Sylvander, Mario; (2024) Authentic and Meritorious: a Deductive Thematic Analysis of Successful Undergraduate International Application Interviews to Selective US Universities. Doctoral thesis (Ed.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis presents an exploratory deductive thematic analysis study that investigates the concepts of authenticity and qualitative merit in undergraduate admissions interviews, focusing on interviews that contributed to successful offers from highly selective US universities. The research explores the experiences of Chinese international student applicants who successfully navigated the application process for admission to elite educational institutions. By closely examining the language content of their admissions interviews, this study aims to refine the understanding and articulation of the factors that influence university decisions and a part of the challenges overcome by successful applicants in their pursuit of education abroad. The findings of this study contribute to the scholarly discourse on International Student Mobility (ISM) by providing a detailed exploration of a significant part of the journey of international students aspiring to gain admission to prestigious global institutions and study abroad. The implications of the findings have the potential to inform admissions professionals, university administrators, and academics about an important facet of ISM which represents a gap in the literature. Specifically, the study sheds light on the ways in which international applicants manifest specific qualities in their application interviews. The methodology in this study involves the analysis of naturally occurring language from third-party interviews, making them suitable for thematic analysis. The first phase of the study involved the development of a codebook based on the relevant literature, which was used for NVivo coding analysis of a sample of twelve transcribed interviews. A coding memorandum was established to provide an understanding of the codes as they were applied in their respective contexts. The coding phase also facilitated the collection of data for conducting thematic analysis, which led to the creation of a ranked list of the most frequently occurring manifestations of authenticity and qualitative merit. The top 30% of these ranked qualities form the basis of the overall thematic analysis, addressing the research questions: (1) What do applicants to elite US universities express in interviews that makes them desirable for admission? (2) What specific language expressions exhibited by successful elite university applicant interviewees demonstrate authenticity? (3) What specific language expressions exhibited by successful elite university applicant interviewees demonstrate qualitative merit? In response to these research questions, the findings indicate that applicants use language that incorporates identifiable elements of authenticity and qualitative merit. The study identifies the top ways in which language is used by successful applicants, ranked in terms of consistency and frequency. These include the demonstration of nuanced knowledge, provision of supporting evidence, politeness, a spirit of curiosity and enquiry, enthusiasm, citation of other authorities or collaborators, identification of one's own approach within the context, critically informed viewpoints, and comfort in dealing with unfamiliar situations. Furthermore, the study reveals the primary means by which applicants' language achieves these objectives, again ranked in terms of consistency and frequency, which include offering surprising input or redirection, displaying ambition, summarizing responses, engaging in "humblebragging" by highlighting personal accomplishments, identifying oneself as a collaborator, indicating motivation, presenting oneself as a researcher, and showcasing multidisciplinary expertise. Based on the coding results and analysis, the admissions interviews examined in this study exhibit language that demonstrates both qualitative merit and authenticity.

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