Matters to be done by colleges interested in their internationalization
    -  Presentation made at APAIE by the team led by Professor Do-yeong Kim 


What do Korean students studying in Europe need more than anything else? It appears that the answer to this question is “a proactive mindset and open-mindedness.” For foreigner students studying in Korea, “knowledge about local cultures” appears what they need the most.


The foregoing is part of the contents of the presentation made by a team led by Professor Kim Do-yeong (School of Business Administration) with the help of Chang Dae-sung (a graduate student/School of Business Administration) at a session of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) held in March in Japan based on a survey toward 84 Ajou students studying in Europe, North America and Oceania and 99 foreign students studying at Ajou as part of the sister school student exchange program.


The survey, which was carried out on three occasions, i.e. right after their arrival, two months later and four months later, checked the students’ level of assimilation to local cultures, human interactions, satisfaction with life in a foreign country plus desired roles of the home university and the host university in connection with the foregoing.


Ajou students with a proactive mindset studying in foreign countries showed a positive result in terms of assimilation to local cultures. Commenting on the survey, Professor Kim Do-yeong and Mr. Chang Dae-sung said, “The survey shows how their individual personality has an impact on their need to adapt to cultures of foreign countries where individualism is respected.” In contrast, the survey shows that foreigner students studying at Ajou rarely see that their individual personality has a significant impact on their life in Korea, a collectivist society, and that they get assimilated to local cultures rapidly, as time goes by. The research team commented on it, saying, “It appears that as foreigner students here come to have a deeper understanding of local cultures, as they have more and more close Korean friends.”


The research proposes that it is necessary for Korean students who intend to study in these foreign countries to pay attention to the fact that their own behavior toward others will have a strong impact on their life there amid strong individualism. As for foreigner students studying at Ajou, the research says that it is necessary for them to understand local cultures, particularly the strong collectivism of Koreans to have a higher level of satisfaction with their life here.


The research also points to the need for colleges in the said foreign countries to provide programs designed to help Korean students there to be able to adapt to their individualistic cultures, and vice versa.


The research says, “Overall, both Korean and foreigner exchange students express much higher satisfaction with their life in foreign countries than in the past. Needless to say, their level of satisfaction will become higher with the launch of the aforesaid programs.”


Man-Ghyu Pak, Head of the Office of External Relations, said, “The research was carried out, as it was pointed out that it was necessary to overhaul the student exchange program. I agree that we should make efforts to enhance the quality of the program, rather than focusing on increasing the number of exchange students. Attendees at the APAIE session expressed much interest in the contents of the presentation concerning the need for internationalization of colleges.”




   the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE)>


Ajou University