Acculturative Stress and Adjustment Among Adult International Students in Goa

Abstract

Access to primary education, implemented in many nations as a fundamental right, is enshrined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26(1). However, higher education requires enhanced levels of financial, institutional, and infrastructural commitment from the governments and the student, and sometimes neither has the wherewithal to do so, especially with the global COVID-19 pandemic incapacitating systems everywhere. The quality of higher education and the availability of multiple choices in foreign degree programs are also key considerations. And in meeting personal ambitions, the students predispose themselves to the additional stressors of cultural differences, adjustment issues, and the academic demands of host nations. This research involves a study of acculturative stress and adjustment using a convenient sample of 60 adult international students from Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and South Africa, in Goa. The respondent test scores were statistically analyzed. The findings reveal partial gender-based differences along with significant influences of educational qualification and financial support for the variables of acculturative stress and adjustment. In addition to the quantitative data, the opinions of a group of educators, foreign students, and psychologists were sought to understand the issues and challenges experienced in continuing adult education. Implications for interventions are also discussed.