Be Our Guest: Centering the Culture of International Female Graduate Students and their Interactions with Health in the US.

摘要

This thesis examines how international female graduate students in the US (specifically at the University of Cincinnati) experience health, and the processes through which they make meanings around health. A culture-centered approach was used to highlight the interactions between culture, structure, and agency regarding participants' health experiences. Semi-structured interviews with international female graduate students at University of Cincinnati (n=20) revealed not only participants' meanings and values related to health, but also uncovered the barriers to health they faced along with the strategies they utilized to navigate those health barriers. This was followed by a set of recommendations from the participants themselves on how to improve international female graduate student health at the university. This thesis offers insight on how university administrators and health practitioners might incorporate centering student/patient culture. It also provides a set of health barriers and recommendations to keep in mind during the process of policy creation.