The research proposal examines the impact of fashion on international students in London, focusing on how their style evolves throughout their studies. It also discusses the effects of London cultures on overseas students and the cultural traits that affect students’ culture shock experiences. The proposal looks at the personal experiences of a small group of international students living and studying in London, utilizing first-hand accounts of how they make sense of their university experiences abroad and integrate them into their lives and personalities. The number of overseas students at U.K. higher education institutions conjures up a picture of the world as one big family. Even though fashion trends change, a society’s ideals are established and implanted following its culture and beliefs. Fashion is more than just an audaciously mirrored image of reinterpreted good old importance in attaining any identical aim or target, but rather an expressive and creative thought worthy of being presented for public acceptance that helps individuals become more instinctive.
London students have a different clothing code that makes native students stand out, but it is simpler for international students to blend in. Being challenged by a different culture may be a positive and enlightening experience, leading to increased self-awareness and acceptance of other cultures. Above all, international students feel compelled to protect themselves against intellectual and psychological harm.
The research paper will perform several focus groups and qualitative interviews in an academic session for overseas students at a London-based institution. The researchers will examine personal testimonies of international students’ cultural and social backgrounds. Using a case study methodology, the researchers will use qualitative methodologies to delve into the individuals’ subjective and different viewpoints. NVivo 7 will be used to complete the data analysis for the study. The respondents will actively participate in invalidating the analysis process through validity and reliability.
Introduction
The number of international students in the United Kingdom’s higher education institutions conjures an image of the globe as a global community. The impact of this variety on the U.K. economy has been significant. Nonetheless, the study on how international students might adapt to U.K. culture is still elusive. The United Kingdom’s culture gets reflected in the fashion trends, and it turns out to be impressive to most international students (Oakley et al., 2017). The fashion business in the U.K. is increasingly intertwined with the internet world, impacting the country’s culture.
Although fashion trends keep changing, a society’s principles are formed and instilled following its culture and ideas. Fashion is not merely an audacious reflected picture of reinterpreted good old importance in achieving any purpose or objective similar, but rather an emotive and creative notion worthy of being displayed for societal approval that helps people get more instinctual (Delaney, 2017). A person’s physical appearance means communicating nonverbal cues like possible hints about their social standing, beliefs, and habits. Fashion communication has experienced a 180-degree shift in its communicative characteristics, beginning with displaying a whole picture of how individuals appear and feel to communicating the emotional states through engaging instruments in the clothing.
International students begin on a fantastic journey. They go to the U.K. to broaden their scholarly and global understanding. On the other hand, encounters may be frightening and unpredictable at first. Some overseas students may get bewildered by very little cultural diversity, whereas others conceal their uneasiness and strive to fit in, resulting in more perplexity. All overseas students can experience sensory overload to varied cultural degrees at a certain point. Mentors who understand how to help students cope with and overcome cultural clashes can add to students’ performance, and the pleasure of their stay in the U.K. Counselors know the individual and cultural aspects that impact a students’ learning style and encourage them to get over the culture shock experienced in the initial stages.
The Rationale of the Study
London is a major global player in international education, and it is the second most popular market for international candidates. The number of worldwide students pursuing education in the United Kingdom appears to be growing. Regardless of the global economic meltdown or the problems of a post-September 11th world (Oakley et al., 2017). This research proposal aims to determine how fashion and cultures affect overseas students in London.
The project will investigate the personal experiences of a selected group of international students living and studying in London, using their first-hand narratives of how they make logical sense of their abroad university experiences and assimilate them into their lifestyles and personalities. The individual travels of the students are documented through a three-stage procedure that progresses from initial high anticipation through cultural shock and diverse ultimate modes of assimilation.
Research Questions and Objectives
- How do international students in London change their looks and how they present themselves during their studies?
- What do international students think of the current student developments culturally?
- How do fashion trends in London change the way international students think about the stereotype of student fashion?
Research Objectives
- Evaluate the effects fashion has on international students in London, highlighting how they transform their style over their study course.
- Discuss the influence London cultures have on international students touching on the cultural characteristics that influence students’ experience of culture shock.
