Lights and Shadows of Belonging: Insights from International Students in Geneva
Marcia Banks, Coordinator of English Publications, Le Pôle
Transitions are often described as practical, a matter of paperwork, logistics, and adaptation. Yet as Valérie Besanceney observed in her Le Pôle interview, “Why is a Child’s Transition So Important?”, (https://lepole.education/en/post/training/why-is-a-child-s-transition/) transitions at any stage of life are also deeply emotional. They touch our sense of identity and belonging. A Master’s thesis by Jana Finlayson, Lights and Shadows of Personal Experiences of International University Students Living in Geneva, Switzerland (Webster University, 2023), offers a look at these dynamics through the eyes of international students who have chosen to live and study in Switzerland. While participants described the country’s breathtaking landscapes and peaceful rhythm, they also spoke of subtler challenges, the feeling of being perpetually foreign.
Jana Finlayson’s research found that small, everyday moments, a question about accent, an assumption about nationality, can carry an emotional weight that shapes one’s sense of belonging. Her study suggests that multicultural awareness is not simply a social ideal; it is essential to wellbeing in diverse educational settings.
The Opportunity and Challenge of Acculturation
For those who cross borders to study or work, acculturation is both an opportunity and a test of resilience. Jana Finlayson found that international students often navigate two parallel realities: the privilege of living in a peaceful, orderly society, and the pressure of adapting to unspoken cultural codes.
Participants described everyday interactions that left them feeling subtly “othered” as in comments about nationality, questions that reveal assumptions, or an invisible expectation to “fit in”. These encounters can have cumulative effects: loneliness and emotional distress.
From a systemic perspective, Jana Finlayson’s research points to a broader issue, one that resonates across international schools and communities. Despite their diversity, many institutions still struggle to manage multiculturalism*, consciously.* Every society, even one that celebrates diversity, must confront its shadow if it is to grow into genuine inclusion.
The “Perpetual Foreigner” and the Psychology of Belonging
Jana Finlayson highlights what psychologists call the “perpetual foreigner” phenomenon; the idea that, no matter how long one lives in a host country, difference remains a subtle marker of separation. Participants expressed quiet frustration at being seen not as individuals but as representatives of a category: the foreigner.
When students, teachers, or families encounter unspoken bias, even in its mildest form, it challenges their ability to trust the environment around them. Jana Finlayson’s research shows that such microaggressions, especially in schools or workplaces, can be associated with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and stress.
Her findings also offered hope: those moments of curiosity, the connection with familiar foods, or a contact with one’s own cultural group, often restored a sense of stability andpride. These small bridges between worlds remind us that belonging is built not on sameness, but on recognition, the act of being seen fully, with one’s story, values, and difference intact.
Multicultural Awareness as a Skill, Not a Slogan
One of the implications of Jana Finlayson’s work is its call for greater multicultural awareness; learning to pause our assumptions, listen deeply, and approach others with gentle curiosity.
In international education, this awareness must become an intentional skill. Teachers, counsellors, and school leaders play a vital role. Without reflective practice, even well-meaning educators can inadvertently reinforce subtle hierarchies. Awareness must be cultivated at every level of the system. Awareness and empathy are not optional “soft skills”; they form the foundation of wellbeing in diverse learning environments.
Bridging Difference Through Awareness
Jana Finlayson concludes that foreigners in Switzerland, despite facing challenges of xenophobia and stereotyping, also encounter genuine curiosity and kindness. The contrasts, the lights and shadows of living abroad, reveal how belonging is not a fixed state, but a process of continuous negotiation.
In an international school, to move beyond welcome toward belonging, international education must evolve from celebrating diversity to practicing understanding. For counsellors, this means listening to stories of adaptation as well as to stories of exclusion. For educators, it means revisiting assumptions, even those rooted in good intentions.
Injustice and inequity can create feelings of powerlessness, but fairness and empathy restore connection. Multicultural awareness cannot be an abstract goal but should be a daily practice.
Transitions will be part of life, yet how we accompany each other through them defines who we are as educators and as human beings.
If transitions mark a crossing, then multicultural awareness is the bridge we build together.