless of the positive effects [36], however, posits that international students in South Africa, especially those from other African countries, have always struggled with immigration policy constraints, which are viewed as discriminating even before COVID-19. Brown and Brown [37] add that these international students are a source of revenue to South Africa and equally contribute to the university education system. In the view of [38] although the international student experience is incredibly unique, reflecting the diverse nature of the community, many universities usually categorise international students with local students and ethnic minorities. It is important to note that, feeling at home plays a role in how international students perceive themselves in their university communities and how they interact with their domestic peers. Therefore, investigating the lived experiences of international post-graduate students during COVID-19 becomes imperative.

5. Internationalisation policy of higher education in South Africa

According to [39] it is common practice for higher education in different African countries to internationalise their higher education. Sehoole and Knight [40] explain that internationalising higher education in Africa creates the possibility to attain the desired developments within African countries. Sehoole and Knight [40] posit further that internationalisation of higher education in Africa can help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which, in return, ensures the strengthening of Africa’s development. Nevertheless, in the view of [41], policy of internationalisation of higher education is a topic that has not been recognised in some African countries. For example, according to the Department of Higher Education and Training [11], the existence of international students in South Africa shows the necessity for clear national and institutional policies. Therefore, international students including post-graduate students within South African higher education establishments should be catered for [11]. But it may seem as though, what is anticipated to constitute internationalisation policies in the various higher institutions of learning is not fully known as the question remains, how many international post-graduate students are duly supported resulting from the provisions of this policy and especially during COVID-19 pandemic? Thus, the necessity for this proposed study which seeks to explore the lived experiences of international post-graduate students in a South African university in a time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

6. International students’ experiences in South Africa during COVID-19

When universities closed for early recess on 18 March 2020, students were asked to vacate university premises and return home [6, 30]. As emphasised by [42] such requests seem to have created challenges for local and international students, especially when travelling home was linked to health risks and financial difficulties [6]. Corroborate the view of McLellan [41] that international students face some additional challenges. For example, contrary to local students, international students often stay in residences even during recess periods and return home upon completion of their studies. Therefore, in this instance, they were expected to make international travel plans at short notice and at a cost that they probably did not budget for given that the outbreak of the pandemic was sudden. In the view of recent research [8] flight cancellations, border closures and international travel bans made it more difficult for international students to travel [6]. Add that with only a few days between the national lockdown being announced and it taking effect on 27 March 2020, some students had to leave the country in such a hurry that they left behind personal belongings and learning materials. From the above, it may seem as though international students have encountered enormous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding visa-related issues, on 26 March 2020, the Minister of Home Affairs issued a range of concessions for foreign nationals inside South Africa, including international students that extended their visas until 31 July 2020 [43]. This permitted students to retain the same legal status as they held prior to the lockdown. Subsequently, the concessions were further extended to 31 October 2020 [44]. While these concessions assisted international students, whose visas expired during lockdown in terms of their legal status in the country, there seem to be other material hardships for this set of students due to the closure of VFS (Visa Facilitation Centres for Department of Home Affairs in South Africa) offices and the unavailability of its services [8]. See [8] add that, there was no facility to change the conditions of visas, which affected students who wanted to change universities and could not register at their new institutions. Students who had completed their PhD studies and were due to commence postdoctoral research could not apply for the correct visa and missed funded research opportunities [8]. From my own perspective, it seems as if some universities did not adhere to the visa extension concessions by Refs [43, 44] otherwise students who had completed their PhD studies and were due to commence postdoctoral research could have easily applied for the correct visa in order to not miss funded research opportunities as explained by [8]. Moreover, the DHET announced on 26 August 2020 that the target for completion of the 2020 academic year will be the end of February 2021 [45]. By implication, some international students needed to extend their study visas beyond December 2020. Still in the view of [8] even if an extension was granted automatically by the DHA, international students still incurred additional unanticipated expenses, such as maintaining their medical aid coverage, which is a core study visa requirement in South Africa. Hence, this proposed chapter on the lived experiences of international post-graduate students during COVID-19 is justifiable and timeous.

