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Institutional support, social support, and academic performance: mediating role of academic adaptation

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Abstract

Academic adaptation and performance are core aspects of international students’ academic experience in the host academic context. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship among institutional support, social support, and academic performance of international graduate students, as well as the mediating role of academic adaptation. This study was conducted grounded in Berry’s cross-cultural acculturation framework (1997) and Schlossberg’s transition model (1995). Survey data were gathered from a sample of 410 international graduate students from five universities in central China. As predicted, the results showed that institutional support, social support, academic adaptation, and academic performance were positively related. Mediation analysis showed that academic adaptation acted as a full mediator between support factors (institutional and social) and academic performance. This study provides evidence of the way in which academic adaptation mediates between support and performance, meaning that institutional and social support increased academic adaptation which enhanced performance in turn. The present study also discusses some implications based on the findings for universities, faculty, and international student academic advisors in China and in other countries.

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Funding

This research was funded by Double First Class Funds for Humanities and Social Sciences from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Think Tank and Social Services Project).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Cherry Kyaw San & Hui Guo

  2. Department of English, University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Myanmar

    Cherry Kyaw San

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Correspondence to Cherry Kyaw San.

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Cherry Kyaw San. Department of English, University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Myanmar. School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Current themes of research:

Institutional, social and cultural context of learning. Progression in education.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

San, C. K., & Guo, H. (2022). the role of supervisor support, self-efficacy, and language competence in academic adaptation of international graduate students in Central China. Higher Education Studies, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v12n2p1.

Hui Guo. School of Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Current themes of research:

Institutional, social and cultural context of learning. Progression in education.

Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:

San, C. K., & Guo, H. (2022). The role of supervisor support, self-efficacy, and language competence in academic adaptation of international graduate students in Central China. Higher Education Studies, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v12n2p1.

Highlights

• Institutional and social support was related to international graduate students’ academic adaptation and performance.

• Institutional and social support increased academic adaptation which, in turn, enhanced academic performance.

• International students who regularly receive and use support are likely to reach their academic goals.

• Designing effective university support programs is important to improve international students’ academic performance.

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San, C.K., Guo, H. Institutional support, social support, and academic performance: mediating role of academic adaptation. Eur J Psychol Educ 38, 1659–1675 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-022-00657-2

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