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Academic and Social Coping Strategies of Female Students from Displaced Tribes at the University of Hafr Al Batin: A Study in Sociology of Education

Abdullah Muzil Al Harbi, Gamal Abdelrahman Adam, Hassan Tantaway Farrag*

Department of General Studies at the University of Hafr Al Batin in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract: This study is about female students from a category of the population known as “displaced tribes”, studying in the Women Section at the University of Hafr Al Batin. We have used our own observations as instructors and distributed a questionnaire to 112 students in 2015. The thesis of the study was, despite their marginal status, students from displaced tribes generally work harder than other students possibly to overcome the challenges that they face because of their displacement status. Our findings confirm that the students work harder academically and interact socially positively to prove that they are excellent members of the society and that they could contribute to the economic and social development of the country they live in if they become citizens.

Keywords: academic coping, citizenship, displaced tribes, resilience and resourcefulness, Saudi Arabia, social coping

Received 03, 2020; Revised February 12, 2020; Accepted March 03, 2020

Citation: Abdullah Muzil Al Harbi, Gamal Abdelrahman Adam, Hassan Tantaway Farrag, Academic and Social Coping Strategies of Female Students from Displaced Tribes at the University of Hafr Al Batin: A Study in Sociology of Education. American Journal of Educational Research, 8 (3). 122-131. January 2020. doi:10.12691/education-8-3-1

1. Introduction

This study is a socio-educational study whose objective is to explore coping strategies of female students from Al Qabayel Al Naziha (displaced tribes) in the Women Section of the University of Hafr Al Batin in Saudi Arabia. Its thesis is that despite their marginal status, students from displaced tribes are generally resilient and resourceful-- they work harder, closely observe rules of the university and keen about identifying themselves with tribes, such as Al Dhafeeri, Al Enazi, Al Harbi, and Al Shammari, in their naming system to prove that they belong to these tribes and are part of the Saudi society even though the authorities do not recognize them as Saudis. The study is significant in three ways. First, it took place in Saudi Arabia where academic research on the people who do not have any citizenship status but claim that they are members of major Saudi tribes,is lacking. Second, most of the studies conducted on this category of population in the Gulf countries mainly focus on legal and social problems, but generally ignored peoples’ resilience and efforts they make to cope with challenges of the status of not being citizens of any country on earth. Finally, our study departs from other studies because its participants are individuals from displaced communities, whereas other studies’ respondents were either government officials or citizens.The problem of displaced people, known as Bedoun in other countries of the Gulf region,is one of the current social, political and ideological problemsthat these countries are experiencing [1]. According to British Home Office [2], in Gulf countries, the term referring to people without citizenship (but claim that they are members of indigenous tribes of the countries where they live) takes several forms in written English including Bedoun, Bidoon, and Bidun which literally can be translated in English as "Without”. However, Saudi authorities use the term Al Qabail Al Naziha (displaced tribes), instead.

The problem of this category of populationcenters an ideological debate and constitutes a platform for intensive legal discussions because it is an issue that has historical, humanitarian and security dimensions in the Gulf region [3]. By displacement,we do not necessarily mean physical or geographical displacement since most of the individuals who constitute the subject matter of this study wereborn andgrew up in Saudi Arabia, socialized in the Saudi way of life and claim the membership of Saudi tribes. Therefore, they are Saudis culturally and psychologically, but we think that legal status as the only boundary that separates them from the other Saudis. In Saudi Arabia, most displaced people seem to be authenticmembers of autochthonous tribes because there is no difference between them and other members of these tribes in terms of dress, Arabic dialects,tribal names, food, behavior or anything that serves as an identity marker and draws boundaries between human groups. That is why we argue that their displacement is a displacement oflegal status created by political circumstances and not a physical or cultural displacement because what distinguishes members of displaced tribes from Saudi citizens is the status of citizenship that the latter have, and rights and obligations associated to it, which serves as a social contract between people and the state.The absence of legal recognition relegates displaced people to the margins of a society, because even if we assume that they have access to some key services that citizens avail themselves to, there would still be avacuum that would only be filled out by the status of citizenship. This means displaced person’s rights and obligations are different from those of citizensas the displaced persons are restricted from many activities and services because there is no social contract between the displaced persons and authorities of the countries where theylive. As a person would not have a sense of security without being a member of a state that recognizes him or her as a citizen, the goal of a displaced person is to become a citizen and enjoy the privileges of citizenship, including security which is a key basic need. This is because,in today’s world,the status of being a citizen of a country is like roots to a plant and people feel that they are insecure if they do not have it, because most of the humans' activities and their wellbeing are attached to citizenship.

The displaced people's main goal anywhere is tobecomecitizens, but the citizenship statusturns into a haunting problem especially when awaiting time is long,unspecified or when there isno legal system outlining how and when a displaced person would become a citizen.Therefore, the situation of a displaced man or a woman is like that of a person who is in a quest for treasure in an unspecifiedlocation and he or sheis running in all directions with a hope of finding it. Such a situation could have serious social and psychological consequences on adisplaced person if the person is not resourceful and resilient enough. Consequently,the objective of this study isto explain how resilient and successfulfemale students from displaced tribes are despite the difficulties associated with their ambiguous status.

