The incidence of study-related stress in international students in the initial stage of the international sojourn.

Abstract

This paper explores the incidence of stress in international students in relation to the requirements of an international Masters Programme. The data presented here were taken from a doctoral ethnographic study of the adaptation of international postgraduate students to life in the UK, involving individual interviews with thirteen students over the academic year 2003/4 as well as participant observation of the entire cohort of 150 Masters students. It is suggested that article stress related to the academic task is caused by academic cultural differences particularly in regard to critical evaluation and participation in discussion in class, and by language ability. This study shows that stress is intense at the beginning of the academic programme and declines gradually as a function of a reduction in the academic workload, rather than as a function of time.