Black *and Foreign* in the Ivory: Exploring the sociopolitical integration of Black international students in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the number of students pursuing higher education outside of their country of citizenship (international students) has increased five-fold (The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2022). In that same period Canada has become a popular attraction of international students, such that it is houses to the third largest concentration of this group globally. International student tuition and discretionary spending serve as an important source of revenue for higher education institutions. Furthermore, federal, and provincial governments identify international students as a valued source of skilled immigrants. In a bid to ensure a steady influx of students, Canada has recently turned to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean – all regions where the population mostly identify as “Black” – as new source regions to target for intensified recruitment. Minimal research explores the integration experiences and daily lives of these students. Instead, studies employ monolithic categorizations, neglecting to analyze variations in racial/ethnic identification. To that end, the main research questions in this study are: (1) How do Black international students in Canada negotiate a sense of belonging amidst various forms of social inequality? and (2) In what ways are Black international students’ political proclivities shaping, or shaped by Canada’s political climate? I drew on an assorted mix of theoretical and methodological perspectives to answer these questions. The discussions in this study are based on semi-structured interviews with 40 research participants, all international students from sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean studying at a higher education institution across Alberta, Canada. In theorizing the study’s findings, I drew on an eclectic, interdisciplinary collection on scholarship such as international student mobility, Black politics, queer migration studies, and migration studies. What emerges from this approach is a detailed understanding of Black international students that accounts for the sociocultural reasons shaping their decision to study in Canada, relationship to Black-themed racial justice organizing/foregrounding, and navigation of queer identity making while managing the precarity of temporary legal status. Consequently, the project’s findings highlight the need to think of the respective populations “Black students” and “international students” as a heterogenous groups consisting of diverse viewpoints, experiences, and challenges. There are three substantive chapters where the findings of this study are discussed. Chapter three discusses how Black international students’ perceptions of Canadian multiculturalism operate as an ideological attraction that initially assuages concerns about racial hostility. Such preconceptions, however, are complicated by experiences and knowledge acquired post-migration, such as encounters with interpersonal racism and learning about Canada’s colonial legacy. Chapter four explores the factors shaping Black international students’ understanding of and relationship to Black-themed racial justice activism in Canada. This article uncovers three distinct groups of participants with varying degrees of political activity and highlights the role of diasporic and legal consciousness in shaping their engagement with movements. Chapter 5 delves into the multifocal experiences of precarity encountered by a queer Nigerian student, involving complex negotiations of sexual, racial identity, and temporary legal status. Collectively, these articles advance a heterogeneous understanding of international students, acknowledging the diversity of social locations and experiences within this group. The articles also serve to depict the sociopolitical integration of Black international students. In sum, this dissertation contributes to broader conversations about race, racism, racial justice, and intersecting identities as they pertain to international student experiences and underscores the need for more nuanced approaches and supportive environments in Canadian universities. Popular approaches to studying international students are rarely attuned to intra-group variation based on race and ethnicity, and this study is among the first to foreground such analyses in Canadian research on international students.