As we stated earlier, by displaced female students at the University of Hafr Al Batin we mean students froma category of population known asBedoun in other Gulf countries. However, we are employing the term displaced tribes (and not Bedoun) in reference to participants of our study and members of their communityfor two reasons: first, because they are legally and politically unrecognized and this lack of recognition leads to their economicand social displacement; and second, because the term Bedounconfuses many people who are outsiders to the Gulf society because Bedoun in Arabic is a preposition that means "without" and it does not convey a complete meaning on its own. For example, if someone says Bedoun in Arabic, those who listen to him or her will be expecting that a noun would follow to complete the meaning. We emphasize that members of displaced tribes are living in a limbosituation because they are neither citizens nor expatriates. Yet, they are closer to the citizens than they are to the expatriates, because they share with the citizens same cultural traditions and values,same history, same tribes, and same feelingsof belonging to the areas and to the country where they live-they are only separated by law from their tribesmenand tribeswomen who are citizens. That is why the female students from the displaced tribes who have participated in this study are working hard both at school and at home to prove that they are potential good citizens.

1.1. Why do We Depart from other Scholars Studying Similar Categories of People in the Same Region?

The following are the reasons that have made us depart from the tradition of those who have written about the people who believe that they deserve to be citizens of Gulf countries and identify themselves with these countries and their populations, but the relevant authorities are either slow in according citizenship status to themor are rejecting their claims altogether.Firstly, as we have stated above, the term Bedoun is confusing to the people who are not familiar with the Gulf society. Secondly, the term Bedoun and its derivatives that arecommonly used by scholars and politicians alike, have become a depot of pejorative meanings such as illiteracy, drug addiction, deviance, crime, poverty, social burden and security threat [3]. However, we argue that such problems and crimes exist in all human societies, including mainstream communities in the Gulf societies, but they are overlooked by journalists, politicians, and scholars. That is why a quick examination of literature on crimes concludes that the focus has mainly been on immigrants and minority groups, because the marginal status that mainstream social structures assign to them takes away from themthe social cover and leaves their problems and crimes exposed and visible [4,5,6]. Again, we think that the focus should be on factors that force members of marginalized groups to cause problems or commit crimes rather than focusing on the problems or crimes themselves. However, in some cases, authoritiesmight rather focus on minorities' crimes than on factors that lead to crimesif the intent is to exclude and victimize the Other of the mainstream.Thirdly, the termBedoun is often used as if the members of this category of people are responsible fortheir own ordeal. Yet, in most cases, the displaced people simply discovered themselves to be in that situation-the situation of displacement-to whichthey do not have any directinput and are paying for the mistake of their parents or grandparents who did not show up when the first censuses were held in the region. We also think that in many casestheir parents or even grandparents were again victims of unfortunate coincidence of being away from home at the timewhen the first censuses took place in their respective countries. Fourthly, the authorities in Saudi Arabia generally treat the displaced persons with more consideration than their counterpartsin other Gulf countries, particularly in Kuwait, because Saudiauthorities made efforts several times toward naturalizing individuals who have been living in Saudi Arabia for a long time, including even those who clearly identify themselves with identification markers that are not even from the Middle East. For example, there are Saudis whose family names are Barnawi, Bangali, Hausawi, and Khan which means that they are originally from Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Finally, we think the terms displaced people or displaced tribes are more accurate and neutral than the term Bedoun and because in Saudi Arabia people say “Qabail al Naziha” which means displaced tribes in English while referring to the population of our study. Although Qabail al Naziha means displaced tribes, in reality, they areindividual members of tribes who are displaced and not the tribes whose membership they claim, and it is in this meaning the Saudis use the term Qabail al Naziha. Therefore, the term displaced tribes should be understood as displaced individuals, families or groups of different Arabian tribal backgrounds who are put together as one category-the category of displaced people, by the lack of citizenship status. That is why we are using displaced tribes and displaced people as synonyms in this study.

In addition, the term displacement is not necessarily associated with physical locality-it could be emotional, social or legal displacement. Therefore, in our study, displacement is legal, psychological and social displacement, but not a physical one. That is why Rasheed Al Enazi [7] points out that many of the displaced people in Gulf countries are citizens of these countries by origin,but they are not able to convince the authoritiesto legalize their status which leads us back to a point that we raised in our third reason when we pointed out that it is not easy to convince the authorities if they intended to exclude and victimize.Based on the discussion above, we argue that although there are structural constraints that marginalize displaced people, various social and cultural bonds intricately relate them to the rest of the society in Gulf countries. In particular,the participants of this study claim to be members of big tribes that have lived in the area for centuries.

