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The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School College Of The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Education A TRANSNATIONAL FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF LIFE-CAREER NARRATIVES OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN STUDENTS FROM TURKEY A Dissertation in Counselor Education by Elif Balın 2014 Elif Balın Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2014 The dissertation of Elif Balın was reviewed and approved* by the following: Jerry Trusty Professor of Counselor Education Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Gabeba Baderoon Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and African Studies JoLynn Carney Associate Professor of Counselor Education Margaret Lorah Affiliate Assistant Professor of Counselor Education, College Student Affairs, and Women’s Studies Richard Hazler Professor of Counselor Education Graduate Program Coordinator Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT This study focuses on the lived experiences of ten international women students from Turkey, who pursued their graduate studies in the United States (U.S.). Its purpose is to confront the silence and lack of individual voices in the literature about the generalized and categorized experiences of international students. Transnational feminist perspectives and postmodern approaches to career development influence the narrative construction in this study. The narratives are explored through a thematic analysis of ten individual interview transcripts, and in collaboration with the participants by discussing the emerging themes in a creative group-debriefing meeting. Four main themes emerged in this study: (1) Belonging and freedom; (2) challenging the systems; (3) adjustment versus change; and (4) staying in the U.S. versus going back to Turkey. The metanarrative is centralized by the participants’ relationship to home (i.e., home country, family, national and political context) and place (i.e., place of residence in the U.S., new multicultural groups, academia as a space with its own culture and demands). Findings are discussed with implications for culturally competent counseling practices, counselor education, national and international higher education policies, and future research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................1 International Students in the United States .....................................................................2 International Student Women from Turkey .....................................................................4 Historical and Social-Political Context .......................................................................5 Turkey Today: Where Participants Come From ........................................................11 Rationale of the Study ....................................................................................................15 Exploratory Questions that Guide the Story .................................................................17 Significance of the Study ...............................................................................................17 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................20 Discussion of the Theoretical Frameworks ....................................................................20 Feminisms ..................................................................................................................20 Transnational Feminist Perspectives ........................................................................23 Understanding the ‘Trans’ and ‘National’ for Research Participants .....................25 Postmodern Approaches to Career Development .....................................................27 International Student Experiences: Themes from the Literature ...................................32 Acculturation and Adjustment ...................................................................................32 Mental Health Issues and Help-Seeking ....................................................................34 Diversity Experiences of International Students .......................................................36 Research about the International Students’ Career Development .............................41 Summary: Reframing International Student Experience ...............................................43 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................46 Philosophical and Theoretical Frameworks ...................................................................47 Research Paradigm .........................................................................................................49 Research Design .............................................................................................................50 Implications from the Pilot Study Projects ................................................................52 The story of my research ....................................................................................52 Practicing methods ..............................................................................................53 The Decision for Research Design: Why Narrative? .................................................57 Participants .....................................................................................................................58 Sampling Plan.............................................................................................................59 Methods of Recruitment .............................................................................................61 Procedures and Methods ................................................................................................63 In-Depth Interviews ....................................................................................................63 The Creative Group-Debriefing Meeting ...................................................................64 Participant-check and Follow-up ..............................................................................67 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................68 Trustworthiness ..............................................................................................................72 iv Chapter 4: NARRATIVES AND FINDINGS ..............................................................75 An Overview of The Participants ...................................................................................75 Belonging and Freedom .................................................................................................77 Selin’s Story ................................................................................................................77 Hazar’s Story ..............................................................................................................82 Challenging the Systems ................................................................................................87 Gamze’s Story .............................................................................................................87 Emel’s Story ................................................................................................................90 Adjustment versus Change .............................................................................................94 Derin’s Story...............................................................................................................94 Transition and early crises ...................................................................................95 Help-seeking .......................................................................................................97 Changing sense of self and life vision .................................................................98 Filiz’s Story...............................................................................................................100 Transition and early crises .................................................................................100 Help-seeking .....................................................................................................105 Changing sense of self and life vision ...............................................................107 Ebru’s Story ..............................................................................................................109 Transition and early crises .................................................................................109 Help-seeking .....................................................................................................114 Changing sense of self and life vision ...............................................................116 Staying in the United States versus Going Back to Turkey .........................................117 Bade’s Story ..............................................................................................................117 Selcen’s Story ...........................................................................................................122 Alya’s Story...............................................................................................................130 Chapter
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