International And Domestic University Students' Leisure Behaviour: A Comparative Analysis

This paper assesses whether, in an age of social and cultural globalisation, place-specific cultural differences continue to exist between domestic Australian and international Asian university students, resulting in divergent leisure patterns among these populations. The paper is based on a survey of the leisure behaviour of Australian, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, and Singaporean students enrolled at the University of Queensland, Australia. A total of 126 domestic students and 191 international students took part in the study.Analysis of the data shows there are some significant differences and similarities in the leisure behaviour of the students from the seven nationalities selected. These results indicate the existence of place-specific, nationally based cultures that influence leisure behaviour even when people are away from their home country. In addition, a student culture that cuts across national boundaries, creating behavioural similarities between different nationalities in the process, appears to exist.