Ledeneva V.Yu., Abdullaev R.S., Guseynova L.D. Factors of socio-cultural adaptation of foreign students from Azerbaijan and China in Russian universities. Higher education in Russia. 2022. Vol. 31. No. 10. Pp. 118-134. DOI: 10.31992 ...

Abstract

The number of foreign students educating in Russian universities is increasing everyyear. With the growing number of such students, the issue of their adaptation becomes more relevant,because that adaptation also determines the success of education. The substantial role in thisprocess falls to the share of universities and their educational system, which in the initial stages isaimed at accelerating the adaptation of foreign students to everyday life in Russia, also to providehigh-quality and promising education.The article presents the results of a study conducted in order to investigate the features of socioculturaladaptation, the difficulties, which are faced by students during their education periodand their expectations, coverage of the place and role of universities, therefore, and scientific andpedagogical staff. To achieve an accurate result, we conducted a survey of international studentsfrom the Republic of Azerbaijan and the People’s Republic of China studying at Russian universities.107 students in total (45% Azerbaijani students and 55% Chinese students) from leading Moscowuniversities participated in the questionnaire-based survey, the age cohort of respondents rangedfrom 21 to 35 years. Analysis of the results of the survey made it possible to determine the main typesof adaptation of students to identify objective and subjective factors of sociocultural adaptation, tocompare the principal features of foreign students from Azerbaijan and China in order to understandthe main problems of intercultural communication of students from different ethnic groups.The relevance and uniqueness of the study are based on cross-cultural differences between thestudied groups, which made it possible to identify both principal and specific features, and theirsignificant difference from Russian culture.The authors of the article concluded that the acce120Сравнительные исследованияВысшее образование в России. 2022. Т. 31. № 10.leration of the process of sociocultural adaptation is possible, first of all, through the study of theRussian language and pre-departure training in their homeland, which includes studying of Russianculture, history, traditions and specifics of intercultural communication. Based on the results of thestudy, the authors proposed recommendations for the formation of a system of measures aimed tooptimize the processes of sociocultural adaptation, including well-organized training and teaching,as well as involvement of foreign students in the social activities of the university.