Cultural Barriers of Islamic Higher Education Students in Indonesia (Differences Between Gender, Ethnicity, Economy Background, and Parental Education)

: Cultural barriers affect students' academic performance. Cultural barriers reflect the cultural capital of education in the family. This study aims to verify the influence of gender, ethnicity, family economic background, and parents' education level on students' cultural barriers. The approach used is a quantitative approach with t-test analysis, Kruskal Wallis H test, and descriptive statistics. The research uses questionnaires and is distributed online with Google Forms. It uses convenience and snowballing sampling techniques. The study participants amounted to 391 students of Antasari State Islamic University Banjarmasin. This study found that gender, ethnicity, and education level of parents had a significant effect on the level of cultural barriers of students. Economic level or family income did not affect the level of cultural barriers of students. The study recommends future studies to verify the influence of gender, ethnicity, family economic background, and parental education level on student academic achievement by mediating student cultural barriers. In addition, this study suggests that the study be conducted in one country and a larger sample so that generalizations will be broader. Higher education administrators are recommended to provide academic and non-academic support services for ethnic minority students, underprivileged students, and other disadvantaged groups.


INTRODUCTION
The academic culture in college life that is different from the culture in the family and community causes students to experience cultural barriers.Students who do not spend time reading, cooperating, discussing, and being independent will experience a mismatch in home-university culture.Children feel they are entering new territory, and parents cannot convince them (Cushman, 2007).Cultural values in the family that are not in line with university culture cause cultural barriers when children enter university.Therefore, Kwangman Ko et al. concluded that cultural barriers are incompatible with home-university culture (Ko et al., 2023).They argue that cultural barriers are reflected in low child-parent interaction.In other words, cultural barriers reflect the level of cultural capital the family provides.
Cultural capital is an invisible resource reflected in knowledge, qualifications, tastes, and choices seen in parents' education level and societal involvement (Pagulayan et al., 2021).Cultural capital can be seen in parental education, academic encouragement, parental expectations, home support, and parental supervision (Tan et al., 2019).Cultural barriers or low cultural capital can be seen from parents' low support, interaction, and education (Johnson & Reed, 2023).Material cultural capital in the form of ownership of books, paintings, computers, and the internet affects expectations in education (Ding & Wu, 2023).Families that cannot provide material cultural capital will have an impact on cultural gaps and low cultural capital when children are in college.The ability to seek family support and assistance to solve problems in the educational process is a form of cultural capital (Richards, 2022).The family's cultural capital affects cultural barriers and academic achievement.The unavailability of family cultural capital causes an increase in cultural barriers, which decreases student academic achievement.Research has proven the effect of cultural capital on academic performance.Yang et al, for example, concluded that cultural capital built up in families will significantly impact students' PISA test scores when culture and art are not an essential part of the education system (Yang et al., 2022).Other studies have shown that cultural capital determines students' academic aspirations (Özdemir et al., 2021) and student achievement (Bojczyk et al., 2019).In addition, students who have cognitive competence are also related to cultural capital (Kai, 2023).Cultural capital in the form of parental support is significant and has an effect on increasing student achievement (Greene & Anyon, 2014;Roksa & Kinsley, 2019).
Previous studies have shown that cultural barriers are due to gender, ethnicity, family economic background, and parental education level.According to Lok-Wah Li et al.Latino and Afro-American ethnic teachers/caregivers experience more significant cultural barriers than white teachers/caregivers (Li et al., 2023).Immigrant students experience cultural barriers due to cultural misalignment with university culture and structure (Harvey & Mallman, 2019).Students from lowincome families tend to experience cultural mismatches that affect academic achievement (Stephens et al., 2012) and language learning (Hossain, 2016).Students from low-income families feel a sense of cultural incongruity and feel that their dignity differs from their upper-middle-class peers (Schudde, 2018).
