From Silence to Agency: Reframing Indonesian Postgraduates' Educational Struggles in the United Kingdom (UK)
DOI:
Abstract Views:
3 times
Abstract
This study critically re-examines the academic struggles of Indonesian postgraduate students in the United Kingdom (UK), drawing on empirical data from a prior qualitative study. The study employs a dual theoretical lens from Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory of Human Agency, grounded in a critical realist ontology, to explore the underlying structural forces of how academic practices contribute to student's educational experiences. Three interrelated themes are developed: (1) silence and pedagogical disempowerment; (2) destabilization of self-efficacy within unfamiliar academic conventions; and (3) the tension between agentic aspiration and marginalization. The findings challenge neoliberal assumptions of meritocracy and call for more awareness, reflexive, and humanizing approaches to international education that treat students not as culturally deficient or individually lacking but as subjects shaped by and capable of transformation within and against inherited educational systems.
Downloads
References
Abrar, M. (2019). Re-telling: A narrative inquiry of Indonesian graduate students’ speaking experiences in a United Kingdom university. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJAL), 8(3), 588-596. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i3.15257
Aisha, S., & Mulyana, D. (2019). Indonesian postgraduate students’ intercultural communication experiences in the United Kingdom. Jurnal Kajian Komunikasi, 7(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.24198/jkk.v7i1.20901
Aisha, S., & Mulyana, D. (2020). International students' communication adaptation to academic environment in the United Kingdom. Jurnal Penelitian Komunikasi, 23(2), 101-112. https://doi.org/10.20422/jpk.v2i23.678 | https://jpk.komdigi.go.id/index.php/jpk/article/view/678
Alazzi, K., & Al-Jarrah, A. (2016). Southeast Asian international students adjusting to Jordanian universities: Views from the field. Journal of College Student Development, 57(6), 730-741. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2016.0071
Arthur, N. (2017). Supporting international students through strengthening their social resources. Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 887-894. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293876
Bandura, A. (2023). Social Cognitive Theory: An agentic perspective on human nature (D. Cervone, Ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Social+Cognitive+Theory%3A+An+Agentic+Perspective+on+Human+Nature-p-9781394161461
British Council. (2025). Scholarships and funding. Study UK. https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/scholarships-funding
Bukamal, H. (2022), Deconstructing insider–outsider researcher positionality. British Journal of Special Education (BJSE), 49(3), 327-349. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12426
Cervone, D. (2023). Foreword. In A. Bandura, & D. Cervone (Ed.), Social Cognitive Theory: An agentic perspective on human nature. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Social+Cognitive+Theory%3A+An+Agentic+Perspective+on+Human+Nature-p-9781394161461
Colander, D. C., & Hunt, E. F. (2019). Social science and its methods. In D. Colander, & E. F. Hunt (Eds.), Social science: An introduction to the study of society (17th ed., pp. 25-49). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780429019555-1/social-science-methods-david-colander-elgin-hunt?context=ubx&refId=dd061ccf-6ae6-421e-bc18-f8822fe3714f | https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429019555
Colors of the wind. (2025, July 21). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_the_Wind
Connell, R. (2013). The neoliberal cascade and education: An essay on the market agenda and its consequences. Critical Studies in Education, 54(2), 99-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2013.776990
De Leersnyder, J., Gündemir, S., & Ağirdağ, O. (2022). Diversity approaches matter in international classrooms: How a multicultural approach buffers against cultural misunderstandings and encourages inclusion and psychological safety. Studies in Higher Education, 47(9), 1903-1920. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1983534
Dwyer, S. C., & Buckle, J. L. (2009). The space between: On being an insider-outsider in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 83(1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800105
Freire, P. (1972). Cultural action for freedom. Penguin Books
Freire, P. (1996). Letters to Cristina: Reflections on my life and work (J. Macedo, Q. Macedo, & A. Oliveira, Trans.). Routledge
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.) (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Bloomsbury Academic.
