Opinion of Black African Students at Sakarya University on Its Education System and Socio-Cultural Life

Abstract

From 2009, Sakarya University has started hosting an increasing number of black African students for its various academic programs. Most of these students come from developing countries or underprivileged families and socio-economic backgrounds. Once in Sakarya, numerous are the socio-cultural, academic, financial, environmental and psychological challenges faced by those students and also huge are the different advantages they benefit from this new area and its dynamic social and educational system. The main objective of this study is to find out and analyze these students' views and opinions on the education system of Sakarya University and their social and inter-cultural experiences in and outside the university environment while interacting with people. To achieve it, a survey was applied to a sample group made of 35 black African students from different countries, departments and programs (bachelor, master, PhD) studying from 2012 to 2017 at Sakarya University. Besides, some isolated and informal interviews have been made to shape the area of investigation and dig up some aspects of the topic for a better understanding.  The data have been processed and analyzed with relevant computer software. And it comes out as result that the targeted students have in general a positive view on Sakarya University educational system even if they were not used to it with the additional linguistic difficulty. Besides, some inter-cultural problems that influence their state of mind have been raised and are relevant to be discussed.