The level of cultural barriers of students is also related to the educational level of their parents.H. Harju-Luukkainen et al. explained that low levels of parental education have low awareness in providing a supporting environment for the learning process, such as books and attitudes, thus impacting children's learning outcomes (Harju-Luukkainen et al., 2020).The parental education level affects the family's cultural capital (Pagulayan et al., 2021).The level of education of parents determines the provision of a supportive environment at home and the environment has an effect on student motivation and achievement (Havidz & Mujakiah, 2023).Father's education level affects students' education at the high school level and in college (Ahmed & Nauriyal, 2023).These studies have provided evidence that low parental education impacts their level of support for children's education.
Studies of students' cultural barriers, especially ethnicity-related ones, are rare.Habibi and Fajarianingtyas' research concluded that students on the coast of Madura experienced cultural barriers because they followed their parents' work rhythms, so their learning habits were still low (Habibi & Fajarianingtyas, 2013).At the university level, Wangid and Sugiyanto conduct research on cultural barriers.He concluded that the main inhibiting factors for completing students' final projects are knowledge, compiling thesis, and external factors of supervisors (Wangid & Sugiyanto, 2013).Other research on cultural barriers focuses more on students' efforts to adapt to their social environment (Andi Winata et al., 2014) and adaptation strategies for Papuan students to overcome sociocultural differences when studying on Java Island (Ariani, 2015).They do not explicitly mention student cultural barriers in the viewpoint of the family-university cultural gap.On the other hand, these studies do not verify cultural barriers based on differences in gender, ethnicity, family economics, and parental education level from the point of view of cultural capital in the context of Islamic education.Thus, there is a theoretical void about cultural barriers in Islamic Higher Education or Islamic Religious College (PTKI).
Therefore, this study will examine the effect of gender, ethnicity, economic background, and parental education on cultural barriers faced by Islamic higher education students in Kalimantan.The purpose of this study is to verify the influence of gender on the level of cultural obstacles to student education (RP_1), the impact of ethnicity on the level of cultural barriers to student education (RP_2), verify the effect of parents' economic background on the level of the cultural barrier to education (RP_3); and verifying the impact of parents' education levels on students' level of cultural barriers to education (RP_4).
Cultural barriers in this study do not look at the obstacles experienced by students, as in previous studies.However, cultural barriers in this study stem from the level of family cultural capital reflected in parental interaction/support.Children who do not interact with their parents when facing problems are indicators of cultural barriers and low cultural capital of students.This study will make a conceptual contribution to the factors influencing family cultural barriers in the form of the level of home-university cultural incompatibility in the context of Islamic higher education in Indonesia.The effect of ethnic factors is a factor that is still rarely verified in the context of higher education in Indonesia.The Central Bureau of Statistics did not publish population data by ethnicity after the 2010 Census.Therefore, the theoretical contribution of this research becomes essential.In addition, this research will practically contribute to university managers regarding university-family relationships.

METHOD Research Type and Approach
The present study adopts a quantitative methodology and is a field research endeavor.Analytical procedures involved the utilization of both the t-test and Kruskal-Wallis H difference test, applied to ascertain variances in cultural impediments across gender, ethnicity, economic backgrounds, and parental educational levels.In other words, this research employed statistical tests to demonstrate disparities in cultural barriers within distinct variables such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, and parental education.

