Problems in Adjusting to the Culture of Australian Universities

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Universities have their own particular cultures and for students who join these institutions of higher learning, adjusting to such culture of a university usually takes time and effort. Considering the culture of Australian universities, students face a number of problems in an attempt to successfully adjust to this culture. Apparently, these cultures related problems are pertinent to Australian traditions and cultural practices. Among these problems include; adjusting to a new culture, cultural stress, cross-cultural male-female relationships, reverse cultural shock, communication difficulties which finally lead to learning difficulties, cultural discrimination and a decision made after graduation based on an individual’s cultural background.

Cultural stress is a facet of individual well-being that is basic but important to the experience of relating to others in the society and is probable to be correlated with the well-being of learners in a number of areas. According to a study carried out by Bradley as cited in (Walton, 2005), the relationships between cultural stress and measures of mental health (anxiety, stress, and depression) and learning of social lifestyle balance puts forward that there is a group of depressing psychosocial repercussions for international students which may acutely hamper their adaptation to the society of Australian universities and to their capacity to execute optimally in a university setting.

A typical problem faced by students in Australian universities is adjusting to a new environment and culture. most research concurs on three adjustment stages. The first stage being the honeymoon stage in which individuals are excited by the novel experience. The second stage, the crisis stage is when the...

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...ore so from conservative sections of the world studying in Australian universities find it hard if not impossible to adapt and continue with their studies. Some aspects like language have a significant impact on students’ performance. For basing on my personal experience, accent is a key issue haunting a considerable number of indigenous Australian tutors and professors such that unless a student is fully accustomed to the Australian language, it may not be possible for him or her to understand certain concepts. It thus remains a primary mandate bestowed upon various universities in Australia to institute policies so as to ensure students comfortably adjust to new cultures.

Works Cited

Berry, D. (2010). Conceptual Approaches to Acculturation. London: Sage Publications.

Khoo, M. (2002). Australian Government Department of Immigration. Canberra: Highway Press.

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