The migration of students from one country to another for educational purposes is a phenomenon which has a long history. There are over a million students and scholars attending institutions of higher learning abroad mostly in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Australia who are experiencing the process of adaptation as foreign cultural groups. All foreign students are engaged in the process of acculturation meaning that the process of changes in the individual's behaviors, values, attitudes, and identity arises as a result of the interaction between the individual and the person and environment of the host country. International students are encountered with various stressful situations during their sojourn. Although approaches to the acculturation process vary, acculturation is a stressful process and generally most of the individuals with cross-cultural contact pass through this process with various levels of severity based on many personal and situational variables. Thus, the intent of the study was to examine which factors contribute to international students' acculturation process. In this study, the original version of Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and The SAFE Acculturation Stress Scale (Social, Attitudinal, Familiar and Environmental) are self-report instrument that were used to measure acculturative stress and self-esteem level of international students. Respondents were 116 (80male, 36 female) volunteer international students attending different undergraduate programs of Middle East Technical University (METU), in Turkey. The mean age of the participants was 20.6 years ranging from 17 to 28 (SD= 1.96). Initial findings of the study showed that international students have low level of self-esteem. In addition, results revealed that international students experience high level of acculturation stress. Data is still being analyzed. The findings will be compared and contrasted with the findings of the similar studies and discussed in terms of cultural issues. © Common Ground, Asl? Bugay, Ay?enur Büyü kgöze Kavas, Ayhan Demir, All Rights Reserved.

Self-esteem International students Acculturation

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