September/October 2026
By Jeffrey Foot
When I arrived in the United States from Canada in 2000 as an international graduate student after teaching English in South Korea for four years, I experienced firsthand how much international students rely on the guidance, encouragement, and steadying presence of international educators. Now, after serving as an educator, advisor, advocate, NAFSA volunteer leader, and industry partner, I have come to appreciate the other side of that relationship as well.
One truth has remained constant throughout my career: International educators are often the first people students turn to during periods of uncertainty, whether they are arriving in the United States, preparing to study abroad, or responding to challenges while overseas.
In recent conversations with colleagues across the profession, a common theme has emerged. Discussions that once focused primarily on student support increasingly include the well-being of the professionals providing that support. As the demands facing international education continue to evolve, many are asking an important question: How can we better support the people who spend their careers supporting others?
The Hidden Cost of Caring
While confidence and competence are often what students, faculty, colleagues, and families see, many international educators carry a significant emotional burden behind the scenes. The international education community cares deeply about helping others succeed. For many of us, this work is more than a job. It reflects personal experiences, deeply held values, and a belief in the transformative power of global learning.
This connection to purpose is one of the profession's greatest strengths. It can also make the work emotionally demanding. Many international educators entered the field because of their own experiences studying, working, or living abroad. Others built careers around expanding access to global learning and fostering intercultural understanding. In both cases, professional responsibilities can become closely intertwined with personal identity.
The pandemic fundamentally changed how U.S. colleges and universities approach student mental health, and international educators found themselves navigating an increasingly complex environment. Geopolitical conflict, immigration uncertainty, financial pressures, and evolving student needs have created a changed landscape in which many professionals are responding to multiple challenges simultaneously.
Today, many would argue that uncertainty itself has become part of the operating environment. As Gallagher (2026) observes in From Survival to Strategy: Leading in Uncertain Times, the complexity international education professionals face continues to put significant pressure on individuals and institutions alike. These are not isolated administrative challenges. They often touch deeply held values related to access, inclusion, equity, and opportunity.
The challenge facing international education is no longer simply managing and recovering from individual crises. It is learning how to lead effectively when disruption itself has become a recurring element of the profession.
Whether supporting inbound students, study abroad participants, faculty, scholars, or institutional partners, international educators invest significant emotional energy in helping others navigate uncertainty. Over time, that effort can become exhausting. Unlike professions where success is measured primarily through transactions or outputs, success in international education is often measured through relationships. When the people we serve struggle, we frequently carry that impact long after the immediate situation has passed.
Sustaining that level of commitment requires more than individual resilience. It requires support systems that help educators maintain their own well-being while continuing to support others.
Beyond Individual Resilience
Resilience, adaptability, and optimism have long been hallmarks of successful international educators. As Bowman (2023) notes in Recharging the Batteries, flexibility and responsiveness are essential qualities in a profession that is constantly evolving.
However, resilience alone cannot be the profession's long-term strategy.
Asking individuals to simply become more resilient overlooks the organizational conditions necessary to sustain and retain talented professionals over time. Institutions must ask whether staffing models, workplace expectations, and leadership practices are designed to support the people carrying increasing emotional and operational responsibilities. This mindset is reflected in the NAFSA International Education Professional Competencies, specifically in relation to People Development.
When organizations remain in a constant state of reaction, stress can become normalized. Long hours may become an expectation. Taking time off can be difficult as staff may feel pressure to remain continuously available. There is a meaningful difference between responding to a crisis and operating permanently in crisis mode.
Moving beyond that cycle requires intentional leadership, another crucial competency for international educators. Institutions must create environments where well-being is viewed as a shared organizational responsibility rather than an individual one. This means examining the systems, policies, staffing approaches, and leadership practices that shape the everyday experiences of international educators.
The future of the profession may depend on our willingness to shift the conversation from how individuals can better withstand pressure to how institutions can better support the people experiencing it.
A Global Perspective on Well-Being
As a global profession, international education must also recognize that perspectives on well-being vary widely across cultures.
Attitudes toward stress, mental health, and help-seeking behaviors are shaped by cultural norms, personal experiences, and societal expectations. In some cultures, conversations about mental health are encouraged and openly discussed. In others, they may remain highly sensitive or private.
International educators routinely work across multiple cultural frameworks simultaneously. They support students, families, faculty, institutional leaders, and partners whose perspectives on well-being may differ significantly.
