Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Date of Award

3-2020

Format

pdf

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Proquest Document ID

27829698

Identifier

ETD2020Alghamdi

School/University

St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Tex.)

Document Type

Dissertation

First Advisor

Montilla, Romulo Estaban

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is among the top 10 countries from which students have enrolled in U.S. universities. The scarcity of research about Saudi students in the USA was the inspiration for this study. Previous researchers have examined Saudi students’ challenges and adjustment issues in the USA, but the topic of social support and academic performance remained lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and academic performance among Saudi international students in USA. This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey design with a sample of 384 Saudi students enrolled in USA universities and colleges. The perceived social support (PSS) was measured by the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL) while the academic performance variable was included in the demographic questionnaire and measured by GPA. The findings indicate that Saudi students maintain a high level of perceived social support, and more than half of the participants have a GPA higher than 3.50. The results reveal that gender, age, and having children have a significant relationship with the PSS. In addition, age, marital status, having children and years living in the USA are significantly associated with academic performance. Furthermore, findings indicate a weak relationship between perceived social support and academic performance. Demographic variables including gender, marital status, having children, and years living in the USA show statistically significant differences with PSS; in reference to academic performance, the statistically significant differences exist with the demographic variables of marital status, having children, age, and level of education.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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