Level of Students’ Retention Among International Students: Is Gender and Level of Study Make a Difference?

Abstract

The study aims to identify to what extent integrated factors influence students’ retention. The research was conducted at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). The sample consists of 112 postgraduate students at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). The construct of retention factors measured is Islamic culture and the environment, psychological and health care services, community engagement and personality development, academic qualifications, university administration, and quality of life. The instrument was delivered to the respondents to obtain the data and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data obtained. In terms of instrument reliability, a high-reliability value was revealed for all retention factors which are greater than 0.7. The difference between the two groups in the aspect of gender and the academic level was analyzed by an independent sample t-test. The results show that there is a significant difference in the academic level of postgraduate and undergraduate for all retention factors while no significant difference was found in terms of gender difference for all retention factors. The result also showed that the students have a positive opinion on the aspect of the Islamic environment, teaching effectiveness, and the quality of life on the IIUM campus. Meanwhile, the lower mean scores in psychological and health care services and university administration aspects implied that the students less favor the services of psychological needs and health care in IIUM as well as they have a low opinion in terms of the administration of IIUM.