Understanding International Graduate Students' Housing Experiences.

Abstract

The global rise in international graduate student mobility has intensified housing pressures in host cities, exposing gaps in institutional support and affordable housing provision. In Canada, particularly in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, international graduate students experience growing difficulty securing adequate and affordable accommodation. Despite their financial and academic contributions, this group remains underrepresented in housing policy and planning research. The main problem addressed in this study is the mismatch between increasing international graduate enrolments and the inadequate housing infrastructure and policies designed to meet their needs. Existing research focuses largely on undergraduate student housing or general urban affordability, leaving a significant research gap concerning the lived experiences of international graduate students and the structural factors shaping these outcomes. The study draws on Housing Pathway Theory (Clapham, 2002, 2005) as its primary theoretical framework, emphasizing housing as a dynamic, non-linear process shaped by the interaction between individual agency and structural constraints. To enhance explanatory depth, the study integrates Bourdieu’s conceptual triad of habitus, capita, and field (1984,1986). This combined framework highlights how different forms of capital, economic, cultural, and social interact within the housing field to influence students’ pathways, constraints, and adaptive strategies. Together, these theories explain how international graduate students navigate the tension between structural housing limitations and their personal resources, revealing how inequalities in capital shape distinct housing trajectories. The research employed a mixed-methods, cross-sectional and case study design. Primary data were collected through an anonymous online survey and follow-up interviews to international graduate students who opted to be interviewed. Purposive and snowball sampling yielded 125 valid responses from an initial 136. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS (Version 28) to identify patterns of affordability, accessibility, and housing satisfaction, while qualitative responses underwent thematic analysis using NVivo 15 to interpret lived experiences and coping strategies. The major findings reveal that international graduate students face acute housing precarity, with affordability, discrimination, and limited information networks as central challenges. High rents and the dominance of PBSA developments have marginalized students with limited financial capital. Cultural and social capital strongly influenced housing outcomes: those with local networks or prior Canadian experience navigated markets more effectively. Many respondents reported overcrowded, temporary, or substandard conditions that negatively affected their well-being and academic performance. The findings also expose structural inequalities embedded in municipal housing markets and institutional policies, which privilege domestic or undergraduate cohorts. Policy implication highlights the need for universities, municipal authorities, and provincial housing agencies to develop integrated housing strategies that recognize international graduate students as a distinct and vulnerable demographic. Recommendations include expanding affordable housing supply through university–municipal partnerships, improving access to tenant education and legal resources, and ensuring that institutional housing policies reflect the diversity of students’ economic and cultural needs. By centering international graduate students lived experiences, this study contributes to academic discourse on housing inequality and provides actionable insights for designing inclusive and sustainable student housing frameworks.