Participant
The participants of this study were students of Antasari State Islamic University Banjarmasin.The university was designated as a sample because it had the most students among PTKI on the island of Kalimantan.This study utilized questionnaires distributed online to Antasari State Islamic University Banjarmasin students.Students who responded to the questionnaire were 391 people from a total population of 11615 Antasari State Islamic University students.The number of samples that qualified a population of 20,000 with a confidence level of 95% and an interval of 5% was 377 people Thus, the number of participants has met the minimum number of sample requirements and can be representative of the population.
The sampling technique uses convenience and snowballing sampling.Convenience sampling determines samples based on the desire/voluntariness to be involved as research participants (Stratton, 2021).Researchers distributed questionnaires to students online, and all could participate as respondents.The advantage of convenience samples is that they are faster and cheaper.This technique allows research findings to be generalized only in these colleges and similar universities in the same regional area (Andra de, 2021).In other words, the generalization of the findings of this study only applies to the State Islamic University of Antasari Banjarmasin.It may also apply to PTKI in the Kalimantan region.
In addition, this study also used snowballing techniques.Researchers use snowball sampling because populations are challenging to reach (Berg, 2006).With this technique, participants are involved in recruiting the next participant (TenHouten, 2017).The Researcher sent questionnaires to students online and asked them to send them to their friends.

Data Collection and Analysis Process
The research data was collected by questionnaires distributed online.The questionnaire link was sent privately via WhatsApp text messages and through student WhatsApp groups.Data collection will be conducted from July 24 to August 4, 2023.The questionnaire consists of four parts: participant identity, family profile, family culture, and as many as three items.The researcher adopted an instrument used by Ko et al to measure cultural barriers seen from the point of parental support (Ko et al., 2023) which is an indicator of family cultural capital (Johnson & Reed, 2023;Tan et al., 2019).The items of the cultural barriers questionnaire are Item_1: I talk to my mom/dad when I need advice on coursework: Item_2: I follow my mom/dad's advice about daily campus life; Item_3: I think my mom/dad doesn't understand everyday campus life.
Participants' answers in items 1 and 2 consisted of four scales from 1 strongly agree to 4 strongly disagree.In contrast, item 3 answers from 1 strongly disagree to 4 strongly agree.Thus, the highest score indicates that students do not have family cultural capital support, which is reflected in parents' inability to support their children.
Three students reviewed the draft questionnaire to determine their understanding of the redaction of the item in question.After they well understood the items, the questionnaire was tested by 32 students.The trial results were valid (sig.<0.05) and reliable (Cronbach's Alpha >0.06).Thus, the questionnaire is worthy of being used to collect data for this study.

Data Analysis Process
Before the data analysis process, test the normality of the data.The test is a requirement for the parametric statistical test stage.After the test, homogeneity testing is performed.The two tests were performed with the parametric t-test to ensure the data was eligible for analysis.All parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses use SPSS version 27 for Mac.In addition, descriptive statistical analysis uses Microsoft Excel for Mac version 16.56.
The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov One-Sample normality test data on gender variables (X1) and cultural barriers (Y) showed normal distributed data with Asymp.Sig.(2-tailed) 0.1380.05.In addition, the data is also homogeneous with a sig value based on mean 0.9380.05.Thus, the test used is a parametric t-test.Data normality tests of ethnic (X2), family economics (X3), parental education (X4), and Y variables showed that the data were not normally distributed.Therefore, the test cannot use a parametric test.The researcher uses the Kruskal Wallis Test to determine differences in cultural barriers between ethnicity, family economics, and parental education levels.The process of processing research data can be seen in Figure 1 below.

Framework and Hypothesis
The disparity in cultural barriers among students at PTKI is influenced by several factors, including gender, ethnicity, family economic status, and individuals' educational attainment, as illustrated in the depicted Figure 2.These variables are recognized as contributors to the variations observed in the levels of cultural barriers experienced by students within the PTKI context, as evidenced in the graphical representation presented below in Figure 2.

