Challenges Faced by Saudi Arabian Students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and Their Effect on Academic, Social, and Cultural Experiences

Abstract

This study investigates the significant challenges facing students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the United States. The study uses in- depth interviews of male and female Saudi students and employs a combination of interpretive analysis and thematic analysis to reveal several significant points of common experience across the sample. Noteworthy observations are the lack of any experience of cultural bias or stereotyping from the American side, important differences in some dimensions of experience due to gender, and significant evidence of a common desire among Saudi students to embrace the challenges of the cross-cultural academic experience to become more self-reliant, confident, and competent in their respective professional careers. While the level of workload challenge is considerable for this group, the consensus among the participants is essentially that they would rather undergo the difficulties and become better for having succeeded than finish the experience having gained little more than better knowledge of English language. Nevertheless, some points of improvement were discernible in the analysis, and the study accordingly provides a series of recommendations for practice and future research at the end.