The key in social representations outside higher education

UDC 152.92:378

https://doi.org/10.20339/AM.04-20.042

Fabrice S.N. Fosso is PhD student in Sociology at Ural Federal University

Universities still struggle with the ebbs and flows consisting of attracting, retaining and understanding foreign students. Too much focus via surveys is put on their perception of the quality of teaching, their adaptation, or performance appraisal. An approach which is questionable from a sociological point of view, and can be described as a stagnation in higher education, the sociology of education, and related social sciences, given that those opinions derived in most cases are, we argue, out of their contexts of study. For instance, the social representations of crime, mega events, or public transport, which all combined together, and evolutive and modifiable as foreign students experience the social context, determine the final social representation of higher education. Therefore, this article suggests the theory of social representations, and some theoretical suggestions to fill the gap related to investigations on foreign students. Some previously implemented research methods on the topic are also discussed as to propose a multiapproach when it comes to the social representations of higher education of foreign students.

Keywords: social representations, foreign students, higher education.

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