Building off of the previous node, the reason for any achievement gap between international and domestic students may be based on a lack of readiness for college life/classes. What this article does in lending to the discussion of the domestic/international student achievement gap is acknowledging that each student (from either category) has differences in their background that differentiate them from each other. The article created their study based on subgroups for domestic and international students to analyze the problem of college readiness and educational engagement, which can influence the educational outcome of each student and the achievement gap that forms as a result.

The Achievement Gap based on College Readiness

The reason why this study focuses on how well students are prepared for college life and academics is that this factor of readiness can potentially affect the future educational outcomes of the college student. Students who attend an American university may not be prepared for the necessity of speaking English for their classes or life in a different academic environment, which can be true for international/immigrant students or even domestic students who struggle with English.  This can, in turn, lead to a disengagement in classes that leads to academic failure in the future. 

University of California, Berkeley

One research study was interested in looking at the differences that exist between domestic and international students regarding college readiness and how well they are prepared for higher education. It specifically noted that comparing the domestic and international students could not be done by simply comparing foreign-born students with American-born students. There were specific subgroups in each category based on the background of the student that needed to be considered when studying these differences in college readiness. 

College Readiness for Domestic and International Students

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

College readiness and engagement gaps between domestic and international students: re-envisioning educational diversity and equity for global campus

Why Readiness is Important for College

The discussion of international students in the achievement gap involves more than simply comparing them to domestic students. Some international students possess more competence in the English language and multicultural understanding, which can lead to negative attitudes towards other international students who do not have this readiness. Making the issue worse is that international students are expected to adapt on their own to any new culture based on the university/country they move to and that there is already a bias against international students where they are seen as incapable and incompetent due to their failure to integrate to the educational student (which would be foreign to them). As a result, they are less likely to get any help that they need to close the achievement gap between them and domestic students.

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