Support-based Coping Strategies of Bangladeshi International Students Studying in Ontario Universities and Colleges

Bibliographic Data

ID24238403
AuthorsRifatur Rahim (0009-0007-8125-5396, Independent researcher)
Year2026
Volume26
Issue4
Pages80-91
Publication date2026-10-22
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1404-1634 • E-ISSN: 1404-1634
PublisherInternational Collaboration for Research and Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.36923/jicc.v26i4.1602
LanguageEN
References cited46

Bangladeshi international students in Canada are a marginalized and under-researched cohort. Despite their academic and economic contributions, they remain inadequately integrated into Canadian society, highlighting critical gaps in scholarship and support mechanisms. This mismatch leads to social, economic, and psychological challenges that international students must endure while studying abroad. Students use various coping strategies to address these challenges. This study aimed to explore the coping strategies of Bangladeshi international students studying and living in universities and colleges in Ontario, Canada. This qualitative study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of Bangladeshi international students in Canada and the subjective meaning-making of their coping strategies. Findings suggest that participants used a three-tiered support system comprising social, structural, and self-support. Prominent coping strategies included support from family and friends; diverse socialization with peers and local people; institutional, medical, and provincial support; and self-assurance and personal care. Furthermore, most participants considered support from family and friends back home their primary strategy. The students’ inclination to use these strategies may also be attributed to Bangladesh's close-knit family and social structure. Within this sample, participants’ accounts more frequently reflected emotion-focused than problem-focused coping, particularly in situations involving perceived lack of control, discrimination, isolation, and/or social stigma. In this sample, female participants reported institutional support more frequently than male participants. The participants’ perceived social stigma for mental health struggles also hindered their access to different support systems. A holistic approach involving provincial, institutional, and peer-to-peer engagement is crucial to support these students' coping process.

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