RESULT Descriptive Statistics
Statistical descriptions describe the variation in mean (̅ ), and standard deviation () of cultural barriers (Y).With these results, the difference in mean Y based on gender (X1), ethnicity (X2), family economic background (X3), and parental education level (X4) can be compared.In addition, the results of statistical descriptions also describe the profile of participants in the form of the number of samples (n) and percentage (%) of each characteristic.The results of calculating statistical descriptions can be seen in Table 1 below.The above descriptive statistical data show that all standard deviations ()of all levels of cultural barriers are below the mean (̅ ).That suggests that distributed data is consistently close to or around the mean.On the other hand, the standard deviation values of all Y variables guarantee that the measurement is accurate.
Female students face a lower average level of cultural barriers (Y) than male students.In other words, male students feel a gap exists between the culture at home and university culture.They are not likely to ask parents they perceive cannot provide support.
In addition, the difference in the level of cultural barriers (Y) faced by students from one ethnicity to another can be seen from the mean score of each ethnicity.As the majority ethnicity, Banjar students face the lowest cultural barriers compared to other ethnicities.In contrast, ethnic minorities, such as Batak, face higher barriers than Banjar and Javanese.The level of cultural barriers based on ethnicity is very consistent with the number of ethnic majorities or minorities.
In contrast to ethnic factors, the mean cultural barriers of students (Y) do not consistently increase or decrease as the amount of Single Tuition Fee (UKT) they pay increases or decreases.Descriptive statistical data shows that the mean Y of students with low economic backgrounds seen from paid UKT can be higher or lower than students with better economic backgrounds.A student who pays UKT of Rp. 3,000,000 experience cultural barriers with a mean (̅ ) of 7.31, which is higher than one who pays UKT of Rp. 1,700,000 (̅ = 5.9).The UKT score and mean score are inconsistent with students who pay Rp. 2,200,000 have a mean cultural barrier of 5.22, lower than students who pay UKT Rp. 400,000 (̅ = 5.95).
Descriptive statistics of parental education levels show a relatively consistent mean with cultural barriers.Mean cultural barriers will decrease often with increased parental education.Students with undergraduate parents faced lower cultural barriers (̅ = 5.92) than students whose parents had a high school education (̅ = 6.34).

Hypothesis Verification The Effect of Gender on Cultural Barriers
The effect of gender on cultural barriers was tested with a t-test.The test showed that the value of Sig.(2-tailed) 0,003  0,05.These statistical tests can be interpreted as significant differences between females and males in the level of cultural barriers.Therefore, H_1 has been verified and accepted.
These results prove that gender affects the level of cultural barriers of students in higher education.Males tend to show higher cultural barriers than female students.On the other hand, the findings also show that families provide more cultural capital in the form of support to female students than male students.Test results can be seen in Table 2 below.

The Effect of Ethnicity on Cultural Barriers
The test of differences in cultural barriers between ethnicities, economic background, and parental education levels used the non-parametric test Kruskal Wallis H.The test was used because the data was not normally distributed.Test results can be seen in Table 3 below.The test results proved significant differences in cultural barriers between ethnicities (Asymp.Sig.0,000  0,05).The results of statistical tests show that the support of parents from ethnic minorities for children's education at universities tends to be lower than that of ethnic majorities.When compared to the majority ethnicity (Ethnic Banjar), ethnic minority students have not been supported by parents when facing problems in campus life.They have higher levels of cultural barriers than majority ethnic students.Thus, H_2 is proven and accepted.

The Effect of Economic Background on Cultural Barriers
The study found that students' cultural barriers did not differ between family economic levels.The findings based on the results of the Kruskal Wallis Test show that the Asymp score.Sig. is 0.076 (sig.>0.05).In other words, these findings indicate that the high and low economic level of families does not affect the severity or lightness of cultural barriers faced by students.Based on that, H_3 was not proven and rejected.
The above findings are surprising.Their economic level or income does not influence the ability of parents to provide cultural capital for education.In other words, wealthy families will predictably provide cultural support to their children's education.Conversely, families who cannot afford it cannot be predicted will not support their child's education.In other words, the economic level of students cannot be used as a variable to see the high and low cultural barriers of students or family cultural capital.

