Development and validation of cultural and academic experience questionnaire: a study of east Asian research students at Australian universities

This article documents the development of a questionnaire designed to measure the cultural and academic experiences (CAEQ) of East Asian research students enrolled at Australian universities. The CAEQ comprises three subscales: sense of belonging, learning strategies and perception of progress. The scale was designed based on literature studies and ideas from previous scales. The target groups were doctoral students from Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan enrolled at Australian universities. Initially, 295 students responded to an online survey and 211 research students completed it. A factor analysis was conducted to explore the components of each scale. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that there are 2–4 significantly correlated components of each subscale. The developed scales in this study can be used by universities to monitor the academic progress and research progress of their international students from the East Asian region, along with ensuring that these students have improved cultural and academic experiences in the Australian higher education sector.