The Effect of Cultural Orientations, Academic Motivation and University Culture, on Academic Satisfaction of International Students in Taiwan

Abstract

無中文摘要

In order to maintain this status and competitivity among Asian markets, service quality has grown important, and being a collectivist society, they give great value to it. The Taiwanese government for several years has been granting scholarships and aids to attract foreign students in all levels. The challenge now is to keep attracting foreigners and to preserve the satisfaction of those already enrolled in the system. International students are valuable for all universities, for the cultural diversity they provide, furthermore preparing all students for the future workforce they will face. Therefore, this research aims in studying the effects that influence the academic satisfaction of international students studying in Taiwan, more specifically their academic motivation and cultural orientations to develop a better environment and academic culture in universities. Second, the study will also help to create and adapt the strategies already in motion in the academic system of universities of Taiwan, in this way attracting and retaining more students each year. The research methods of data collection will be a quantitative case study using a survey/questionnaire that will be developed and piloted by the researcher. The CMUA Model was created and analyzed by using Partial Least Squares (PLS) as a tool to analyze data collected, including the descriptive statistics, coefficient of determination (R2), path coefficients, t-value, bootstrapping, Cronbach’s Alpha, Composite Reliability results, average variance extracted (AVE), correlation, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual, Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio, and Fornell-Larcker Criterion. The data for the main study was collected from 218 international students studying in Taiwan. The findings indicated that academic motivation indeed has a positive significant effect towards Academic satisfaction, and towards cultural orientations as well as university culture towards academic satisfaction. While cultural orientations proved to have a weak effect on the perception of university culture of international students. Practical implications and suggestions were also proposed to support future foreign students in preparation for adjusting and adapting to Taiwan while diminishing dissatisfaction and increasing study motivation.