The Effect of Parents' Education Level on Cultural Barriers
Statistical tests show that students' cultural barriers differ significantly between parents' education levels (Asymp.Sig.0,001  0,05).Based on this, the level of education of parents affects the level of cultural barriers of students.The findings verify that H_4 proven and acceptable.
Other findings regarding the effect of parental education levels on decreasing cultural barriers are not surprising.The higher the level of education of parents, the higher the cultural capital of education they provide to children.More educated parents have an awareness to support their child's education than parents with less education.Conversely, not-educated parents tend not to care and do not provide academic and non-academic support.

DISCUSSION
This research has proven that students' cultural barriers differ between gender, ethnicity, and education level of parents.In other words, gender, ethnicity, and parental education level affect the cultural obstacles students face.These findings support previous research proving that cultural barriers are influenced by gender, ethnicity, and parental education level (Johnson & Reed, 2023;Pagulayan et al., 2021;Tan et al., 2019).Ethnic minorities tend to be poorly educated, so health literacy is also low (Zeh et al., 2014).
Although cultural barriers differ significantly between ethnicities, interethnic interactions do not experience cultural barriers.Cultural barriers are limited to the incompatibility of the academic culture of the home with the university and the family's low cultural capital of education.Rahardjo and Rahmiaji proved this.They concluded that students from different ethnicities did not experience obstacles in interacting or making friendships.Only a few want to avoid marrying women or men of other ethnicities(Turnomo Rahardjo et al., 2021).In Malaysia, most students (60%) feel happy to befriend students from various ethnicities (Agus Masrukhin & H. Sriyanto, 2022).
In contrast to the first findings, the study found that the effect of family economic background on cultural barriers was fragile.The findings are not in line with Mishra's opinion.She suggests that low-income families do not adequately support their children's education (Mishra, 2020).Therefore, they need higher retention to complete university education (Thayer, 2000).We suspect that the absence of influence of family income levels on cultural barriers is due to families' ability to adjust household expenses.It was also influenced by the low cost of education at PTKI.The expenditure adjustment shows parents' support for their child's education.The contribution of underprivileged families to their children's education is in the form of sacrifices with their lifestyle adjustments (Sledge, 2012).
Although indirect, the level of cultural barriers affects the student learning process (Bojczyk et al., 2019;Johnson & Reed, 2023;Kai, 2023;Roksa & Kinsley, 2019;S. Michael Gaddis, 2018;Yang et al., 2022).The higher the cultural barriers students face, the harder it is for them to improve their academic performance.Therefore, cultural barriers can be referred to as mediator variables of the influence of gender, ethnicity, and parental education levels on student academic achievement.
The findings of this study have several limitations.Namely, the research context is limited to one PTKI, so generalization is still limited to similar PKTI at the regional level.Second, statistical tests do not use multiple linear regression that can predict the level of influence of all variables X.Third, the variables tested do not pay attention to the presence of mediator variables or other variables, such as student academic achievement.
The study recommends future research verifies the influence of gender, ethnicity, and parental education, as well as other variables on student academic achievement with cultural barriers as mediators.In addition, this study suggests research in the context of Indonesia, all types of universities, and with a more representative number of samples so that generalizations are broader.
In practical terms, this study recommends that college administrators provide cultural support to groups of students who have cultural weaknesses.The support is in the form of exceptional services to ethnic minorities, underprivileged students, and student groups facing academic problems.In line with the recommendations of Juhaidi et al., (2022) support to students is not only in the form of financial support (scholarships) or counseling on psychiatric problems (stress and depression) and careers but support that can fill the gap in their academic culture.

CONCLUSION
This study concluded that students' cultural barriers are influenced by people's gender, ethnicity, and education level.This study found significant differences in cultural barriers between genders (male and female), ethnicities, and parental education levels.However, the study did not find significant differences in cultural barriers between family economic levels.Thus, the family's economic level has no effect on the cultural barriers of students.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Framework Based on this framework, the hypotheses to be verified in this study are

Table 2 .
Gender t-test Result

Table 3 .
Kruskal Wallis H Test Result