Academic challenges of Iranian postgraduate students in Malaysia: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Students relocating to another country to pursue their studies are at the greater of risk of stress and psychological impairments than domestic students. International students need to cope with different adjustment challenges associated with unfamiliar culture and environment. Though research on international students' adjustment in foreign countries has received significant attention, previous studies are predominately documented on cross sectional data (Yusliza, 2010; Yusliza & Shankar, 2010). Few qualitative studies to date have investigated acculturative challenges among the international students in Malaysia. No research has been documented on Iranian postgraduate students who are one of the largest acculturative stress- ridden population attending Malaysian universities. This pilot study used a case study in sequential design to investigate academic challenges faced by Iranian postgraduate students in University technology Malaysia (UTM). To this purpose, 8 purposively selected subjects completed a questionnaire and were interviewed respectively. The interview and questionnaire data were coded and themes were developed. The emerging themes were (a) poor language proficiency, (b) lack of progress, (c) lack of interaction with supervisor, faculty staff and peers, (d) differences between the education systems of Malaysia and Iran, and (e) academic pressure. Based on the findings, some recommendations for institutions of higher education, faculty members and counselling service are provided.