Studies about the wellbeing of international students in Brisbane are scarce, ad hoc and outdated. In addition, population samples are limited and do not represent the diversity of the international student communities in this city. Moreover, the concept of wellbeing adopted is usually limited to its psychological dimension providing a very narrow view of the myriad of wellbeing deficiencies that could be affecting this community in any of its other dimensions. Accordingly, interventions to increase international students' wellbeing are also rare due to the lack of knowledge in this area.
As such, our organization intends to carry out research about the wellbeing of international students living in Brisbane as a case study, which will be the foundation to create a pilot Brisbane International Students' Observatory (BISO). We expect that our Observatory could produce longitudinal research results that could in turn be linked to the development of interventions that target identified wellbeing deficiencies.
Our research and observatory aim to improve the knowledge of this field of study and guide the development of strategies, projects and policies that could tackle possible identified wellbeing deficiencies in this population and ultimately increase its wellbeing.
To this aim, we intend to gather information, diagnose, continuously monitor and assess the wellbeing levels of international students in Brisbane based on wellbeing indicators across its different dimensions.
We expect to identify, not just deficiencies in the international students’ wellbeing, but also their strengths and capabilities which, in turn, could be maximized to increase their own as well as others' wellbeing.
It is expected that the insights provided by this research will:
- Contribute to the development of a framework for the design of social asset-based community development initiatives aimed at tackling identified international students' wellbeing deficiencies, as well as at maximizing their strengths and capabilities.
- Permit to develop comparative studies to determine commonalities and differences in the wellbeing of international students from different nationalities, as well as in their strengths and capabilities.
Our Observatory welcomes local and international researchers who would like to carry out studies around these areas.
Proposals
Perez Soler, Aleyda L. (2017). Government, industry and the community as an engine of collective impact for international students’ wellbeing: Brisbane as a study case.