Literature Review
There are over 750,000 students who come to the UK to study each year – in higher and further education, in independent and language schools. Some come for short English language courses, others for PhDs at the frontier of scientific research. The UK has a long-standing comparative advantage in providing education to international students based on the importance of English in the global economy and the high quality of the courses offered. Historically, the UK has the second-largest group of international students in the world after the US but there is a real risk it will be overtaken by Australia in the near future. And the UK leaving the EU poses new threats, and there are no grounds for complacency. As can be seen in Figure 1, international student numbers have risen in recent years (International student statistics in UK 2021, 2021, para. 1). Nevertheless, the UK’s overall market share has fallen slightly and competitor countries are more active in recruitment.
Impact of Fashion on International Students in London
For several reasons, fashion is an essential component of the student experience. What you wear speaks a lot about a student, from a soccer team’s sports uniform to an independent kid’s band T-shirts. Clothing, for the international student, frequently conveys a tale about not just who they are at the moment but also how their culture presents itself. Traditional attire is integral to many cultures’ community festivals and cultural manifestations (Kettle, 2017). For example, traditional clothing from the complex sarees of India can symbolize cultural ideals and communal identification.
Fashion has always played a significant role in how people describe themselves and each other. As a result, it has the potential to be a formidable instrument of persuasion (Kettle, 2017). This may be overt: research shows that people who wear suits or uniforms are more prone to trust and even accept their demands. Fashion’s effect may also be indirect, resulting in global influence (Turner and Acker, 2017). Prominent persons get linked with specific garments, which they intentionally utilize to create an image of themselves or their nation, from Wellington’s pumps to Gandhi’s scarf to Mao’s ‘Mao-suit’; from Elizabeth I’s ruffs to Diana’s outfits to Thatcher’s purses.
However, British fashion offers soft power advantages in addition to economic benefits. With six of the world’s top 20 fashion colleges, the United Kingdom is the global leader in fashion education. With an average of 1,500 overseas students registering in British fashion courses each year, particularly hundreds from China and East Asia, the school system is mainly international, as with much of the Higher Education industry. Many of the catwalk designers during London Fashion Week are from countries other than the United Kingdom, reflecting the industry’s global nature. Therefore, England being a notable nation worldwide, it is easy for international students to fit into fashion styles without time after attending London colleges.
College fashion in London affects the lives of international students, as it has on the other students. Deciding whether to dress in traditional dress while living overseas can be a tough choice for students. Traditional clothing is an integral part of cultural affirmation in many regions worldwide, and when students dress in it, they feel more at ease. On the other hand, others may prefer to dress in Western attire. Colleges do not have a dress code, so students must decide what to dress up for (Gomez-Lanier, 2017). International students must spend substantial time planning about and choosing their fashion sense, particularly if they want to adapt (Han, 2017). The apparel industry in London is constantly evolving, and to catch pace, one must continue to read, investigate, and learn about the current developments. Fashion is also an artistic expression for several students. It makes them feel more at ease and confident while displaying their authentic selves worldwide.
Student Cultural Background
Students in London have a unique dress code that makes native students stand out, but it is easier for other students from overseas to fit in. The way women accessorize and appear luxurious in London schools in the afternoons and evenings lets international students feel like outsiders. People in Jordan dress more conservatively and according to religious or ‘traditional’ standards. However, a few Jordanians have a consistent theme to Europeans overall, so it is not surprising. Layering is a notable fashion trend in London, attracting many international students (Ammigan and Jones, 2018). People in London wear so many layers due to the extreme weather conditions, and most international students appreciate it. That is something in England in terms of dressing like Mexico, though there is a greater variety of styles in the United Kingdom. Mexican students are more uniform.
Some Mexican students have no reason to wear a trench coat in Mexico. In the U.K., however, they wear one daily because they have gotten to the point of adoring trench coats after understanding the culture in London. However, in some cases, international students get surprised by the number of individuals who regularly wear black or various shades of grey. That’s not something most international students encounter in their native countries, even in winter. Many students here, particularly those studying ‘artsy’ subjects, clearly put a lot of thought into how they outfit and try to cope with new trends in London. On-campus, you’ll notice many people with unusual haircuts, piercings, and bright leggings (Aktas et al., 2017). Some international students in London from France think the main distinction between France and the U.K. is that students in London are extra brave and can wear things that French people, who dress more cautiously, would look at in despair.
Despite the slight changes in fashion in London, most international students do not entirely change how they perceive dressing or how they present themselves. They believe that society is now more accessible because of technological advancements, and people’s clothing styles are more related than before. While studying for a bachelor’s degree in their native language, some international students dress a little more formally; blazers and matching shorts or skirts, dressy clothes and shirts, and the like (McKay and Bokhorst-Heng, 2017). However, most of them now own funkier pieces, such as leather boots, which they wear with denim. Being ‘smart’ or ‘classy’ may vary between different regions and millennia (McKay and Bokhorst-Heng, 2017, p. 45). People have very different ideas about what it means to be elegant. Furthermore, there are various factors influencing the public’s view of fashionable clothes, as well as individual choices.
