A Qualitative Analysis of Social Exclusion and Harassment faced by Pakistani Female Doctoral Students in Malaysian Public Universities

Syed Faisal Hyder Shah1, Shabana Sartaj2 & Irfan Ahmed Shaikh3

Abstract
International students are vulnerable to many threats and harassment is
among one of them. Malaysia as a Muslim country is currently centre of attraction
for the students of other Muslim countries who want to pursue their higher
education abroad. This study is conducted to examine the perceptions of
international students from Pakistan getting higher education in Malaysia. Using
theoretical frameworks of Strauss & Corbin’s (1998) grounded theory and
Blumer’s (1969) symbolic interactionism; the study represents the views and
experiences of harassment faced by Pakistani female doctoral students. The data
was collected through semi structure interviews of thirty doctoral students, who
were studying in four different public-sector universities of Malaysia. The data
shows that harassment is one of the critical issues in Malaysia and in Malaysian
universities too. It was also found in the study that beside local Malaysians,
foreigners were also involved in harassment cases.

Keywords: Harassment, Women, International Students, Pakistan and Malaysia