Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Date of Award
4-2022
Format
Degree Level
Ph.D.
LCSH subject
Counselors -- Training of; Counselors -- Supervision of; Muslim college students -- United States; Students, Foreign -- United States; Saudi Arabian students -- Higher education -- United States; Saudi Arabian students -- Cultural assimilation -- United States
Proquest Document ID
29064799
Identifier
1371333817
School/University
St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Tex.)
Copyright date
4-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Montilla, R. Esteban
Abstract
Recent data have indicated that universities in the United States (U.S.) host as many as 21,933 students from Saudi Arabia, making Saudi Arabia one of the top four countries for international students attending U.S. universities. Several research studies have indicated that religiosity and acculturation influence student’s performance. However, there is a scarcity of studies that assessed the relationships among acculturation, religious practices, and the academic performances among Saudi Arabian students in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among acculturation, religiosity, and academic performance among Saudi Arabian students in the United States. This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey design with a sample of 393 Saudi students enrolled in U.S. universities. Islamic religious practices and beliefs were measured by the Religiosity of Islam Scale, whereas acculturation was measured by the Vancouver Index of Acculturation. The findings of this study indicate that the overall mean GPA was 3.56, and female students had significantly higher overall GPA than male students. The results show that there was a statistically significant, weak positive relationship between religious practices and academic performance, and a significant, weak negative relationships between acculturation heritage and religious practices and beliefs. The study findings also indicate that religious practice and gender were significant predictor of academic performance. Other factors, such as religious beliefs and acculturation were not predictors of academic performance.
Keywords: Religiosity, Saudi Arabia, Academic Performance, Acculturation
Recommended Citation
Aldhafeeri, Marzook A., "An examination of the relationship between acculturation, Islamic religious practice, and academic performance among Saudi Arabian students in the United States" (2022). Theses & Dissertations. 54.
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/dissertations/54
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.