Looking into the subgroups of both international and domestic students, for both college readiness and being prepared for a cultural shift in American colleges, the English speaker students (both international and domestic) were more ready in both aspects compared to English learner students. In addition, when it came to being ready, international and domestic students who spoke English fluently were similarly prepared while international students still learning English lagged behind compared to the domestic students who were learning English. 

Subgroup Results of the Readiness Study

When comparing the international versus domestic students in college/academic engagement in classes, international students showed more signs of being involved in classes compared to domestic students. Looking at the subgroups, international students who spoke English showed results that suggested that they were more engaged in high school compared to international students who were only learning English. 

Academic Engagement in Readiness Study

When we consider variables such as the groups to be studied and compared for achievement gap studies, the idea of subgroups within each student category should be considered. This article took note of the differences within the two groups of international and domestic students. Each student has their own background and unique demographics that can lead to differences in academic achievement that can be found not only in comparing two or more groups against each other but within each group that can provide further understanding as to the nature of the achievement gap that is present. 

Student Subgroups of the Achievement Gaps

Looking broadly at the two groups of domestic and international students, the results of the study indicate that, in terms of academic, college readiness, domestic students were far more ready than international students for American colleges. Considering that a large part of academic readiness involved knowledge of the English language and experience with American schools, domestic students would naturally have the advantage. When it came to cultural readiness of going to college, there were little differences between domestic and international students.

University of California, Berkeley

Both domestic and international students were separated into different subgroups based on whether or not they spoke English fluently and their experience with American culture. As a result, at least 4 subgroups were analyzed in the study:

- International English speaker/American high schooler student (one of the international student groups, who had either English knowledge or experience with the U.S. but came from a different country and did not intend to reside in the U.S.)
- International English learner/foreign high schooler student (the other international student subgroup)
- Domestic English speaker/American high schooler student (the domestic student subgroup who was likely to have been born and raised in the U.S.)
- Domestic English learner/foreign high schooler student (domestic student subgroup who came from a different country to reside in the U.S. as an immigrant)

The intent behind the creation of these subgroups was to show that there were many factors that were involved in the comparison of domestic versus international students and that either category was not homogeneous and should not be seen as such. 

Subgroups in the College Readiness Study

Lee, J., Kim, N. & Wu, Y. College readiness and engagement gaps between domestic and international students: re-envisioning educational diversity and equity for global campus. High Educ 77, 505–523 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0284-8

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