Style and fashion impact students’ daily moods and help them mirror their personalities. At the same time, the way people dress has a significant impact on how they interact with others and society as a whole. Sometimes international students prefer to dress in more comfortable clothes, without regard for color or style. However, some value brands and choose their outfits with this idea in mind. Style is relevant to international students, and it influences how others perceive them, even if only at the subconscious level. In most cases, fashion is an integral part of one’s authenticity, and London provides it.
Cultural Influence on International Students in London
In the United Kingdom, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are very optimistic about bringing in international students. According to Kettle (2017), in a survey of 115 countries regarding the internationalization process of postsecondary learning, 87 percent of the organizations have Globalization in their overall strategic plan. In 2014, this structure attributed $27 billion to the U.K. financial system (Kettle, 2017). While international students flock to several Western nations for advanced education, including Spain, Germany, Italy, and Ireland, the United Kingdom has been recognized as the second most current educational location because of its balanced culture.
Being challenged by a foreign culture is sometimes a beneficial and enriching experience, leading to greater self-awareness and an acknowledgment of diverse cultures. But at the same time, this altercation can be characterized as ‘acculturative stress,’ in which international students get confronted with hurdles to preconceived belief systems, posing possible threats to their identity and personalities (Ecochard and Fotheringham, 2017, p. 36). Culture shock is the first phase in a lengthier and often optimistic course of constructing beliefs and ideas that, on the one hand, strengthens individuals’ devotion to their history and culture while also providing them with a standpoint that allows for the amicable integration of unique traditions with their established culture through phases of recession, restoration, and alteration.
On the other hand, culture shock may elicit a deeply felt flight or fight reaction. International students feel the necessity, above everything, to safeguard themselves from ideological and psychological harm. While such reactions mirror aspects of what Delaney (2017, p. 71) alludes to as “adaptation,” they are momentum changes from those that entail integration and acceptance. Students who experience alien cultures for the first moment in their young adulthood in London feel a sense of displacement, which sends them into acculturative stress (Delaney, 2017). This state happens because seniors must adapt to a foreign culture, financial system, schooling, community, the federal government, and civilization without the advantage of several years of progressive socialization, which most indigenous students from the native culture have had.
Many factors influence how international students in London experience a cultural dilemma. Still, most of them can be classified into two parts: the degree of distinction between the different cultures and the student’s attributes (Saliu, 2017). The greater the cultural proximity between the student’s native and foreign cultures, the more plausible the student will feel distressed and inability in interpersonal relationships (Cottrell, 2017). Intercultural communication is a measurement of the distinction between one’s culture’s attitudes and morals, and many research findings have defined the aspects along which different cultures can be assessed.
An international student’s attributes in London influence how they react to new life experiences and how inclined they are to place themselves in difficult situations to learn some new moral codes. Figure 2 demonstrates how people experience culture shocks and what factors are the most influential in this regard (Why we experience culture shock, 2020, para. 2). Furthermore, Weber (2017) explains how international students use personal characteristics to influence cross-cultural adaptation while studying in the United Kingdom. Their findings advance the notion that people with personality characteristics like assertiveness and persistence are more plausible to adapt to new cultural contexts.
Another critical factor in international students’ survivability in a non-native host society is social cohesion. International students who do not have enough support networks are more likely to drop out. Nevertheless, enough social support may not be enough to eradicate loneliness (Pennycook and Candlin, 2017). Prejudice against overseas students may be based on skin color. It “reinforces cultural distinctions as a foundation of discriminating that responds to public conceptions of conserving,” according to this type of neo-racism (Barnett and Benefield, 2017. p. 37). Inequality forces overseas students to segregate themselves depending on “who they are not, not who they are” (Barnett and Benefield, 2017. p. 37). Figure 3 demonstrates a framework that explains main cultural influences on international students.
Methodology
This chapter explains various methodologies that were used in gathering data and conducting an analysis relevant to the research. The overall approach to the study is explained and the tools for data collection and analysis are discussed in detail. This aspect is crucial for research findings since it forms the conceptual framework to investigate the problem. The methodology section includes information regarding the location of the study, research design, sampling and sample size, types of data, data collection method, and data management.