2. Literature Review and Historical Background

The few studies that are available define “Bedoun”, or displaced tribes in our study, as individuals or groups who found themselves in a Gulf country after 1950s without citizenship status or any other identification papers affiliating them legally to any country on earth [1,3,7,8,9,10,11].{1} It is obvious from the studies that the lack of citizenship or displacement (or status "Bedoun") happened in three ways. Firstly, before the independence of Gulf countries in the 1960s, many nomadic tribal groups that inhabited the Gulf region moved back and forth between places without restrictions looking for pastures and water sources for their animals. After the independence, the authorities of Gulf countries held censuses and issued citizenship documents to people who were present in their territories and showed up when the censuses were held because they knew the importance of the documents they would obtain. Consequently, individual who did not show up during these censuses for whatever reasons thus became outsiders even if they originally belonged to those countries. Secondly, some individuals from neighboring countries who were expatriates in Gulf countries tore the documents of their countries of origin or hid them in order to benefit from the promising social and economic development in these countries [8,10]. Thirdly, (unique to Saudi Arabia) some individuals came for haj and decided to stay because of the oil boom and economic development and social prosperity it generated in the country [8,9].{2} Our subject matter in this study is the first category only- that is to say, these who claim that they are members ofmajor tribes in the Saudi Arabia, but the authorities do not consider them citizens. Based on the literature to which we had access, Al Anazi [8], Al Tameemi [9] and The Arab Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and Research [12] are the only sources that include displaced people in Saudi Arabia, albeit with few details. Most of the studies on displaced peoples in the Gulf countries focus on Kuwait, possibly because of its smaller territory, its relative openness, and Iraq’s invasion to it in 1990. These, together, are the factors that led to extensive debate on the displaced people in Kuwait [10,11,13]. In most cases, Kuwaiti authorities think that many of the displaced people are traitors and security threat and they try to get rid of them anyway. Yet, a few politicians, particularly those in the opposition are advocating for the accordance of citizenship status to this category of population in Kuwait [1,10]. Although Al Tameemi [9] divides the displaced people in Saudi Arabia into the three categories mentioned above, he does not provide detailed demographic information about them. Therefore, there is no information regarding the number, sex, gender, social status, educational background, age, and type of employment about any of the three categories of displaced people he studied.{3} Al Tameemi [9] and The Arab Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and Research [12] provide estimates of displaced population in Saudi Arabia since accurate sources about them are non-existent. Whereas the Arab Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and Research documents that displaced population accounts for about 70,000 individuals in Saudi Arabia, Al Tameemi states that some Saudi intellectuals and academics think that the displaced peoples account for hundreds of thousands.

Al Tameemi provides two points that we consider particularly significant because his two points distinguish Saudi Arabian policies regarding displaced peoples from those of other Gulf countries. First, he underlines that there were times when Saudi Arabia accorded the citizenship status to many displaced people living in its territory; and second, he pointed out that Saudi Arabian authorities gave security cards to displaced peoples renewable each five years. He continues that the period of time after which the displaced person could become a Saudi citizen was 25 years-that is to say, after five renewals [9].{4} Although Al Anazi [8] and Al Tameemi categorize the displaced population in Saudi Arabia in the same way, Al Anazi studies one particular displaced family in depth and concludes that its members are suffering from structural exclusion that obstructs them access to prosperity. Al Anazi [8] further points out that, because of this structural exclusion and suffering that it entails, many displaced individuals have resorted to deviant means in order to survive. He reaches to a conclusion similar to that of Al Shari’ and Watfa [3] -- who study the same category of people in Kuwait, that the ordinary population look at the displaced people with sympathy and most of themstated that the displaced people deserve the citizenship status. He again has documented that displaced people talk about themselves as a victimized group and that they compose rich poetry, maxims, and proverbs recountingtheir own dilemmas.

The present study focuses on various issues related to theways adopted by female students from displaced tribes at the University of Hafr Al Batin to manage their lives as students and as members of the wider society. Many questions arise in this regard, but the following are among the major ones. The first question is what are social and academic coping levels of displaced female students at the University of Hafr Al Batin? The second question is to what degree are factors, such as courses that they take for specialization, level of study, marital status, and type of housing behind the statistical differences between students regarding their academic and social coping levels? The third question is what are the suggestions that could help the displaced female studentscope better academically and socially at the university?

The significance of this study lies in the fact that it is the first serious academic study, whose subject matter is the displaced people, to take place in Saudi Arabia. Although we believe that the number of displaced people is large in Saudi Arabia, the only major study considering their plight is that of Ibrahim Al Anazi [8] which focuses on one family. We hope our study will help both academics and policymakers in opening a debate that would lead to a lasting solution to the problem of displaced people in Saudi Arabia. Withthis regard, we are stressing that many studies conducted on students’ lives at the university are using concepts of adaptation and/or adjustment [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. However, we think that the term coping is more suitable for our study than adaptation or adjustment. The reason is that, in our opinion, the terms adaptation and adjustment are somewhat pro-status quo, whereas the term coping involves struggle and resistance to the status quo in some way, which is the case of the participants in this study.{5} The participants of our study are struggling to move from the displacement status to the citizenship status by trying to excel both academically and socially to prove that they would be good citizens if a chance of citizenships is accorded to them.

