Acculturative stress among international students

Abstract

The role of foreign students in higher education sector in Malaysia is increasing. Thus, with the growing number of these students, administrators and academics are identifying ways to enable them to adapt to the new environment. This study aims to assess the level of acculturative stress experienced by international undergraduates in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Three hundred and seventy eight students completed the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS). Data were analyzed using Social Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 and the results indicated that the majority of international undergraduates are suffering moderately from some degree of cultural stress especially for items relating to change or culture shock, homesickness and perceived hate. The findings suggest that there are calls for several improvements to programs designed to assist the international undergraduates adapt to their new cultural setting.