Building Rapport Between International Graduate Students and Their Faculty Advisors - Cross-Cultural Mentoring Relationships at the University of Guelph

Oct 15, 2026

Mentoring graduate students is challenging even when students and faculty share cultural values, because many international students come from different cultures than Canadian norms. Research examined relationships, experiences, and challenges between international graduate students and faculty advisors at the University of Guelph using focus groups, semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and online surveys. Language barriers and financial difficulties emerged as major obstacles during academic and social adaptation, while effective rapport depended on clear understanding of graduate and advisor responsibilities and expectations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Methods and participants

Key challenges identified

Requirements for effective student-advisor rapport

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Volume 7 | Issue 2 | Article 8 | | --- | --- | | 12-11-2016
Building Rapport Between International Graduate Students and Their Faculty Advisors: CrossCultural Mentoring Relationships at the University of Guelph
Faiza Omar
University of Guelph, [fyzal2@yahoo.com](fyzal2@yahoo.com)
James P. Mahone
University of Guelph, [jmahone@uoguelph.ca](jmahone@uoguelph.ca)
Jane Ngobia
University of Guelph, [jngobia@uoguelph.ca](jngobia@uoguelph.ca)
John FitzSimons
University of Guelph, [jfitz@uoguelph.ca](jfitz@uoguelph.ca)
Follow this and additional works at: [http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea](http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea)
Part of the International and Comparative Education Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons | | Recommended Citation Omar, Faiza; Mahone, James P.; Ngobia, Jane; and FitzSimons, John (2016) "Building Rapport Between International Graduate Students and Their Faculty Advisors: Cross-Cultural Mentoring Relationships at the University of Guelph," The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 7: Iss. 2, Article 8. Available at: [http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol7/iss2/8](http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol7/iss2/8) Building Rapport Between International Graduate Students and Their Faculty Advisors: Cross-Cultural Mentoring Relationships at the University of Guelph Abstract Mentoring graduate students is very challenging, even when both the student and faculty have similar cultural values. Many international students have a different culture from that of Canadian. Their challenge is adapting to their new environment, and for their faculty advisors to understand and work well with them. This research explored the relationships, experience, and challenges of international graduate students and their faculty advisors at the University of Guelph, through focus group discussions, semi-structured face-to-face interviewsand online surveys. Language barriers and financial difficulties were among the major challenges international students face adapting to their academic and social environment and working with their faculty advisors. We found that building good student-advisor relationship requires understanding graduate student and advisor formal responsibilities and expectations. Le mentorat des étudiants de cycles supérieurs pose tout un défi, même dans les cas où l’étudiant et le professeur ont tous deux des valeurs culturelles semblables. De nombreux étudiants internationaux viennentd’une culture différente de ce que nous connaissons au Canada. Leur défi est de s’adapter à leur nouvel environnement et pour leurs conseillers pédagogiques, de les comprendre et de collaborer avec eux. Cette recherche explore les relations de travail, l’expérience et les défis auxquels sont confrontés les étudiants internationaux de cycles supérieurs et leurs conseillers pédagogiques à l’Université de Guelph par le biais de discussions de groupes de consultation, d’entrevues face à face semi-structurées et d’un sondage en ligne. Les barrières linguistiques et les difficultés financières s’avèrent comme étant les défis principaux auxquels font face les étudiants internationaux lors de leur adaptation à leur environnement académique et social et dans leurs interactions avec leurs conseillers pédagogiques. Nous avons constaté que pour établir de bonnes relations étudiant-conseiller pédagogique, il est essentiel de comprendre les responsabilités et les attentes formelles des étudiants et des conseillers pédagogiques. Keywords graduate school, faculty advisor /international student relationship, academic and social transitions, language barriers, financial challenges Cover Page Footnote The authors would like to thank the Diversity and Human Rights Office (DHR) at the University of Guelph, for initiating and supporti

FAQs

What challenges did international graduate students face in working with faculty advisors?

Language barriers and financial difficulties were among the major challenges during academic and social adaptation and collaboration with faculty advisors.

How was the study conducted at the University of Guelph?

The research used focus group discussions, semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and online surveys to explore relationships and experiences.

What did the findings suggest about building a strong student-advisor relationship?

Building good rapport requires understanding graduate student and advisor formal responsibilities and expectations.

Oct 15, 2026

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