The bedrock for creating accurate expectations for international students before they arrive in New Zealand is understanding their cultural context at home. This will determine what their expectations will be, because we all generally assume that other places are the same as where we live – until we’re told or shown otherwise.

For example, if a student comes from a very technologically advanced context (e.g., Shanghai), they will have high expectations of the technology available at your institution. It won’t matter to them if you have more advanced technology than other similar organisations in New Zealand. Instead, they will need to be prepared for technology which is less sophisticated than what they are used to at home. 

Similarly, the fact that New Zealand is a relatively safe country is generally a strong selling point to many international students. However, a small increase in crime could be significantly alarming to someone from a country like Japan, where crime is very uncommon.

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• It’s important that you have a deep understanding of the culture and history of your key markets to understand students’ behaviour and culture, and what they will expect from your institution and their New Zealand study experience. Agents can be a great source of information for providers to understand their international students’ home context. There is interesting research that shows that agents remain actively involved in some international learners’ decision-making during the course of their overseas studies. They may, therefore, be an important third-party reference point for understanding your learners’ sense of satisfaction, success and belonging.
• It’s not effective to create generic pre-departure material for students from all countries that says “this is how it is in New Zealand”. The material must be context dependent and culturally sensitive for students based on their home environment. For example, how conservative is their home country? What are the predominant religions? Are they coming from a highly urbanised or more rural country? Ideally institutions would do this for each key country (or at least each global region).

• Keep in touch with trends and major changes in your key markets. To take a recent example, every country has had different experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will influence students’ expectations of how restrictive things will be in New Zealand and what others have gone through. 
• Ideally, institutions will develop the pre-enrolment and pre-departure orientation and documentation rather than agents, to create consistent messaging in each market. Even better, if institutions can work together to develop consistent messaging for New Zealand as a study destination, students will be more likely to get a clear expectation of what life and study will be like here. You can also refer to NauMai NZ as a source of information to help inform student expectations.

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Connection with New Zealand students

One common expectation that is hard to influence is that international students will have more interaction with domestic students. If the student is studying English then they are unlikely to have lots of social contact with locals, and often international students tend to hang around with other international learners, who may be going through similar challenges and so have a point of common understanding. 

Many providers are trying to increase the level of interaction and connection between international and domestic students, but international learners are still often separated and may have limited opportunity to make friends with domestic students.

In Review your Programme, you can read an example of how to manage a scenario where students are dissatisfied with the connections they have with local students (see SCENARIO: Rumblings of discontent). 

You may also find Understanding New Zealand’s Cultural Values useful to explore how New Zealand’s individualistic culture affects how international students connect with Kiwis.

Language and academic requirements

Unsurprisingly, English language requirements are a common challenge for international students. Many students have studied English in the classroom but haven’t used it much in real-life situations. As a result, they may meet formal language requirements, but may still struggle to communicate both inside and outside the classroom. Understanding the importance of English language proficiency, many Australian universities set a 6.5 IELTS entry standard, which is 0.5 higher than New Zealand universities' standard.

Similarly, students may not understand the academic requirements of New Zealand institutions. For example, students may be used to getting higher grades at home, and/or may not understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

You can learn more about these challenges and how to overcome them in the Q&A in

 Understanding the New Zealand Education System. The section on Kiwi-isms will also explain how the New Zealand accent and expressions can create confusion, and how to help students prepare more effectively for these language differences.

The section on Understanding New Zealand Student Services details how international students can find support when dealing with learning difficulties. The project also explains how agents can help students find and access the most suitable services.

NauMai NZ provides comprehensive information and advice for students regarding: 

• Assessments in New Zealand: NauMai NZ – Assessments and plagiarism
• Overcoming language problems: NauMai NZ – Improve English language skills
• Different approaches to education: NauMai NZ – New Zealand teaching and learning styles.

Importance of soft skills to employability

Employability is a key outcome for many, if not most, international students. They often have strong subject and technical knowledge, but are unaware of the importance of soft skills (e.g., communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills) to New Zealand employers. As a result, some international students don’t always mindfully develop these skills and attitudes during their studies, or highlight them when they apply and interview for a job. 

The section on Supporting International Student Employability discusses the importance of soft skills to employability in New Zealand, the top soft skills New Zealand employers seek, and how international students can develop these skills while studying. 

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• Be clear and honest! Not only about the big things – like employability, educational quality and New Zealand culture – but also about the details. This includes everything from internet speed and cost to what your buildings look like, weather, and what food options are available.
• Provide a safe and comfortable landing pad on arrival. The first few weeks are critical to establish connectivity, decrease stress and homesickness, and ensure students adjust their expectations to the reality of their experience. A managed homestay or hosted accommodation can help students begin to develop their conversational English from the start. It will also provide students with a strong local connection and people to contact for support, even after they move out.
• Consider offering short, free or low-cost online programmes for students before they arrive to better prepare them for the classroom experience in New Zealand. This will help prepare them both academically and with language skills. (Don’t use your orientation materials to improve language skills though, as it’s crucial students understand them. They should ideally be written in students’ first languages.)
• A student questionnaire or survey may be helpful to understand students’ fears, concerns and expectations. This will help you improve your orientation and pre-departure materials. It could even be used to offer individuals tailored recommendations of how to prepare before they arrive.

This topic has explained why it is so important - to students, providers, the industry, and our country as a whole - to be sure international students have expectations that are closely aligned with their likely experiences here. Providers should now recognise some areas where expectation mis-alignment often occurs, and understand some strategies for ensuring that expectations are set appropriately.

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Sincere thanks to Mauro Ramirez (Christchurch College of English), David Bycroft (Bycroft Consulting) and Colleen Ward (Victoria University of Wellington) for invaluable content and suggestions for this section.

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Geeraert, N., Demes, K.A. & Ward, C. (2021). Sojourner expectations: Are they met and does it matter if they’re not? International Journal of Intercultural Relations 84: 27-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.06.004 

Ward, C. & Kim, I. (2020). Does diversity-receptiveness in educational institutions predict international students’ psychological and social well-being? Unpublished report to Oakley Mental Health Foundation. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oto9lv0On7peeT1OJIxAvNNcms61YQXr/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115546995389104053809&rtpof=true&sd=true