3. Academic and Social Coping of Female Students from Displaced Tribes at the University of Hafr Al Batin

The notion of coping academically includes knowledge and behavior. It refers to the efforts made in response to the changing and challenging circumstances, which the university environment imposes on students [23]. Academic coping shows how a student can perform well and interact successfully with peers, professors and the university environment as general [24]. Researchers link academic coping not only to the student’s success in classrooms and exams, but also in other activities that areconducted outside classroom and which could only be achieved if the student is competent enough to cope well with a challenging reality [25]. By social coping, we mean a student’s positive interaction with the members of a society with whom she shares services and participates in various activities (e.g. offering to help others and accepting the help that others offer her when she needs it, spending moments together with them, learning from them and allowing them to learn from her). Social coping also means living one’s life fully and having plans for one’s self and for the community in which she lives. In sum, it is to have a positive view about oneself and others despite the challenges the student faces because of her marginal legal status.

4. Methods

4.1. Participants

The issues on which we have focused to study displaced female students’ academic and social coping include, inter alia, academic compatibility, trend toward the university, relationship with professors and students, social interactions, social skills and social responsibility. To explore these issues, we had sought information about the displaced tribesin general before we distributed a questionnaire to 112 of their female members studying in the Women Section at the University of Hafr Al Batin. The students were purposefully chosen, and the sample included all the female students from displaced tribes studying in the female section of the university in 2015 when the questionnaire was distributed to them. The empirical data, which we have used in the study, are the copies of questionnaire whose answers were genuine, 89.3 percent of the copies distributed, which means 100 participants.{6}

Demographic information about the 100 students who genuinely participated in this study is that 63 of the students (63 percent) were from sciences sections and the other 37 students were from arts sections. The women campus is divided in these two sections and it is where we taught when we conducted our study. Regarding the university level of students, 31 percent of the students were in their second semester, 29 percent in the fourth, 22 percent in the sixth, and 18 percent in the eighth semester. As to their marital status, 36 students were married, whereas 64 students were single; and their housing information indicates that 26 students were living in villas, 43 in apartments, and 31 in popular housing.

Table 1. Numbers, Averages and Standard Deviations in All Fields Questionnaire based on the Type of Housing Variable

We have used validity and compliance to codify the questionnaire. Regarding the validity, we have assessed the internal consistency of the axis of academic coping, which we calculated through correlation coefficient between the item, the full scale of the field to which it relates, and its relation to the full scale of academic consistency as well as to the full scale of questionnaire. The application of statistical coefficients has made it obvious that the items are functions of 0.01, which means that all the items are functional at this level. We have also used the statistical coefficients to probe the validity of internal consistency in the field of social coping and it has become clear that all the items are functions of 0.01. Furthermore, we calculated the correlation coefficients between subfields, the full scale of the dimensions to which they are connected, and the full scale of the measurement, and the result was that all of them are functions of 0.01. We have applied P-value 0.01 (99%) and not 0.05 (95%) because our sample is a small sample and it represents students from only one category of population divided into two sections of academic fields. Therefore, their opinions show high congruity in most academic and social issues on which the questionnaire and observations were based; and we think that P-value 0.01 (99%) is relatively more suitable in the interpretation of such data than 0.05 (95%).

The calculations of correlation coefficients between the central dimensions and the total degree of functioning have shown that the two dimensions of academic coping and social coping are consistent with the entire questionnaire. The correlation coefficients between the two dimensions (academic coping and social coping) and the questionnaire have been 0.90 and 0.89 respectively, and they are functions of 0.01, which indicates that there is consistency between the two dimensions and confirms the validity of the measurement used. We have applied the validity of circumstantial comparison (preferential validity) by comparing the highest category of participants in the sample (higher than 25 percent) and the lowest category of the participants of the sample (lower than 25 percent). This comparison of the circumstantial validity also included the dimensions of the questionnaire and the full scale of the questionnaire, which includes axis, and dimensions of social coping, consistence in education, trends toward the university, the relation with professors as well as social coping, which includes skills, social interactions, and social responsibility. We found out that (t-test) is the function of 0.01statistically, which explains the preferential validity of all the dimensions of the questionnaire and confirms the competence of the questionnaire and its suitability for application. The reliability of all coefficients was high and confirmed the reliability of our questionnaire and consistency of the tool we used as Table 3 explains.

