Rise in Stress for Saudi Students in US Universities: Research Paper

Introduction

The population of students from Saudia Arabia learning in the United States has been on the rise over the past years considerably (Alsharari, 2019). According to this study, most of the Saudi students were assessed according to their experiences concerning stress in the sociocultural and academic settings. The main objective of the study was to identify the leading cause of stress of students from Saudi in the United States of America. The survey was conducted through qualitative interviews, and the results depicted that most of the students from Saudia Arabia who were studying in the US faced many challenges in their academic endeavors particularly social isolation in group or classwork activities and communication with their instructors and classmates (Wu, Garza, & Guzman, 2015). How will they need to overcome these challenges? What will they do? Saudia students have, however, made efforts to overcome these challenges by adopting university resources.

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In most cases, the universities and colleges of the United States can transform to be hectic for the international students more so those from the Muslim countries like Saudia Arabia in terms of transition and general life at school. According to the studies that have been conducted in the United States, particularly in colleges and universities in the USA, many of the foreign students have been found to go through hectic life experiences (Alsharari, 2019). Many of these students are thought to experience challenges such as language problems, difficulties in academic culture transition, financial hardships, loneliness and isolation, and many other challenges.

In most cases, international students experience isolation problems when learning in the US. Previously, according to the study that was carried over 700 international students from Saudia Arabia who are studying in the united states, found that over 40% of them are thought to undergo considerable levels of stress. The stress is believed to be from discrimination, loneliness, and cultural shock. The study also tried to investigate why most of the international students from the Arab countries, many of which from Saudia Arabia, do seek counseling services. According to the data collected, depicted that many of those who seek counseling are in one way or the other in a crisis over psychological concerns, and many of them tend to rely on their relatives. But unfortunately, most of their relatives tend to be reluctant to support them due to the economic challenges they are undergoing through in a foreign country.

However, most of the challenges are the ones that are experienced in schools. Language is one of the significant difficulties since it is their second language, and therefore communicating and writing is a big challenge to them (Terui, 2012). The other big problem is isolation; many of the students in the colleges where they study tend to sideline them with terrorist activities since they are Muslims, therefore, discriminating against them in the line of religion. Although many challenges are facing Saudi students in the US, there needs to be other studies to examine their problems from a different perspective.

The study used a qualitative approach to understand better on the matters of adaptation of the students at the time they entered the united states of America. In this approach, 10 participants, all of which are Saudi Arabia students in the United States, both from undergraduate and graduate schools, were sampled (Lefdahl-Davis, & Perrone-McGovern, 2015). Sampling was done through a limited sampling technique conveniently, and some demographic variables were used to control the generation of more representatives. Most of the participants were selected from different universities in the southernmost parts of the united states of America, all of which from Saudia origin. Regarding that, all of them were from the same background assisted researcher in identifying the relationship that existed between the participants.

Data was collected from the students by conducting interviews in their apartments and in the researcher's offices for those who failed to reach them due to various unavoidable circumstances. The interview questions were the same since most of the students came to the US to study in the southernmost part (Hall, 2013). The interviews lasted for around 45 minutes, and researchers were able to get more information from the respondents following the questions were the same. After which the answers from the respondents were prepared and analyzed by the guidance from the literature. Data from individual interviews were coded through open coding and issued discussed across the discussions for more analysis to be conducted. The emerging issues that were coded were the strategies adopted to overcome the challenges, the struggles and hurdles experienced by candidates in different areas, and the recommendations that the universities and colleges need to do.

Conclusion

According to the findings from the analysis, it expressed that international students mainly from the Saudia Arabian origin, experienced many and different problems other than stress in the united states (Melius, 2017). Therefore, students need to deal with stress by getting close to people and be fast to acclimatize to the new environments for them to lead a quiet life in their academic journey in foreign countries like the united states of America. There is also a great need for support for the international students since it will assist them in overcoming their challenges, therefore, eliminating cases of stress.

References

Alsharari, F. (2019). Stress Factors that Impact Saudi Students' Academic Performance in American Higher Education Institutions: An Analysis of Faculty, Administrators, and Students' Perceptions.

Hall, T. R. (2013). Saudi male perceptions of study in the United States: An analysis of King Abdullah scholarship program participants.

Lefdahl-Davis, E. M., & Perrone-McGovern, K. M. (2015). The cultural adjustment of Saudi women international students: A qualitative examination. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(3), 406-434.

Melius, C. (2017). Saudi Student Integration in Southeastern US Higher Education Institutions: A Study on the Impact of Academic, Social, and Cultural Adjustments Related to Academic Success.

Terui, S. (2012). Second language learners' coping strategy in conversations with native speakers. Journal of International Students, 2(2), 168-183.

Wu, H. P., Garza, E., & Guzman, N. (2015). International student's challenge and adjustment to college. Education Research International, 2015.