An exploratory study of factors that affect the research progress of international PhD students from the Middle East

Abstract

Purpose -Despite the critical issues involving Middle East countries such as war and a drop in currency exchange rates, a large number of students leave their country to pursue a higher education abroad, every year. The purpose of this paper is to understand the difficulties that these students face while conducting their research in a foreign country and in doing so hopes to enhance a greater awareness of the kind of hindrances they face to complete their studies. Design/methodology/approach -The respondents of this qualitative study are PhD students from the Middle East who were studying in a public university in Southeast Asia. This university has recorded an increasing enrollment of international students, particularly from the Middle East in the last few years. Data were collected using a series of unstructured interviews that elicited information on critical incidents that characterized the kind of difficulties students had to face in their research. The data obtained was further analyzed using a qualitative software package -NVivo (QSR International, 10). Findings -Six main themes emerged from the content analysis of the interviews, which are the role of the supervisor, student characteristics, family commitments, financial problems, psychological and research barriers which provide a holistic picture of student perspectives on the factors that affect research progress. While these students might have faced difficulties that might have been cited in existing literature, this paper argues that the respondents have indicated experiencing psychological barriers that were not described in earlier studies, such as the state of mind they were in as a result of being worried for family members due to war or violence in their home countries, drop in currency exchange rates and difficulties in acquiring money due to international sanctions imposed against their countries. Originality/value -This study provides important insights on the factors that affect the progress of PhD students from the Middle East, while at the same time revealing a serious gap in supervisors' role which can contribute to the delay in the research progress of PhD students.

Kenyan Doctoral Students’ Success: Roles of Motivation and Self-Efficacy

“…As people age, they acquire more responsibilities and family obligations; thus, older PhD students likely experience more severe time and resource constraints, which can require them to split their time and resources to cover family, social and employment obligations, in addition to their studies. The finding that younger PhD students (under 40 years) receive significantly more financial support also could explain their faster pace, because financial constraints can influence PhD students' progress and success (Bair & Haworth, 2004;Groen et al, 2008;Jiranek, 2010;Khozaei et al, 2015;Mohamed et al, 2012).…”

“…Employment status is sometimes related to the availability and adequacy of financial aid and family commitments. For example, PhD students who must work while studying have difficulty finalising their PhD projects (Bair & Haworth, 2004;Ho, Wong & Wong, 2010;Khozaei, Khozaei & Salleh, 2015;Wao & Onwuegbuzie, 2011). Students working outside their university and in jobs unrelated to their PhD research area also progress more slowly than those who work in a research project related to their PhD work (Bair & Haworth, 2004;Herman, 2011;Wao & Onwuegbuzie, 2011).…”

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“…Other literature commonly relates supervision issues to a supervisor's busy schedule (Abiddin & West, 2007), the differing levels of expectation between the supervisor and students (Ismail & Abiddin, 2009), communication issues (Ismail et al, 2013) and lack of clear guidance and feedback (Wang & Li, 2008). International postgradaute students in Khozaei et al's (2015) study also stated that repeated harsh feedback received from supervisors hampered their research growth and contributed to their low confidence levels. When these supervision issues reach severe levels, supervision ethical issues enter the discussion.…”

“…As such, supervision ethical issues are seen as dereliction of a supervisor's responsibility towards supervisees . For instance, Middle Eastern postgraduate students studying in one South East Asian university experienced research hindrance due to the supervisor's unavailability and the lack of commitment shown towards assisting students (Khozaei et al, 2015). Davis (2019) further posits that a supervisor's hectic roster impacts on students negatively, "leading to discomfort, loss of self-esteem and finally, all too often, peril" (p. 454).…”

It’s A Jungle Out There: Challenges In Postgraduate Research Writing

“…It can be inferred that a similar challenge could be faced by postgraduate students in the Malaysian context. A study of postgraduate Arab students in Malaysia found that poor writing skills and unfamiliarity with grammar affected students' ability to present ideas and concepts in a lucid and coherent manner; these obstacles eventually affected their research progress (Khozaei et al 2015). Li and Vandermensbrugghe (2011) highlight that some of difficulties that NESB students face are the capacity to write with clarity and confidence in English, develop an understanding of the conventions of academic writing practices in their disciplines, and recognise the institutional expectations and standards of thesis writing at their degree level.…”