It’s Just Too Much: Narratives of International Educators Navigating COVID-19

The purpose of this study is to address how international educators who work with international students in the United States experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. Using secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction as frameworks alongside a qualitative narrative inquiry research design, we interviewed 31 international educator participants to understand how they navigated organizational dynamics on their campuses, supported international students, and were impacted personally and professionally by the pandemic. Findings demonstrate participants’ experiences being in alignment with elements of secondary traumatic stress given institutional pressures and isolation, constant exposure to the trauma and challenges of international students that they sought to assist with, and complex immigration regulations that were constantly in flux during the pandemic. International educators’ work environment, broader professional network, satisfaction and passion in working with international students, and overall commitment to their profession served as positive mitigators to the challenges they experienced and reflected element of compassion satisfaction.