Gaus, N., & Tang, M. (2023). Changing knowledge production in Indonesian higher education: Is it a bare pedagogy? In Z. Sakhiyya, & T. Wijaya Mulya (Eds.), Education in Indonesia: Critical perspectives on equity and social justice (pp. 99-114). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1878-2_6
Gebhard, J. G. (2013) EFL learners studying abroad: Challenges and strategies. Asian EFL Journal, 115(2), 155-182.
Guggenheim, S. (2012). Indonesia’s quiet springtime: Knowledge, policy and reform. In A. J. S. Reid (Ed.), Indonesia rising: The repositioning of Asia’s third giant (pp. 141–169). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814380416-014
Heyward, M., & Sopantini. (2013). Indonesia: The challenges of quality and equity in education. In L. P. Symaco (Eds.), Education in South-East Asia (1st ed., pp. 71-94). Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472544469.ch-004
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). (2022). Where do HE students come from? Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-from
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede Model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Internet Movie Database (IMDb). (n.d.). Pocahontas. Internet Movie Database (IMDb). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114148/
Islamiyah, M., & Al Fajri, M. S. (2020). Investigating Indonesian master's students' perception of critical thinking in academic writing in a British university. The Qualitative Report, 25(12), 4402-4422. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol25/iss12/12
Jones, N., & Sheridan, L. (2025). International postgraduate taught students’ perspectives on resources to support learning transitions: A preliminary case study. Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(1), 142-165. https://doi.org/10.56230/osotl.122 | https://osotl.org/osotl/article/view/122
Kuffuor, O., Aggrawal, S., Jaiswal, A., Smith, R. J., & Morris, P. V. (2024). Transformative pathways: Implementing intercultural competence development in higher education using Kotter’s Change Model. Education Sciences, 14(7): 686. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070686
Kusuma, I. P. I. (2021). Speaking issues faced by Indonesian students during classroom discussion in the US. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 18(1), 5-17. https://doi.org/10.56040/kusu1811
Leigh, B. (1999). Learning and knowing boundaries: Schooling in New Order Indonesia. SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 14(1), 34-56. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41057012
Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) Republik Indonesia [The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency]. (2023). 11 years of LPDP: Enlivening Indonesia, advancing the nation (Annual report of LPDP 2023, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia). Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) - Kementerian Keuangan Republik Indonesia. https://lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id/storage/information/report/file/yearly/yearly_report_en_1750064904.pdf
Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP) Republik Indonesia [The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency]. (n.d.). LPDP - Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency. https://lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id/en/
Lomer, S., & Mittelmeier, J. (2023). Mapping the research on pedagogies with international students in the UK: A systematic literature review. Teaching in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, 28(6), 1243-1263. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1872532
Lowenberg, P. H. (1983). Literacy in Indonesia. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 4, 124-140. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500000118
Lowenberg, P. (2000). Writing and literacy in Indonesia. Studies in Linguistic Sciences, 30(1), 135-148. https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/9683
Lugman, E. (2023). Intercultural competence development during the adjustment period of Indonesian students in the UK. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJAL), 12(3), 584-597. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v12i3.46638
Macedo, D. (2000). Introduction to the anniversary edition. In P. Freire (Eds.), Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed., pp. 11-28). Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc..
