Lived experiences of international male married single students

Abstract

The Republic of the Philippines is attracting more and more international students, especially in tertiary institutions. People have realized that the Philippines has high quality education at an affordable cost. Consequently, the increase in the population of international students is evident in the Philippines. One unnoticeable group of international students that is creating a new phenomenon is the married singles, that is, married international students living in a foreign country without their families. Based on the accounts of two focus groups and eight individual interviews of male married singles, this phenomenological study explored factors that lead to married single life of international students, the impact of such a life on the students’ wellbeing and their academic performance, the effect on their families, and the ways they cope with this life during the course of their studies. The findings demonstrate that the financial challenges are the major cause of the phenomenon of married singles in the Philippines. Both positive and negative consequences were seen on the academic performance of married single students while only negative results were reported on their wellbeing.