Sarah Schiffecker

Biography

Swapping the Austrian Alps for the Plains of West Texas, Dr. Schiffecker joined Texas Tech University in 2017 as an international MA student and has embraced her inner Red Raider. Her academic background is in Slavic Studies and Cultural & Social Anthropology (both at the University of Vienna, Austria) and the study of Languages and Cultures with a focus on German at TTU. Having been an educator throughout most of her professional life, Dr. Schiffecker earned her doctorate in Higher Education Research at TTU's College of Education where she studied how international students enculturate into new surroundings, what communication practices facilitate such transitions, and how institutions can communicate mattering to their international student populations. Dr. Schiffecker is passionate about international education and intercultural communication, which is reflected in her teaching, research, and service to TTU.  

Research Areas

• Higher Education Leadership
• Intercultural Communication & Competence
• International & Comparative Higher Education

Publications

Schiffecker, S. I Want to Have a Choice. A Scholarly Narrative Essay on the Role of Academic Advising for International Doctoral Students' Journeys. (Accepted as book chapter in Differentiated Academic Advising Strategies for Students Beyond the Margins, Rowman and Littlefield).

Schiffecker, S. & Abdallah, J. Am I 'International Enough'? - A Duoethnography in the Borderland of International Student Identity. (Accepted as book chapter in Am I Welcome Here? New Directions in International Graduate Student Voices).

McNaughtan, J., Garcia, H., Schiffecker, S., Castiello-Gutierrez, S., & Li, X. (2023). "Architects of change or its victim": University presidents' perspectives on the role of competing values during the COVID-19 crisis. The Journal of Higher Education.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00221546.2023.2171206


Schiffecker, S. & McNaughtan, J. (2022). Leading the way - Understanding women's university leadership during crisis through a feminist educational leadership lens. Frontiers in Education, 7.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.982952/full

Schiffecker, S., McNaughtan, J., Castiello, S., Garcia, H., & Li, X. (2022). Leading the many, considering the few - University presidents' perspectives on international students during COVID-19. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 14 (3B), 13-28.