Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol 49, No. 1 - 56

Living with Roommates from Different
Cultures: A Qualitative Study of International
Students' Experiences of Multicultural
Living-Learning Communities
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES of multicultural living-learning
communities were explored using consensual qualitative research. Fifteen
female international students attending a university in the mid-Atlantic region
were interviewed in five focus groups. Participants reported that the benefits of
multicultural living-learning communities included cultural learning, language
learning, social support, and monetary support. Challenges of multicultural
living-learning communities included lifestyle and cultural differences, lack
of respect, awareness of and openness to different individuals or cultures,
differences and difficulties in communication, language concerns, and lack of
opportunities to get closer with roommates. Participants reported that roommate
relationships were facilitated by genuine respect for and interest in other cultures,
motivation to enhance their adjustment, personalities, having interpersonal
interactions, communication, having similarities in interest and culture, teaching
and learning language, strategies/rules between roommates, and environmental
features such as communal space in their residence halls. This study has
implications for residence life professionals who coordinate multicultural
living-learning communities and help international students adjust to living
with roommates from different cultures.
Note: We are grateful to the judges who coded interview sessions: Ashley Dandridge,
Sushma Kumble, and Christa Close. We also thank Elisa Castillo, Emily Rosenfield, and
Justin Mason for providing their expertise about residence life.
I
nternational students seek to study in the United States for various reasons, including
exploring and learning about U.S. culture, increasing their cultural knowledge,
and learning different ways of thinking (Andrade, 2006; McClure, 2007). Due to
institutions' requirements and lack of resources for off-campus housing, many international
students live in university residence halls, which become their home in the
U.S. (Yao, 2016). This is where many international students make their friends, and
Volume 49, No. 1 * 2022 53

Journal of College & University Student Housing Vol 49, No. 1

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