The relationship between demographic variables, perceived discrimination and perceptions of stress in a sample of African international students at a Historically Disadvantage Institution.

Abstract

African foreign nationals face many challenges when attempting integration into South African society. Perceived discrimination is one of the major challenges faced by immigrant populations. African international students form a large contingent of the international student population in tertiary education in South Africa. However, no comprehensive profile exists. The present study aimed to establish a comprehensive demographic profile on the African international student population in Community and Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), as well as to establish the relationship between demographic variables, perceived discrimination, and perceived stress. The sampling frame comprised of a list of all international students from the African continent who were registered in the CHS faculty. A survey design was adopted and a response rate of 21% was achieved resulting in the final sample of 68.