Exploring the Educational Experiences of Graduate Students from West African Countries at a Saudi University

Abstract

Saud Ghassan Albeshir*, Nora Abdullah Aljbreen, Khalid Mohammed Alquhaiz, Sultan Saeed Alzahrani, Arwa Abdulrahman Alqahtani, Mohamed Taha Elmoursi, Riyadh Mohammed AlzahranI, Khalil Mohammed Alghamdi, Bakheet Mohammed Almudarra

The aim of this study was to examine the academic experience of West African international graduate students in a Saudi university through conducting qualitative individual interviews with a total of 18 students. A qualitative method with individual interviews was employed to gather data according to the research questions. The results showed that overall, the academic experiences of these international graduate students were satisfactory. Participants reported satisfaction with the quality of their relationships with faculty members across all three dimensions of respect, fairness, and interpersonal supportiveness. Course offerings were rated as adequate in variety and content, relative to classroom quality and the digital infrastructure offered by the university, including electronic systems and the digital library. It shows that the academic timetable was well-structured and adequate for students' needs and that the majority of the discipline they were enrolled with related to their academic and labor market interests. Also, the students said that the university offered an attractive learning environment in relation to making the students feel belonging and integrated within the university. Even with these strengths, there were some challenges experienced particularly with the language barriers while academic reading and writing and scientific research. The study concluded with several recommendations