Abstract

The United States is home to thousands of international students and many more come over each year. These students experience a lot of stress from multiple directions, from the moment they land in the US. A different education system, new cultural norms, and community integration issues are the most common factors of stress among international students. This study investigated the gender differences in the stress levels experienced by international students at a large Midwestern university. Stress has been associated with a number of psychological and physical distresses that affect people differently. There has been very little written about the effect of stress on gender. This study reviewed in-depth online survey data on the stress levels of international students. Out of 1300 international students at the university, 309 responded (23% response rate). The sample respondents were about evenly divided on gender, with females representing about 50.5 percent. The mean age for the sample is 27.61 (SD 5.837) years. The results showed that female international students experience more stress than male international students.