Inclusive mental health support for international students: Unveiling delivery components in higher education

This study examines the delivery components of inclusive mental health services in higher education, centering on international university students. Through interviews with 32 participants at a state university in the United States, including students, counseling staff, and faculty, six key themes emerged: mental health professionals' multicultural self-awareness, focus on reparative services, mainstream mental health theories and approaches, professionals' cultural background, faculty involvement and physical space and confidentiality. These findings underscore the importance of training for professionals, expansive mental health offerings, incorporation of diverse approaches, confidentiality, active faculty participation and suitable physical environments. By addressing these components, universities can enhance the quality of mental health support for international student populations, promoting their overall well-being and academic success.

Crafting Work Happiness: Balancing Client Agency & Empowerment With Critical Social Awareness

Job crafting is a method taught by career developers and coaches to workers to help them achieve greater happiness in their jobs. Given its agentic, bottom-up approach, job crafting has become closely aligned with positive psychology. While offering empowerment benefits, job crafting has limitations. Given its almost exclusive focus on individual freedom and control, there is little attention paid to the social context, including structural operations of power within an advanced capitalist economy. Three social science critiques of positive psychology and job crafting are examined, with reference to contemporary career development theory. Practical suggestions are made for how career developers might address these social science critiques to best meet diverse client needs. This involves upholding a commitment to client agency and empowerment, whilst developing and maintaining a critical social awareness. Implications for research on job crafting are also discussed.

Key Relationships for International Student University-to-Work Transitions

International student research predominantly focuses on the initial and middle stages of their sojourn. Our research, however, specifically addresses how relationships support international students to successfully navigate the late-stage transition from university to work. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 18 international students from diverse cultures, ages, and professions with an emphasis on their last year of university and 3 years post-graduation. We found six major themes: (a) building strong friendships supported the decision to stay, (b) career decision making is a group effort, (c) relationships with supervisors and mentors led to career opportunities, (d) establishing relational networks helped with finding first job, (e) developing connections early in their programs helped in the transition, and (f) mentoring from international alumni would provide role models. We discuss the importance of key relationships for international student success and how relationships are embedded in career decision making. Finally, we provide recommendations for career counselors.