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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Contributing Stressor towards Self Adjustment among Foreign Students in Public University

Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i10/11463

Open access

The number of foreign students enrolling institutions of higher learning in Malaysia is increasing in trend. Despite of that, studies related to the problems faced by them during the learning period in Malaysia are still lacking and limited. Thus, this paper was conducted to explore the contributing stressor towards self-adjustment among foreign students who pursuing their higher education in Malaysia. It is a qualitative study where semi-structured interviews were conducted in depth among 5 foreign postgraduates’ students in Malaysia. The data was then analyzed using thematic analysis. Five themes and ten sub-themes emerged from the interviews, including academic stressor (teaching and learning approaches with English language, and experiences with student support services), financial stressor (scholarship endorsement/ fellowship and financial management), psychological stressor (loneliness and homesickness), language stressor (language and communication barrier and lack of confidence in verbal skills) and sociocultural stressor (cross-cultural friendships, food incompatibilities). These stressors will further determine the capability of foreign students in their self-adjustment which leads to the student’s well-being. This study can be a new platform and source of reference, especially for higher educational institutions to ensure that the welfare of each foreign student is maintained and making Malaysian higher education institutions as one of the foremost institutions in the world.

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In-Text Citation: (Aziz, 2021)
To Cite this Article: Aziz, A. R. A. (2021). Contributing Stressor towards Self Adjustment Among Foreign Students in Public University. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(10), 1038 – 1052.