The purpose of this study is to reveal the experiences of international students studying at one of the private universities with the highest number of international students (N=7,000) in Turkey. Under this purpose, this study tries to answer the questions as follows: What are students’ motivations to study abroad? How do students engage? What challenges do they encounter? How does diversity enhance in multicultural educational environments? There is no doubt that the internationalization in higher education is becoming increasingly important and more complex. There are many ways to support internationalization in higher education such as studying abroad, staff mobility, making international agreements and building networks (Knight, 2004). Among them, student mobility has a key role and continues to be a high priority of internationalization (Knight, 2012). In this regard, student mobility has academic, social, and economic benefits to students and host institutions (Kılınç et al., 2020). It helps students get to know a different culture, to broaden their horizons, and to increase their cross-cultural skills (Marshall, 2014). On the other hand, it enables higher education institutions to develop and transform themselves to provide diversity-sensitive educational environments and manage diversity in a way that increases development, harmony, and satisfaction of students. As internationalization is mostly about relating to the diversity of cultures within countries, communities, and institutions (Knight, 2012), educational institutions need to prepare students to be successful in a global society, and to increase their awareness of cross national interconnectedness. But it has not been without its challenges and difficulties. People who attend mobility programs often feel isolated and lonely, experience culture shock, struggle with the language and homesickness (Kılınç et al., 2020; Sigalas, 2010), and have problems both academically and socially (Güzel, 2022). Although internationalization brings benefits to higher education, but there are some risks related to the international dimension of higher education (Knight, 2006). It requires to enhance diversity through integrating intercultural dimensions into teaching learning process and course syllabuses. Therefore, diversity forces organizations to address the needs of large number of students, provide inclusive and supportive environment for them. As a natural outcome of both the globalization and the internationalization policies in Turkey, there is a significant increase in the number of international students every year. According to the current data by Council of Higher Education, the number of international students is around 200 thousand in Turkey. This high number reveals the need for considering issues such as adapting to the university and the city, participating in social networks, feeling a sense of belonging, and coping with different socioeconomic and academic problems (Guzel, 2022). In this regard, it is vital to identify the problem areas encountered in this process to eliminate the negative experiences in the internationalization of higher education and to develop future education policies (Knight, 2012). To successfully maintain diversity, it is important to ensure the continuation of international student satisfaction and integration with the country. It will be essential to understand experiences and needs of student when preparing curriculum, course content and assignments. Correspondingly, this study tries to explore the experiences of international students at a private university in Turkey. The findings from the study will be useful for educators, policymakers, and higher education institutions to identify potential challenges, understand students’ motivation of studying abroad, facilitate their adaptation to social and academic life, and find effective strategies to enhance diversity in higher education.

In this study, phenomenological study is used. A phenomenological study describes the common meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a concept or a phenomenon (Creswell, 2013). Correspondingly, this study tries to explore the experiences of international students at a private university in Turkey. Being an international student is considered as the phenomenon to be studied in this research. Semi-structured interviews are used to collect data. The participants of this study consist of 17 international students. The maximum variation sampling is used to select participants. Variety in age, gender, country, department, faculty, and duration of mobility is taken into consideration to provide diversity. Each interview lasts approximately 45-60 minutes. The data obtained is analyzed by using inductive qualitative content analysis. Creswell’s (2013) qualitative data analysis steps are followed: coding the data, classifying themes, organizing codes and themes, and defining and interpreting findings. Thus, code, category and theme hierarchy has been established. After the development of codes, creation of themes from the codes and organization of the themes into larger units, the interpretation and writing process have begun.

Findings obtained from this study focusing on the experiences of international student on studying abroad revealed four themes as students’ motivation to study abroad, being an international student, challenges and management strategies, the value of diversity in higher education. There are many factors that affect students’ motivation to study abroad. While some students came to Turkey due to the war or economic problems in their countries, career opportunities and positive impressions of Turkey have also played a critical role in students’ decision. Many of the students stated that the Turkish TV series, especially before coming to Turkey, were effective in having positive impressions of the country and people, and the hospitality that they encountered supported this positive atmosphere after they came to Turkey. Although students felt lonely and stressed in the first days, the inclusive environment, social activities provided by the university and peer support made this process easier for them. But it wasn’t easy. They faced culture shock, language barriers, housing, economic and emotional challenges such as feeling alone and isolated. Students tried to learn Turkish, join social clubs and make friends to cope with these challenges. In this context, the facilities provided by universities, activities and campus life become one of the main determinants of students' adaptation. Finally, students emphasize that studying in multicultural educational environments broadens their horizons, teaches them to be sensitive and respectful to different people, and makes them more active in finding friends or adapting to a new environment. While the students emphasized that their teachers were successful in managing diversity, it was noteworthy that teachers tried to get to know each student, pay particular attention on speaking English, provide an inclusive class environment, and redesign teaching materials or classroom discussions according to students' needs and interest.

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