EXAMINING SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC INTEGRATION OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM SAUDI ARABIA AND MEXICO ATTENDING UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

This study examined the problems and challenges of social and academic integration in U.S. higher education institutions for Saudi Arabian and Mexican undergraduate international students. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, and causal-comparative study was to examine the relationship among demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, education, marital status, nationality, and previous academic performance); academic integration; social integration; and intent to drop out among Saudi and Mexican students studying at U.S. colleges and universities. In addition, the study compared whether Saudi and Mexican female students were less integrated academically and socially than their male counterparts. Previous studies examined the challenges of social and academic integration for domestic and international university students in the United States (Al-Dayel, 2018; Stadtfeld et al., 2019). Additionally, previous research has focused on understanding how social and academic integration challenges affected international students from specific nations or territories (Arambewela & Hall, 2009). However, this prior research focused on one nationality of international students rather than comparing multiple nationalities. Limited studies have compared the challenges in social and academic integration for different nationalities of international students attending U.S. institutions to determine if social and academic integration may affect students from various countries differently. Thus, this study fills a gap in the literature by comparing sample groups of Saudi Arabian and Mexican international students who attend universities in the United States and their experiences in connection to social and academic integration challenges. The research questions explored whether or not the independent variables were associated with academic and social integration scores and if social and academic integration predict students' intent to drop out among Saudi and Mexican students. I sought to understand if academic and social integration moderated relationships between demographic variables and dropout intentions. These questions were important because of the increasing economic importance of integrating international students into the U.S. higher educational system (Baer, 2017; Cong, 2017). Colleges and universities in America benefit when they safeguard the retention of their international students.