ASSOCIATION SERVICES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: USE AND BARRIERS

Studying abroad has become an opportunity for students to experience another culture, increase their knowledge and expand their social networks. This tendency has not only encouraged the arrival of an increasing number of incoming students in different countries, but has also raised a number of different needs. Subsequently, a number of associations emerged to provide services to meet those needs, such as assistance in looking for accommodation, providing information about the city, integration activities and language courses, thus improving international students’ stay abroad. However, little is known whether students are actually aware of these services and to what extent they use them. The purpose of this study is to determine the use of association services for international students and associated barriers and to analyse the effect of culture on both variables. A descriptive methodology was adopted through the use of quantitative techniques on a sample of 115 students from three different continents (America, Asia and Europe) studying in the city of Valencia, Spain. Results have shown that a considerable number of the respondents haven’t used association services because they were unaware of them and that culture haven’t influenced neither one of the two variables. This implies a number of implications for associations for international students to improve their academic and personal experience.