About The Project
The Transitions and Mentoring Toolkit has directly emerged from the Identities in Transition research project, which was funded by the Mastercard Foundation Partners Research Fund.
The Identities in Transition project began in 2020, during the start of the global pandemic, and it was completed in 2023. This study is based on a collaboration between two universities – the University of Edinburgh (UoE) in the UK and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. Both institutions take pride in welcoming international students from African countries. Each institution is a partner with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. Together the two institutions have welcomed and hosted hundreds of international African students through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.
The research project had two main goals:
To develop a deeper understanding of Mastercard Foundation scholars’ experiences of transition from Global South schools and universities to higher education institutions in the Global North.
To develop support systems that are grounded in the scholars’ experiences, by focusing on mentoring, as an effective educational practice that can aid African international students’ transition and academic performance.
3 themes were focused on. Home, Community, & Transition
Home: What does home mean for scholars?
Community: How do they form community and develop a sense of belonging?
Transition: What challenges do they face as they transition to a new country?
Identities in Transition in numbers:
More than…
• 20 Mastercard Foundation Scholars co-researchers
• 4 Academic researchers
• 20 Mentors
• 6 Mastercard Foundation team members
The Big Question behind this research is: How do African International students transition into a new academic environment and how does this impact upon their identities? Although African international students make up a growing proportion of international student populations, there seems to be limited knowledge around their unique transitional experiences and challenges.
Transitions and Mentoring Toolkit
Transitions Toolkit
Transitions in academics are an important part of student life in the classroom and out.
Mentoring Toolkit
Cultural transitions help students adjust to a new environment and integrate with the support of peer groups and other resources.
Identities in Transition
Transitions for wellbeing are tools for international students to manage their wellbeing while adjusting to big changes
Our Photovoice Book
This photovoice book captures the experiences of twelve African students who made the journey from their respective home countries in Africa to universities in the UK and North America.
What do we mean by transition?
Transition can involve separation from the familiar things one knows, and the creation of new meaningful connections with new environments. Transition can involve change and uncertainty, thus evoking many strong and often mixed feelings that can drive someone towards reassessing their perspectives and acknowledging their values.
This Toolkit focuses on three areas of transition that our team has identified as key aspects of Mastercard Foundation Scholars’ experiences: academic transitions, cultural transitions and transitions for wellbeing.
Contact Us
If you have questions, didn’t find the things you needed, or have any feedback about the site – please email us at scholars.admissions@ubc.ca. We want to help and are always looking to improve.
Lead authors: Cynthia Nicol and Mastercard Foundation Scholars at UBC
Thanks to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars, researchers and staff from the University of British Columbia and the University of Edinburgh for their work, which provided the information on this page.