4.2. Instruments

Our study is based on two main instruments. The first instrument was the questionnaire that we have designed and distributed it to the displaced students; and the second instrument were our own observations as professors. Regarding the questionnaire, we used Likert Scale Triathlon by giving marks (1, 2, and 3) to the responses (no, sometimes, and yes). We were able to identify the displaced students from their ID numbers because the words “From Displaced Tribes” were written near the ID numbers. In rare cases, students mentioned, especially in email messages to instructors, that they could not do somethings because their circumstances were different from those of other students because they were “from displaced tribes”. For example, some students said in their email messages that they missed classes because their male relatives did not have cars because they were from displaced tribes. However, we failed in conducting in-depth interviews or group discussions because of the social and cultural boundaries that exist between females and males on the one hand, and even between females from different ethnic, tribal or racial backgrounds, on the other hand, which is a serious limitation of this study.

Table 2 Averages, Standard Deviations, Value and Function of “t-test” in Dimensions of Questionnaire and the Degree of Apparatus in Reference to Variable of Specialization Course

4.3. Validity and Reliability

1. To assess the validity and reliability of our data, we have used frequencies, percentages, arithmetic averages, and standard deviations to answer to the first question in order to understand the level of academic and social coping of students and to reach the descriptive information. We divided students’ estimates into three levels in such a way that if the averages were between 2.34 and 3 would be high, between 1.67 and 2.33 medium, and between 1 and 1.66 low. The length of the time used here is about 2/3, that is to say, about 0.66 and we have used the following standard to calculate the relative weight values: higher degree minus lower degree divided by number of response times (higher - lower ÷ number of response times).

2. We used “t-test” for a test to answer to the second question regarding the variable of specialization courses as well as the fourth question, which is about the marital status.

3. We used ANOVA (one-way analysis) to answer to the third, the fifth, and seventh questions, corresponding to the level of education, monthly income of the family, and home ownership respectively.

4. We followed Cronbach’s alpha coefficients values method to calculate the consistency of the questionnaire.

5. We referred to Spearman-Brown formula to calculate the reliability of the questionnaire.

6. We adopted Pearson coefficient correlation formula for the calculation of internal consistency.

Table 3. Fields, Dimensions and Coeﬃcients Values According to Cronbach’s and Superman Brown Methods

4.4. Results

The main question we asked was what is the level of academic and social coping of students from displaced tribes at the University of Hafr Al Batin? Then we broke it down into 54 sub questions (27 on academic coping and 27 others on social coping). We calculated the frequencies, percentages, averages, standard deviations, and ranking of the items in a descending order to analyze answers to the questions. We ranked the items in a descending order based on the intensity and agreement. We intended to discuss the academic coping first and then social coping next.

4.5. Academic Coping

The focus of the discussion on academic coping took three main dimensions. These were dimension of academic compatibility, dimension of trend toward the university, and dimension of relationship with professors. The study uncovers that students’ academic coping was generally high and itsaverage calculation, as a whole, was2.53 out of 3. The following is the discussion of the dimensions of academic coping. The average calculation of dimension of academic compatibility among the students was high, reaching 2.62. It contained nine items whose average calculations were between 2.92 and 2.21; and items 1,9, 7, 3, 2, and 5 reached high levels of agreement among the participants. We have ranked the items from the highest to the lowest level of agreement. The item of the highest agreement was the item number 1, which was about the punctuality regarding lecture times, and its average was 2.92. Compliance with testing and exam system came the second with an average 2.90 and it was item number 9 in the questionnaire. The third item was number 7 (scientific honesty) whose average was 2.89, followed by item number 3 that was about whether the students understand objectives of the courses they studied, and its average was 2.76. Being satisfied with one’s specialization, item number 2, was ranked fourth with an average 2.74 and finally item number 5 came fifth with average 2.66 and it was about whether students easily understand the lectures. These areas of focus explain the nature of study in faculties of education where the disciplinary system is based on ways leading to social control, which we symbolized as T. Like other faculties of education, the main objective of the system in the Faculty of Education in the Women Section at the University of Hafr Al Batin is to discipline students and train them on ways leading to social and academic control, particularly regarding the rules of testing and taking exams. Moreover, faculties of education are places of interaction between students and professors. Unlike the interaction in colleges where theory dominates, the interaction between students and professors in faculties of education is of a particular privacy in addition to the efforts, which students make to cope with the university culture to which they are new.{7}

