Enhancing Inter-Cultural Awareness Among International Postgraduate Researchers and their Research Supervisors at Warwick

The increasing internationalisation of postgraduate research (PGR) education in the UK has highlighted the unique challenges faced by international students, who now make up around 40% of the postgraduate population. These students face a range of issues, including financial pressures, difficulties with cultural integration, language barriers, workload management, mental well-being, and mismatches in supervision expectations. There is often inadequate support and mentorship tailored to international PGRs, and supervisors may not be fully aware of the hidden barriers these students encounter. Intercultural dynamics is a significant challenge in fostering effective interactions between PGR students and their supervisors. Building intercultural awareness—knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for positive communication in a multicultural environment—is vital for creating strong relationships in this context. This project, therefore, examined the role of intercultural awareness in shaping the relationships between PGR students and their supervisors at the University of Warwick. Using semi-structured interviews with PhD students and supervisors, we explored how intercultural competence affects communication, aligns expectations, and enhances the research experience. This reflection shares the research outcomes, along with insights from the project team on the challenges encountered during the study. Future work will be to expand this research on a larger scale within Warwick and across multiple UK institutions to deepen understanding and inform supportive frameworks for international PGRs. Funding Acknowledgement The project on which to which this paper relates, ‘Enhancing Intercultural awareness among PhD students and their supervisors’, was funded by the Enhancing Research Culture Fund through Research England.