An investigation of the relationships between cultural intelligence levels and intercultural sensitivity and acculturation levels of the international students from the perspective of educational migration (The case of Bursa Uludag University)

With the globalization mobility in the field of education, the international student migration has been coming into prominence day by day in the world. Students' intercultural sensitivity, acculturation and adaptation levels in this migration mobility are the effective factors in their adaptation to the host country. In fact, the cultural interactions that international students establish with their country of residence and the resulting adaptation processes can be implemented more easily with their high cultural intelligence levels. In this context, the aim of this study is to identify the cultural intelligence, intercultural sensitivity and acculturation levels of international students studying at the Bursa Uludag University and investigate the relationships between cultural intelligence levels and intercultural sensitivity and acculturation levels. The present study was carried out through the relational screening model within the quantitative research design with 353 female and 282 male participants from different countries and different ethnic origins. Cultural intelligence, intercultural sensitivity and acculturation scales and a personal information form were all used as data collection tools. As a result of the findings obtained from the study, it was found that the cultural intelligence, intercultural sensitivity and acculturation levels of international students were at "moderate" level and demonstrated significant differences based on the variables of age, gender etc. Furthermore, it was concluded that there was a positively moderate relationship between the cultural intelligence levels of the students and their intercultural sensitivity levels and a positively low relationship between the cultural intelligence levels and acculturation levels. This study was supported by the Council of Higher Education 100/2000 PhD scholarship programme. Key Words: Educational migration, international students, cultural intelligence, intercultural sensitivity, acculturation