Macedo, D. (2018). Introduction to the 50th anniversary edition. In P. Freire (Eds.), Pedagogy of the oppressed (50th anniversary ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-9781501314131/
Mulya, T. W. (2016). Neoliberalism within psychology higher education in Indonesia: A critical analysis. ANIMA Indonesian Psychological Journal, 32(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.24123/aipj.v32i1.579
Mulya, T. W. (2019a). Contesting the neoliberalisation of higher education through student-faculty partnership. International Journal for Academic Development, 24(1), 86-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2018.1520110
Mulya, T. W. (2019b). Menelisik gang-gang sempit menuju akademisi kritis Indonesia: Pancasila sebagai diskursus alternatif [Navigating narrow pathways to a critical Indonesian academia: Pancasila as an alternative discourse]. In K. Pertiwi, & H. Yulindrasari (Eds.), Geliat kritis dalam penelitian sosial: catatan para peneliti [Emerging critical perspectives in social research: Insights from researchers] (pp. 179-191). Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. https://obor.or.id/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=894
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2023). PISA 2022 results (Volume I and II) - Country notes: Indonesia. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/pisa-2022-results-volume-i-and-ii-country-notes_ed6fbcc5-en/indonesia_c2e1ae0e-en.html
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Limited. (2025). QS world university rankings 2025: Top global universities. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Limited - TopUniversities. https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings
Rakhmani, I. (2019). Reproducing academic insularity in a time of Neo-liberal markets: The case of social science research in Indonesian state universities. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 51(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2019.1627389
Rosser, A. (2018). Beyond access: Making Indonesia’s education system work. Lowy Institute. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/beyond-access-making-indonesia-s-education-system-work
Rosser, A. (2023). Higher education in Indonesia: The political economy of institution-level governance. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 53(1), 53-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2021.2010120
Sakhiyya, Z., & Mulya, T. W. (2023). Introduction: Education in Indonesia—A critical introduction. In Z. Sakhiyya, & T. Wijaya Mulya (Eds.), Education in Indonesia: Critical perspectives on equity and social justice (pp. 1-14). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1878-2_1
Samanhudi, U., & Linse, C. (2019). Critical thinking-related challenges to academic writing: A case of Indonesian postgraduate students at a UK university. Lingua Cultura, 13(2), 107-114. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v13i1.5122
Sheridan, L. A. (2018). Youth participation practice in North Ayrshire, Scotland from a Freirean perspective [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow]. Enlighten Theses - University of Glasgow. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/9085
Shor, I. (1993). Education is politics: Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. In P. Leonard, & P. McLaren (Eds.), Paulo Freire: A critical encounter (1st ed., pp. 25-35). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203420263-3/education-politics-ira-shor
Statista. (2022). Number of international tertiary-level students in Indonesia in 2022, by country of origin. Statista - The Statistics Portal for Market Data, Market Research and Market Studies. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280374
Stebbins, R. A. (2001). Exploratory research in the social sciences. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984249
Su, F., Wood, M., & Tribe, R. (2023). ‘Dare to be silent’: Re-conceptualising silence as a positive pedagogical approach in schools. Research in Education, 116(1), 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/00345237231152604
The World Bank. (2020). The promise of education in Indonesia. The World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/658151605203420126/pdf/The-Promise-of-Education-in-Indonesia.pdf
Times Higher Education (THE). (2025). World university rankings 2025. Times Higher Education (THE). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/latest/world-ranking#!/length/25/locations/IDN/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/scores
Tionardus, M., & Kasih, A. P. (2025). Mahasiswa Indonesia kian mudah dapat IPK tinggi dan cumlaude, ada apa? [Indonesian students are getting high GPAs and cum laude graduates more easily, what is happening?]. Kompas.com. https://www.kompas.com/edu/read/2025/06/27/093000871/mahasiswa-indonesia-kian-mudah-dapat-ipk-tinggi-dan-cumlaude-ada-apa?page=2
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2025). Education: Inbound internationally mobile students by country of origin. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute of Statistics Data Centre. https://data.uis.unesco.org/
Walt Disney Animation Studies. (n.d.). Pocahontas. Walt Disney Animation Studies. https://disneyanimation.com/films/pocahontas/
Wang, S., Moskal, M., & Schweisfurth, M. (2022). The social practice of silence in intercultural classrooms at a UK university. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 52(4), 600-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2020.1798215
Willis, M. E. H. (2023). Critical realism and qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 20(2), 265-288. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2022.2157782
World Population Review. (2025). Average IQ by country 2025. World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country#title
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Articles published in ANIMA are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. You are free to copy, transform, or redistribute articles for any lawful, non-commercial purpose in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to ANIMA and the original Author(s), link to the license, indicate if changes were made, and redistribute any derivative work under the same license.
Copyright on articles is retained by the respective Author(s), without restrictions. A non-exclusive license is granted to ANIMA to publish the article and identify itself as its original publisher, along with the commercial right to include the article in a hardcopy issue for sale to libraries and individuals.
By publishing in ANIMA, Author(s) grant any third party the right to use their article to the extent provided by the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
