UK Students Studying in Glasgow University (Thesis Sample)

Chapter 1: Introduction
International students make up 20.7% of the total student population in the UK. A survey was conducted among international students in which 82% of the students claimed that they were satisfied with their studies and careers so far CITATION Uni211 \l 1033 (Universities UK International, 2021). UNESCO data confirmed that the UK is the second most popular destination for students while the USA has the first position. Even in the whole UK, Scotland is famous for attracting most international students because there is the large number of higher education institutes in the region. According to a recent report, international students accounts for 22% of HEIs (Higher Education Institutes) of Scotland, which is higher in comparison to the UK as a whole. Students are enrolled in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses; however their prevalence is higher in postgraduate courses CITATION Gov18 \l 1033 (Government Scotland, 2018). The concept of transition within the HE is closely related to the quality and inclusivity of the HE sectors that go giving the best to every student and assure their success of them.
The HE in the region is developing the strong tradition to be at the forefront of the driver that is the reason most students are likely to get admission in these universities. This is a result of globalization, demographic challenges, economic development and rising income in different paths of the globe; this could lead to increased demand for higher education and the expansion in student mobility. As per research conducted, more than 82% of students are happy to choose careers they are currently pursuing, and collectively, HE students at the international level makes around 20.7% of the total student population in the UK (Universities UK International, 2021). The international students represent economic and international relations, the expenditures on living and torturing the living expenses, the international students often affect the families of these students as well. To meet the financial needs in the university, they have to pressure their family so that they cannot meet their needs (Jessica, et al., 2017).
Traditionally Scottish universities have always welcomed international "sojourners" whether they are students, cultural associates, visiting scholars or research partners from throughout the globe. Scottish HEIs have been dealing with significantly more students from a wide range of countries than in the past. The growth in international studying trend has been driven by Asia as major students from South Korea, China and India are present in the region. Most the Scottish institutions have internationalization policies or strategies in place for facilitating these international students CITATION Bel16 \l 1033 (Bell, 2016).
Language proficiency in the students is contributing to the success of the international student, all this due to the capstone writing requirement for HE students. The impression of any shortcomings in English writing skills is aggravated amid transnational graduate students as writing expectations are higher associated with undergraduate coursework. International students face many issues in settling down in a university that has a different culture; they leave their country for the sake of gaining higher education and experience of working in an international environment. They can face multiple experiments like culture shock; they also face many language issues and trouble in operating in the new setting; some of them also suffer from great financial concerns, some feel homesick, and the list goes on. This project has a focus on these issues faced by students while enrolling in the Glasgow universities and settling there.
Background
It can be quite an overwhelming cultural and life transition for international students who enrolled in college and university at a foreign destination. They can experience various challenging situations which can divert their attention and reduce focus on studies. They can face multiple challenges like cultural shock, language barrier, difficulty in adjusting to the new environment, financial issues, home sickness and various others. Thus, the focus of this project is on the evaluation of the key challenges master’s level international students face (Lazarte, Reid, & Baumfield, 2016).
Some the international students perceive loneliness and isolation, while some face discrimination and differences due to race that usually affect the way they move. When they do not find someone to communicate with or move around, they usually spend most of their time in their rooms overthinking about the environment. This not only affects their ability to focus on the tasks and assignments, but it has an impact on their mental health as well. Other than that, the language barrier can also be a major problem. Although English is an international language but various students are not proficient in it. People use their native language in their home countries, and sudden transition to English cause serious problems, such as students to face difficulties in better understanding of the tasks. Lectures are also delivered in English, and students pretend that they understand everything, but in actual they have difficulty in understanding various important concepts. Due to low English proficiency levels, they feel pressure as it may result in a negative impression on professors and peers (Art, 2020). To gain an understanding of the nature of English-language writing challenges faced by global graduate students in Scotland whose first language is not English. The issues between the professor and the student become complex when the professors repeatedly ask the international students to be more focused on the tasks and complete their assignments on time. Continuous poor performance of the students in the class can affect their confidence level and decrease their morale (Patriann, Warrican, & Alleyne, 2020).
Rationale
To start with, international students are essential to keep the education system running for both financial benefits and academic prestige; it is found that international students in Glasgow could be served with the best services, and some of them could face many issues that could have a direct impact on the performance of students. Many students are ranked high in their country's educational system, but they do get the same rank in the international institutes; they meet with a number of requirements, learn new languages, and meet with the academic requirements to make sure they could get the same ranking. The language issue could indirectly upsurge the assignment burden of international students. If a native English speaking student can finish a complete concept in an hour, then an international student who does not have English as a first language can consume three hours to finish the same reading, which can cause problems like delay in finishing the assignments on time, frustration due to long studying hours etc. This research will highlight all such challenges faced by the students to see what measures could be taken to improve the experience of international students.