TY - JOUR
T1 - Crowded house
T2 - accommodation precarity and self-reported academic performance of international students
AU - Hastings, Catherine
AU - Overgaard, Charlotte
AU - Wilson, Shaun
AU - Ramia, Gaby
AU - Morris, Alan
AU - Mitchell, Emma
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 British Association for International and Comparative Education.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - This article draws on two surveys of international students in Sydney and Melbourne, undertaken in 2019 and during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Using the concept of bounded agency, we identify how the challenges of living in one of the world’s most expensive rental housing markets impact students’ perceptions of their academic attainment. We find housing insecurity, unaffordability and condition, amplified by financial stress, contribute significantly to student anxiety about their studies. These relationships differ by student background and education. We argue students’ agency to meet their educational ambitions in Australia is constrained by the cost of housing and the housing choices they consequently make to mitigate financial stress. Our findings suggest the importance of ‘town’ or non-institutional aspects of the international student experience on their satisfaction and academic outcomes. We call for further research to explore these relationships in other global contexts.
AB - This article draws on two surveys of international students in Sydney and Melbourne, undertaken in 2019 and during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. Using the concept of bounded agency, we identify how the challenges of living in one of the world’s most expensive rental housing markets impact students’ perceptions of their academic attainment. We find housing insecurity, unaffordability and condition, amplified by financial stress, contribute significantly to student anxiety about their studies. These relationships differ by student background and education. We argue students’ agency to meet their educational ambitions in Australia is constrained by the cost of housing and the housing choices they consequently make to mitigate financial stress. Our findings suggest the importance of ‘town’ or non-institutional aspects of the international student experience on their satisfaction and academic outcomes. We call for further research to explore these relationships in other global contexts.
KW - academic outcomes
KW - Australia
KW - bounded agency
KW - housing
KW - International students
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150493653&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03057925.2023.2184199
DO - 10.1080/03057925.2023.2184199
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85150493653
SN - 0305-7925
JO - Compare
JF - Compare
ER -