Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of International Doctoral Students' Experiences

Studies pertaining to the challenges international doctoral students confront have been disseminated at various conferences and in journals. However, there is a need to synthesize the research that has been conducted recently in this area in order to assess and advance contemporary theories about international doctoral students. Using meta-synthesis, this paper discusses the literature’s main themes and the relationship between theory and the literature finding. A new tentative framework is proposed based on the results. Implications for international doctoral students’ academic success were also discussed.