Research suggests international graduate students are less likely to access mental health services

March 18, 2024

By Kathleen Clarke, Assistant Professor, Education

The university experience is different for specific subgroups of students, such as mature students or those with disabilities. Each subgroup faces unique barriers in their learning and thus require tailored support to meet their needs. For international students undertaking graduate studies in Canada, specific challenges might include loneliness, homesickness, language barriers, financial issues, acculturative stress and loss of identity. These challenges can lead to a graduate experience that differs greatly from that of a domestic graduate student. 

I recently published an article in the Journal of International Students that focuses on international graduate students in Canada and how their mental health diagnoses, stressors and use of mental health supports compared to domestic graduate students. This work began with a study undertaken during my doctoral work in which I used National College Health Assessment (NCHA) data from the American College Health Association to examine the mental health of graduate students across Canada. Comparing international and domestic graduate students needed to be examined at the time because of the increasing population of international students across the country.

There were several interesting findings from the analysis. In comparison to international graduate students, more domestic graduate students reported having a psychiatric disability, receiving a depression diagnosis at some point, and having been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety in the past year. However, significantly fewer international graduate students reported accessing mental health-related supports, and fewer international graduate students reported that they would seek mental health support if they needed it at some point in the future.

These findings point to a need for Canadian institutions, graduate advisors and student affairs professionals to recognize the unique experiences of international graduate students, particularly with help-seeking behaviours. While many institutions are acknowledging that the graduate student experience differs from that of undergraduates, it is important to also recognize that graduate students cannot be viewed as a homogenous group. International student status is just one subgroup that requires tailored support, and there are many others that similarly need to be examined and addressed, such as graduate students with disabilities. 

Consideration of these findings must be done in today’s context, with the federal government implementing a cap on international study permits – a cap that does not apply to students in master’s or doctoral programs. This could potentially lead to some institutions increasing their recruitment efforts for international students at the graduate level. It will be important to adjust student services so that a potentially increased population of international graduate students is well-supported once they arrive to their destinations.  

Moving forward, my research program will continue to develop the understanding of specific subgroups of graduate students in Canada, as graduate education is generally under-researched in this context. For international graduate students specifically, revisiting more recent data collection periods of the NCHA could enhance the developing understanding of how international and domestic student compare on various mental health-related factors. Examination of other datasets, like the Canadian Campus Wellbeing Survey, could also be useful.