Saudi Arabian International Graduate Students' Lived Experiences at a U.S University

Abstract

Enrollment of Saudi Arabian International students’ in United States institutions of higher learning has increased substantially over the years since King Abdullah initially launched the Saudi scholarship program in 2005 that was renewed in 2010 and funded an outward flow of Saudi student, including females, to universities worldwide. A commitment to education for women is evident in that the program also provides funding for an accompanying male relative for every Saudi female awarded a scholarship. As a result, a number of Saudi females are able to receive a similar cross-cultural experience along with their male counterparts. The majority of Saudi students are sent to English speaking countries, with the U.S. universities having the largest number of enrollees. Consequently, there is a social and cultural impact as well as an academic one results as these Saudi international male and female students move through the acculturation process that accompanies their studies in the U.S.  Since Saudi women were not encouraged to study abroad prior to 2010 they have not been the focus of multiple research studies.  Given that male students have been both scholars and participants in multiple research studies in the past decades, the inclusion of Saudi Women International Graduate Students in this study, along with their male counterparts, has presented a unique opportunity for findings to emerge regarding gender-related issues in society and academia between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as these female SA students are studying for the first time in mixed-gender environment and male SA students are interacting for the  first time along with SA females in a mixed-gender environment.