Immigrant college students' academic obstacles

Academic self-efficacy refers to "students' confidence in their ability to undertake academic tasks". Research has shown that a college student's beliefs of their own academic self-efficacy highly predict their academic performance and persistence in their academic program. Increased academic self-efficacy can also positively impact how a student responds to adversity and copes with the demands of a college education. This study examined data from 18,315 immigrant students enrolled at six large public research universities in the U.S, finding that immigrant students were significantly more likely than their non-immigrant peers to perceive certain obstacles to academic achievement. These obstacles included family responsibilities, study skills, study behaviors, weak English and math skills, and mental health concerns. The authors suggest a few steps that higher education professionals, including faculty and staff, can take to help increase immigrant students' academic self-efficacy (and thus, their ability to persevere and overcome their obstacles). Professionals can encourage immigrant students to seek out conducive study environments and ensure that appropriate resources are available on campus, such as study skills courses or ongoing workshops focusing on developing study habits. Additionally, professionals should initiate honest conversations with all students, especially immigrants, of the availability of mental health resources on campus and the importance of seeking help. This could include supporting immigrant students to obtain support wherever they are comfortable, including in their community or through religious institutions. Finally, faculty also have an important role to play in supporting immigrant students, as faculty-student contact is one of the strongest predictors of increased academic self-efficacy and motivation for college students. (Immigrant Integration Lab at Boston College)

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