Culture shock - not the best mindset

Many educators, and other employment industry sectors, have long used the term "culture shock" to describe the experience of living/working in another culture. Reverse culture shock has even been used to describe the return to one's home culture after a period of time in another culture.

New research and models advocate that educators stop using "culture shock" and, instead, use terms such as "culture transition" to describe the experience of moving across culture. Using transition as the language acknowledges the resilience and dexterity that many who work or study abroad gain from the experience. The transition process as described in the ACPA Global Dimensions webinar was "culture surprise, culture exploration, culture stress, culture adjustment, culture fatigue, and culture conflict." These terms portray the reality of reactions one can have in another culture but they describe rather than exaggerate the experience, allowing more positive ways of responding to what one encounters.

While the webinar focused more on U.S. students studying abroad, presenters indicate that the culture transition idea is also applicable to international students studying at U.S. institutions.