INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC WELL-BEING IN CHINESE VOCATIONAL COLLEGES: AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR INCLUSIVE CAMPUS CLIMATE AND STUDENT SUPPORT

Abstract

International students’ academic well‑being serves as a vital metric for educational quality, equity, learner engagement and sustainable higher‑education internationalization in Chinese vocational colleges. Adopting a conceptual‑synthesis approach, this paper integrates international scholarship, Chinese national policies and vocational education theories and involves no original empirical data collection. This multidimensional construct is influenced by language proficiency, psychological conditions, teaching practice, campus socio‑cultural climate, institutional support, work‑integrated training and social connections. Risk factors including linguistic barriers, unfamiliar assessment rules, limited local‑peer interaction, acculturative stress, fragmented student services and internship difficulties weaken student engagement and sense of belonging. Conversely, culturally responsive teaching, transition interventions, academic‑linguistic scaffolding, structured intercultural contact, transparent institutional regulations and career‑embedded curricula help develop student competence, agency and persistence. This study argues that inclusive campus climate and integrated student support are mutually constitutive: climate determines students’ willingness to utilize institutional resources, whereas coordinated support converts inclusive values into tangible practical assistance. Grounded in China’s regulatory framework for international students and vocational education reforms, the BRIDGE integrated framework is put forward, covering belonging cultivation, need‑driven intervention, governance integration, inclusive teaching‑training design, student‑agency empowerment and equity‑oriented evaluation. It provides actionable guidance for administrators to promote international students’ learning, active participation and career readiness.