Research Design
This study descriptive research design is defined as a research method that describes the characteristics of the population that is being studded. As was used where data was collected from the respondents at one point in time. This design always focuses more on what of the research subject rather than the why of the research subject (Babbie, 1990).
Research Approach
The research paper will conduct multiple focus group interviews and several qualitative interviews in an academic session for international students at a London-based university (Cottrell, 2017). The research work will only interview the international students willing to participate and collect data on the influence of fashion and cultures on their personalities and thinking patterns.
All focus group talks and semi-structured interactions will be recorded and transcribed to be analyzed. In the research paper, the purposive and snowballing sampling methods will be employed to recruit participants for the study on the university campus with the help of a hired intern (Oakley et al., 2017). The information gathered from the interviews conducted in the participants’ home countries will be totaled in a table.
Research Strategy
The research strategy applied in this paper will include surveys, case studies, and action research to address the research question and goals. A research onion will provide a broader choice of research methods, such as surveys, case studies, and research methods. The study will utilize the survey technique related to the rational research strategy (Norma, Chang and Prieto, 2017; Ammigan, 2018). It will allow the researcher to contact a significant sample for data collecting without any impediments.
Research Choice
Research onion will provide options for qualitative, statistical, and hybrid research. A qualitative research application will be an excellent option for a thorough examination since it is inductive and does not have time constraints. Quantitative research, on the other hand, is connected with a deductive research approach, favors time-bound studies, and prioritizes data collection through surveys.
Research onion in this research paper will guide the researcher on several time horizon elements that can influence every study and help utilize the best elements for analyzing the effects of fashion and cultures on international students in London. When doing research, time is crucial. Therefore, the available time limit will be examined before deciding on a viable research approach (Tatar, 2017). Cross-sectional and longitudinal temporal ranges are available in Research Onion. The cross-sectional time perspective will help us in studies with time constraints, whereas the longitudinal time horizon will assist studies with no time constraints. The current inquiry is time-bound and conforms to cross-sectional survey principles. The research will use philosophy, approach, and strategy and choose the appropriate methods depending on the time frame to get the required data for analysis.
Data Collection
The research will get more information on the participants from the school websites and use prospectuses and promotional films. The information from these data materials will help understand how international students in London transform their fashion styles over their studies and how different cultures affect their thinking patterns. The study uses an online platform to poll foreign grads. Use of email and SMS, for example, to enable overseas students to take the survey online exclusively using the secure, customized URLs supplied via these channels. The engaged workforce (the order of invites and notifications) will not alter in these settings, but they will not get phone calls from our contact center to finish the survey.
The researchers will look into personal testimonies of overseas students’ cultural and social backgrounds. Utilizing a case study technique, the researchers will dive into the individuals’ subjective and distinct perspectives using qualitative methods. As a result, descriptive data will be acquired using participants’ words, meanings, and perceptions. All participants will be questioned at least twice. The authors will track variations in participants’ perspectives and attitudes over time. The research will use NVivo 7 to finish the data analysis. The respondents will actively engage in invalidating the analysis process through validity and reliability.
Ethical Issues
The study will employ ethical considerations in the analysis done using questionnaire research in the survey conducted. The research work will be confident enough not to disclose any personal information from any international student participating in the survey. Undoubtedly, any attempt to betray a participant’s confidence after promising secrecy on the information supplied by participants, particularly personal data, safely maintained and managed, will imply a breach of the participant’s trust and have serious consequences (Maziriri and Chuchu, 2017). The research will also give informed consent to the entire program to help the participants provide the required information and avoid confusion. Every participant will clearly understand what is needed and what they are supposed to answer.
The research will try to avoid anonymity by giving precise information on the data required from the participants to prevent receiving personally identifiable information from survey answers. The received information storage will be secure to avoid unnecessary accessibility from third parties. If a participant feels pressured or coerced to participate in the survey, they will have the chance to leave the participation (Pennycook and Candlin, 2017). The research will have its interests well disclosed to allow sponsors willing to fund the work to understand what they need to do.
Timescale and Resources
Each part of the research will be done in eight weeks.
Resources
This study does not aim to receive any specific grant from funding agencies or organizations in the commercial, public, or not-for-profit sectors. Unless stated otherwise, the researchers in this project will self-fund themselves on any cost required to carry on the research work successfully. There will be no external funding to support this work. Any expenses on transport during travels to collect data will come from the researchers.
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