The trend toward the university is generally high among the students and the average of its dimension as a whole has reached 2.47. It contained nine items whose averages were between 2.86 and 1.61; and items 15, 16, 17, 12, and 14 scored high levels of agreement among the respondents. We have ranked the items in order from high to low based on what the participants agree upon and item number 15 was the first in order. It was about the belief that vandalizing university properties is unacceptable, and its average score was 2.86. Then item number 16, about observance of dress code and behavior based on university norms and Islamic teachings whose average was 2.85, followed. Items 17 (feeling proud of affiliation to the university), 12 (closely follow the university system and values) and 14 (whether the university helped with knowledge acquisition and understanding of scientific concepts) followed item16 with averages 2.84, 2.80 and 2.73 respectively. This explains that students confirm that university is the conscience of nation and that it is the stronghold of human thought. It also maintains that the trend toward the university enhances the sense of belonging to the homeland which items 15, 16, 12, and 14 confirmed and which further reflects students’ conception of citizenship. On its turn, the university is aware of the needs of thestudents; it provides them with services that strongly support belonging to it and consolidates the trend of belonging to the homeland among them. Students see the relationship with professors as important in general and its average calculation as a whole reached 2.51, which is high. It also contained nine items whose average calculations ranged between 2.94 and 1.65. Of these, items 19, 26, 25, 27 and 22 recorded high levels of agreement among our participants. The ranking of the items is from high to lowin order, based on the agreement of respondents. Item 19 recorded highestaverage (2.94) and it was about the respect of professors because of their scientific knowledge. Then, items 26 (listen to my professors without disturbance), 25 (I politely involve in discussion with my professors even when I disagree with them), 27 (my relationship with my professors is based on mutual respect), and 22 (I respect my professors even if what they do irritates me) followed with averages 2.86, 2.84, 2.80 and 2.72 respectively. These average calculations explain that students are aware about the importance of relationships with professors in their academic life and imagine well that development of such relationships plays key role in their success not only academically but also socially. The averages further explain that students benefit a lot from the services and facilities which the university provides them to overcome psychological barriers and that the removal of these barriers enriches communications between students and professors and among students themselves in social, cultural and academic spheres and enhances university traditions.

The ranking of dimensions of the students’ academic coping was as follow. The dimension of academic compatibility came at the first place with an average calculation 2.62, followed by the dimension of relationship with professors with an average calculation 2.51 and finally was the trend toward the university with an average calculation 2.47. The fact that academic coping ranked first is something natural because students’ experiences in previous years confirm that providing excellent academic knowledge is the key mission of educational institutions and our respondents furthermade it clear that they enrolled in the university programs to acquirethe standard knowledge that would help them be successful in their lives. The academic compatibility explains well that student had opportunities to choose the academic fields and departments they liked through competition, which is a fair standard in the universities. The ranking of students’ relationship with professors as second shows that it supports and complements the standards of gaining academic knowledge because they are closely linked to each other. The academic trend is the dimension of locality where academic and social interactions and knowledge acquirement take place. Consequently, the university environment with its social and disciplinary contexts and academic and social interactions they involve isalways in students’ minds.

One of the questions we asked was to what extent differences of academic coping existed among the displaced students at the University of Hafr Al Batin in reference to their specialization course? To explore responses to this question, we referred to the average calculations and standard deviations for the art and science sections and the value of ‘t-test” and its statistical function as Table 2 illustrates. We found out that there were differences between students in art and science sections and that these differences were statistically significant. The statistical differences function in preference of science sections meaning that students of science sections were coping better because science students had chances to meet directly in small groups in science labs. Again, their division in smaller groups in lecture halls helped for group participations and face-to-face discussions. It is noticeable that teaching in smaller groups increases interaction and reinforces opportunities for both academic and social coping.However, we found out that levels of education did not establish significant influence on students’ coping processes because most of the students were colleagues who studied together in high school and the processes of integration and experience removed psychological and social barriers between them. Consequently, the academic differences between students were more due to the specialization than to the level of education.

4.6. Social Coping

We followed the method we used in academic coping in social coping, as well. Therefore, we calculated frequencies, percentages, averages and standard deviations to discuss dimensions of Social Coping. Students generally showed high social coping and its average calculation reached 2.5 out of 3. We have explained the dimensions of social coping in the following paragraphs. Our analysis has established that the dimension of students’ social interaction was high in generaland its average calculation reached 2.44. Social interaction contained nine items whose averages ranged between 2.87 and 1.61.Items number 31, 33, 34, and 30 recorded higher levels of agreement among the respondents and we wrote them in a descending order based on respondents’ agreement on the level of interaction. Item number 31 (observing one’s commitments with others) recorded the highest average (2.87) and then followed by the items number 33 (being keen about the continuation of friendships with colleagues), 34 (avoidance of friendswho make one embarrassed), and 30 (spending enjoyable times with friends) with average calculations 2.83, 2.81, and 2.71 respectively. The level of social interaction is remarkably high among the students and that is due to the ability of members of tribal communities in understanding networks of tribal affiliations and maintaining them. Again, the tribal culture in general plays an important role in the incorporation of such interactions. We also found out that differences do not obviously exist between our respondents’ behaviors and those of Hafr Al Batin communitymembers of which they are part-they share the same norms, values, and traditions. Higher levels of social relations and interactions and the conservative nature of girl’s lives prevent them from cultural clashes. The institutions of education also play key roles in maintaining social order and helping students adjust and cope with the university environment and widersociety.