7. Coping and support structures

Studies that explored coping and support show that international university students must find ways to cope with adjustment, the social environment and the academic contexts through various support structures [36, 46]. Compared to international counterparts from North America and Europe, not many students from other African countries in South Africa come well funded from their countries of origin [10]. These students thus have additional challenges to meet recurrent expenses like food, transport and accommodation and require financial support [36]. Contreras-Aguirre and Gonzalez [47] identify social support structures as a solution to the adaptation challenges brought by the new socio-cultural environment faced by international students. Leong [48] add that building social relationships produces a link between adjustment and social support, which determines how well international students adapt to the host university. Nevertheless, these social relationship influences do not necessarily involve host populations [36]. International students may find it easy to form social networks with those who share their nationality and cultural background, and these connections often serve as safeguards in their day-to-day experiences [49]. Social networks are important because they may enhance the sense of identity, capabilities and well-being of overseas students. Ref. [36] add that university orientation programs give students yet another chance to make friends and get accustomed to their new surroundings. International students thus struggle with alienation and a fundamental comprehension of the social and spatial settings if they miss orientation [36]. From the above literature, it can be concluded that universities have the responsibility to create and provide support structures and programs that promote social-cultural competencies such that international students get the opportunity to build confidence while retaining their cultural individuality.

8. Diversity

Higher education institutions all throughout the world have made considerable efforts towards welcoming international students in the past 20 years. South Africa with its diverse areas in Higher education institutions (HEIs) aims at providing access to education to all, thus resulting in growing culturally diverse student bodies [50]. According to [51] diversity is not only reflected in ethnic, racial and gender differences but also in people’s personalities, education, background and functioning. Differences in age, gender, and sexual orientation constitute the primary dimension of diversity, whereas differences in religious orientation, education, geographical location and income constitute a secondary dimension [36]. Diversity in this study could, therefore, be defined as a collective mixture characterised by similarities and differences. A mixture, according to [36], is often a source of different tensions and complexities where diverse groups usually require diversity management. Judging from the above, it can be said that institutional administrators are therefore required to ensure equity and fairness in integrating similarities and differences between all students into the institution.

The principle of equity implies a critical identification of existing inequalities, which are the product of policies, structures and practices based on background, geographical location, race, gender, disability and other forms of discrimination or disadvantage. All existing forms of unjust differentiation should be abolished to empower, give financial support and bring about equal opportunity for individuals (who are students in this study) and institutions [52]. Institutions must ensure that the practical implementation of rights is secured through access and social inclusion for there to be equality of success [53]. A universal human right, social inclusion in South Africa is defined as a collection of shared values, norms, ideals and objectives that promote integration. Therefore, social inclusion unites people of all races and transcends national building and social cohesiveness to eliminate prejudice and intolerance [52].

9. Conclusion

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has disrupted the fundamental operations of university institutions. Nevertheless, it also serves as an eye opener for higher education institutions (HEIs) to positively adapt to an environment of internationalisation that is constantly changing and to become institutions that are more receptive and more inclusive. This includes using more innovative methods to support the diverse student populations, especially international post-graduate students, who are extremely important to the development of the South African Higher Education and the intellectual and cultural diversity of South African universities. Thus, this current chapter sheds light on the analyses of literature on the lived experiences of international post-graduate students during COVID-19, including the scarcity of social opportunities, difficulties obtaining and utilising healthcare in South Africa, immigration laws that hampered their academic advancement and career preparation and incidents of xenophobia and discrimination. Many of these obstacles already existed before COVID-19, but the pandemic made them worse. This chapter thus draws attention to crucial problems that must be solved to create an environment on campuses that is more inviting and inclusive of international students and places a high priority on their academic and well-being, especially in crisis times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.