Mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of adaptation programs for international students in the context of the internationalization of higher education

Abstract

The article is devoted to identifying mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of adaptation programs for international students under conditions of the intensifying internationalization of higher education and a steady increase in the international cohort at Russian universities; the aim of the study is to identify key barriers, compare the effectiveness of traditional and optimized interventions, and propose a scalable model of personalized support based on digital solutions and mentoring. The empirical base was formed in 2020-2023 across five technical universities (n=850 from 42 countries; stratified by year of study, field, and region), with division into an experimental (n=420) and a control (n=430) group; multi-stage surveys (start of semester, end of the first year, third year), 60 semi-structured interviews, analysis of academic data (GPA, academic backlogs), content analysis of more than 150 publications, as well as Student's t-test, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression were employed. Diagnostics showed the dominance of the language barrier (38,72%), sociocultural differences (24,51%), and academic difficulties (19,18%), with a smaller share of living factors (11,35%) and psychological factors (6,24%); on this basis an optimized program was constructed with modules including personalized digital adaptation platforms, an enhanced system of tutoring/advising, gamified language training, a reimagined orientation week, intercultural interaction clubs, and expanded psychological counseling (including anonymous online services). Comparative evaluation of the components revealed an advantage of the experimental model across all dimensions: an integral effectiveness index of 8.30 points versus 6.12 (+35,6%); the largest gains were observed for digital platforms (5.41→8.93) and tutoring/advising (6.88→8.91), with marked improvement in language courses (7.23→8.56) due to communicative scenarios and gamification. The link between adaptation and academic outcomes is substantiated: correlation coefficients with GPA were r=0.673 (academic adaptation), r=0.519 (sociocultural), r=0.327 (living), with interdependence between the sociocultural and living domains (r=0.694); regression models confirm the significant contribution of personalized and interactive mechanisms. It is concluded that a comprehensive model combining personalization, digitalization, and mentoring is practically viable; scaling and the development of predictive analytics for the early identification of at-risk groups are recommended.