International Students’ Experience in Sport at University of Stirling: A managerial Analysis of Cultural Differences and Participation Factors

Abstract

This study investigates that how university sport can effect international students’ (ISs) sense of belonging, and social integration at the University of Stirling. As ISs populations continue to increase in the UK higher education, understanding how institutional environments support students’ social experience has increasingly important. While previous studies highlighted that the potential of sport to support integration, limited attention has been given to ISs’ experience within a specific institutional support context. The research guided by social identity theory in this study to explain ISs’ sense of self-esteem comes from out and in group memberships and how may that effect on their behaviour and relationships with other groups, as well as, a quantitative research design used in this study, the data were collected by an online questionnaire, and the number of participants was (n = 61) ISs who were students at University of Stirling. The data were analysed by using SPSS, including descriptive statistics, inferential tests and correlation analysis. The findings were of this study refer that participation in university sport was positively linked with ISs’ sense of belonging, social integration, and psychological well-being. However, cultural and language barriers were reported more strongly by undergraduate compared to postgraduate students, the result showed that (p <.026, p <.05) which indicates that the difference is statistically significant. The study highlights the significance of inclusive institutional strategies and culturally responsive sport provision to foster international students’ sense of belonging. University sport should not be looked as an automatic tool for inclusion but as a space that requires intentional design and support to address the diverse needs of ISs.