The students’ dimension of social skills was generally high-its average calculationas a whole reached 2.53. The dimension of social skills included nine items whose average calculations ranged between 2.82 and 1.65. The items number 44, 37, 45, 39, and 42 recorded higher levels of agreement among the respondents and we put them in descending order. The item number 44 (thanking those who help or do me a favor)reached the highest level and its average was 2.82. Then, items 37, (sharing happiness and worries with others), 45 (politely criticizing others’ behaviors), 41 (welcoming discussions and accepting others’ opinions), 39 (having ability of easily expressing my opinion in front of other students), and 42 (having strength to convey the information which I would like to communicate to others) with average calculations 2.81, 2.80, 2.74, 2.68 and 2.66 followed. The result was that students had high levels of social skills, which was probably because of general cultural and social environment to which they belong, particularly because in Saudi society, people openly express happiness and sorrow and assert the importance of cultural traditions and social values during discussions. The socialization process plays a key role since at the primary level within the family, which helps girls’ learning process in the society in such a way that their behaviors would conform to values and traditions of the society. The high results about social skills are an indication that the social skills are part of the commonalities in the Saudi society and are therefore accessible to everyone.

Social responsibility is an important element among the students. Its average calculation as a whole reached 2.52, which is high, and it included nine items whose average calculations ranged from 2.89 to 1.64 in descending order and items number 52, 54, 49, 53, and 51 recorded higher agreements among the respondents. Item number 52 (keen about one’s appearance) recorded the highest average (2.89) and then followed by items 54 (observing the cleaning rules while on campus), 49 (avoidance of immoral behaviors), 53 (keen about achieving one’s objective through legitimate means), and 51 (responding positively to other’s requests for help)with averages 2.87, 2.83, 2.82, and 2.80. It is obvious that social responsibility is a key element for social coping and adjustment because it guides person’s behavior, his or her participation in social events, and positive feelings about oneself and towards others. Therefore, it is normal that it recorded high levels of agreement among the respondents because it channels students’ behaviors towards caring about their general appearance. Again, tribal cultural aspects facilitated students’ care about the college environment and social aspects of life in it.We put the dimensions of social coping in order based on the respondents’ opinion and the dimension of social skills recorded the highest average (2.53) immediately followed by the dimension of social responsibility with 2.52 average and the dimension of social interaction trailed with 2.44 average.

4.7. Impact of Marital Status and Type of Housing on Students’ Coping

One of the questions asked was, to what extent does marital status affect students’ academic and social coping? To analyze this question, we calculated the averages and standard deviations of every field for single and married students and the values of “t-test” and their statistical significances.Our analysis has uncovered that there are differences in statistical significance between single and married students regarding the academic coping. The difference is 0.01 to the advantage of single students. On the contrary, regarding coping with social issues, differences of statistical significance between single and married students function to the advantage of married students. We also noticed that there are differences of statistical significance between single and married students regarding the whole degree of coping and it functions to the advantage of married students. There is an indication that the differences in both academic and social coping put married students in advantageous position. This is because married students have experience in running necessary family activities, not worried like their unmarried counterparts who are preoccupied by thoughts about getting married, and, in most cases,they enjoy their husbands’ support. Married students are better prepared and more capable of taking responsibility and facing social pressures that develop within the conjugal home. This is in addition to the level of coping withthe struggle of obtaining an academic degree that helps its owner to achieve a social recognition, which gives her social power in the community where she lives.

Another question asked was to what extent do academic and social differences exist between the students regarding the type of housing variable? To analyze answers to this question, we also calculated the averages and standard deviations based on the type of housing and the value of “F” and its statistical significance. However, we could not find any obvious differences between the averages of students’ responses in the fields of the questionnaire whose variable was the type of housing where a student lived even though we applied unilateral contrasting in order to understand the significance of these differences. This means that differences in types of housing could not establish any functional statistical differences. Again, there are no statistical differences between the type of housing and the level of social coping, and the differences are therefore not functional statistically. According to our understanding, this is because of the people’s belonging to families and other social groups and cultural milieu, on the one hand, and the university life, on the other hand, which constitute the primary mainstay for the coping processes. The place of residence does not represent an important factor for students at the time when we conducted our study, but we expect that it might become an important factor in the future. This is because when the nature of family changes, regardless of whether it is a nuclear or extended family, it will create changes in various domains related to people’s daily practices.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

Displaced tribes or displaced peopleconstitute a sizable segment of the population in Saudi Arabia and their members are generally resilient and resourceful people despite the difficulties they face because of their marginal status. However, unlike Kuwait where there are studies listing the number of displaced people with precision, in Saudi Arabia their number depends on estimates. For example, Beaugrand [10] has pointed out that the number of displaced people in Kuwait was over 100,000 individuals (10% of the Kuwati population), but we could not list their number with accuracy in our study because the information about them is generally lacking in Saudi Arabia. Whereas The Arab Gulf Center for Strategic Studies (201-) reports that the number of displaced people in Saudi Arabia could be about 70,000 individuals, Al Tameemi [9] Al Tameemi states that some Saudi intellectuals and academics think that the displaced peoples account for hundreds of thousands.