Building a “culture of care” therefore requires recognizing that support does not look the same for everyone. Effective support systems must be accessible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse needs while respecting different approaches to well-being.
This perspective is especially important because international educators are not only supporting diverse populations. They are working within diverse teams as well. Creating environments where people feel supported requires an appreciation for different lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and expectations.
Building a Culture of Care
The phrase "culture of care" has gained momentum within international education, and for good reason.
Caring for students will always remain central the mission of international education. Yet a truly sustainable culture of care must extend beyond students to include faculty, staff, and administrators as well. Friedman (2025) highlights this broader perspective, encouraging international educators to reconnect with the values and purpose that guide their work.
Supporting professional well-being is not simply a workforce issue. It is an institutional strategy.
Well-being can influence collaboration, communication, creativity, engagement, and the overall effectiveness of teams. It can also affect an institution's ability to adapt, innovate, and respond to change. As awareness grows across higher education, more leaders are recognizing that supporting employee well-being is closely connected to organizational success.
Moving from recognition to meaningful action will require a clearer understanding of what international educators are experiencing, where institutional support is working, and where gaps remain.
Future-Proofing the Profession
The well-being of international educators is not separate from institutional success. It influences the quality of student support, helps retain experienced staff, strengthens the effectiveness of student services, and contributes to student success. For these reasons, future-proofing international education requires investing in the people who make those programs possible.
Meaningful organizational change requires more than anecdotes or the experiences of any single institution. It requires aggregated data that can help the profession identify shared challenges, understand variations across institutions, and distinguish isolated concerns from broader patterns.
Industry-wide data can give individual institutions a stronger foundation for evaluating their own practices and making the case for investments in staffing, leadership, workplace support, and other resources. It can also help the international education community consider longer-term questions about the health of the profession, including how to retain experienced professionals, reduce avoidable turnover, and maintain a strong pipeline of people who want to build careers in the field.
Recognizing this need, NAFSA, Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions, and The Harris Poll surveyed international educators across U.S. colleges and universities during the summer of 2026 to better understand their perspectives on professional well-being and support. This research is intended to provide a broader view of the profession and a meaningful foundation for future action. Preliminary findings suggest that international education professionals are navigating a challenging landscape shaped by both external uncertainty and internal organizational pressures. Respondents cited federal policy changes, immigration and visa-related uncertainty, geopolitical events, and shifting higher education dynamics as significant sources of stress. However, the strongest and most consistent themes centered on factors within institutional control–staffing shortages, increasing workloads, limited resources, inadequate recognition, and insufficient leadership support. The findings will be shared with the international education community in the coming months.
As someone who has experienced international education from multiple perspectives, I am convinced that international educator well-being can no longer be treated as an afterthought. It must become part of how we lead, build teams, make investments, and define long-term success.
It begins with recognizing a simple but powerful truth: Caring for those who care for others may be one of the most important investments our profession can make.
References
Bowman, Karen Doss. 2023. "Recharging the Batteries," International Educator. https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2023/7/12/recharging-batteries.
Bowman, Karen Doss. 2022 "Future-Proofing: How International Education Leaders Foster Resilience and Fuel Innovation." International Educator. https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2022/7/12/future-proofing-international-education.
Friedman, Sora H. 2025. "Pivots and Possibilities: Preparing for the Future." Trends & Insights. https://www.nafsa.org/professional-resources/research-and-trends/trends-insights/pivots-and-possibilities-preparing-future.
Gallagher, John. 2026. "From Survival to Strategy: Leading in Uncertain Times," International Educator. https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2026/1/21/survival-strategy-leading-uncertain-times.
NAFSA. 2026. “NAFSA Culture of Care Webinar Series.” NAFSA (website). https://www.nafsa.org/professional-resources/browse-by-interest/nafsa-culture-care-webinar-series.
Toner, Mark. 2023 “A New Normal for Mental Health.” International Educator. https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2023/8/14/new-normal-mental-health.
Jeffrey Foot, EdD, is an international education, enrollment management, and risk management professional with more than 30 years of experience across higher education and the private sector in the United States, Canada, and South Korea. A NAFSA member since 2001, he has served in numerous leadership roles, including the Region IV Chair Stream, RAC Chair, Missouri State Representative, TLS Representative, and Region IV Co-Development Coordinator.