Regarding how resilient and resourceful the displaced people are, our study corroborates the findings of earlier studies conducted in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. For example, Beaugrand [10] and Kennedy [11] who studied the displaced people in Kuwait conclude that they are very loyal and hardworking people. Beaugrand [10] points out that they try all kinds of means, including long distance learning, to develop skills in various areas and that they mock the idleness and ignorance of those who used to be too much dependent on others to serve them; and Kennedy [11] makes it clear that the displaced people are having skills and a will to replace expatriates in technical areas in Kuwait’s process of nationalization of work since Kuwait citizens do not like technical education and vocational training. In Saudi Arabia, Al Anazi [8] also documents that the members of the family he studied tap all possible sources to make a decent living and to earn the status of citizenship. Their conclusions regarding how hardworking, resilient and resourceful the displaced people are, confirm our observations as students of displaced background often ask more questions about the courses they take, are keener about knowing theright answers to questions they got wrong on quizzes, tests, and exams by asking during classes or sending emails requests. A key policy that puts the young displaced people in Saudi Arabia in an advantageous position compared with their counterparts in Kuwait is that they have access to free education in public schools and universities like everyone else. This means that the young displaced people can easily replace foreigners in technical and vocational areas when the latter leave as a result of the nationalization of workforce policy in Saudi Arabia. Another key policy in Saudi Arabia that puts displaced peoples in a relatively advantageous situation compared with their counterparts in the region is that the displaced people are given the citizenship status after five renewals of the identity cards given to them, which means after 25 yearssince the cards must be renewed each five years [9], whereas observers describe the policies regarding the naturalization of displaced people as random in Kuwait [10,11].

The resilience and resourcefulness of members of displaced tribes have become obvious in our study of female students in which we conclude that they have shown strong ability of coping academically as well as socially despite the marginal status that obstructs the displaced people accessing key services. For example, compared to their colleagues who enjoy privileges of being Saudi citizens, our study has uncovered that students from displaced tribes are more punctual in their class schedule, complymore with exam and testing systems (e.g. arriving on time and avoiding plagiarism), and enjoy university activities more than students who are Saudi citizens. We believe that the marginal status has spurred them to work harder because they think that education is the only vehicle that would lead them out of the marginality-it is a way of proving to the authorities that they are a potential asset of the Saudi society in terms of social and economic development.

The students also showed successful social coping strategies even though their social coping was relatively lower (2.5 out of 3) than academic coping (2.53 out of 3) in the findings of our study and we think the reason might be that the students consider education as the main key in their hands that would help them establish a prosperous future with rich social relations. This focus on education corresponds to the importance of education in the Saudi society where well-educated individuals can easily get better paying jobs and people respect them more. This means that they rightly believe that good education leads to a better social status.

This study is among thefirst academic studies to be conducted on displaced people in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, there is no doubt that there are many gaps in it that are needed to be filled by future studies. One of the gaps is a methodological gap that future studies need to fill as this study has mainly depended on a questionnaire and observations, but future studies need to include in-depth interviews and focus groups discussions because questionnaires and observations alone would not tell a complete story about any human community. Another gap is that our study is only limited to female students because we were teaching in female section of the university at the time when we conducted the research, but future studies need to include male students as well in order to be able to draw a complete picture about the displaced students’ community in Saudi Arabia. Finally, the future studies also need to explore the types of work that university graduates from displaced community do after the graduation; and it will be very interesting if life history is adopted in gathering the data in this regard because it will reveal more information about the respondents’ life before and after the graduation from the university.

This study uncovers that the marginal legal or social status does not always mean weakness or dependency. Sometimes it can even be a motivator spurring individuals and groups experiencing it to work harder to overcome it asdisplaced female students at the University of Hafr Al Batin are able to move to the center of the university community through the effort they make despite their marginal legal status. Another lesson to be drawn from this study is that resilience and resourcefulness are more important than ethnic or tribal affiliations in establishing one’s self because it is almost certain that the students who worked harder in their studies would have more opportunities in finding better jobs when they graduate. We are optimistic that the individual effort would become more important than ethnic or tribal affiliation in the future as Saudi authorities encourage the private sector in business and open the doors of the country to foreign investors which increases the need for national workforce.

Notes

1. According to these studies, the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s constitute a critical period in social and political history of the region because it was in this period when the Gulf countries conducted first censuses and issued citizenship documents for the first time, which put some people in the status of displaced people.

2. These are mostly individuals from Asian and West Africa backgrounds.

3. The Arab Gulf Center for Strategic Studies and Research (201-) further confirms that the Saudi Ministry of Interior does not have any accurate census about the displaced population in Saudi Arabia.

4. The person must renew the card each five years.

5. However, we do not exclude the fact that our respondents make series of adjustments and have plans for adaptation while struggling to cope with their marginal situation and the obstacles accompanying it.

6. We excluded unanswered and less seriously answered copies. The percentage of such copies is 12 percent.

7. Yousif Mohamed (2012) also clearly explains the importance of interaction between students and professors when he studied struggles of foreign students in coping with academic and cultural challenges in Malaysia.

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