DIFFERENCES OF LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG ACEHNESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA MALE AND FEMALE

International student mobility has over the past 10-15 years become an increasingly, more students from across the world are able to participate in higher education abroad, especially those from countries with rapidly growing economies in Asian country (i.e Malaysia, Indonesia, etc). The high educational ranking of Malaysia is appealing to many Acehnese students including to study in Malaysia. Studying abroad can be a challenge having to adapt and adjust oneself to a whole new environment, culture, language, education system, lifestyle, and new friends. This study aims to investigate the levels of life satisfaction among Acehnese university students in Malaysia male and female. T-test analysis has performed to analyze the mean life satisfaction between male and female students. The result of this study reveals there was no significant difference in life satisfaction across gender. Further discussions are displayed in full view of this study.


Introduction
International student mobility has over the past 10-15 years become an increasingly, more students from across the world are able to participate in higher education abroad, especially those from countries with rapidly growing economies in Asian country (i.e Malaysia, Indonesia, etc) (Verbik, Hobsons, & Lasanowski, 2007).
Malaysia is a country in Asia which is a popular education hub for its neighboring countries. Universities in Malaysia offer a variety of courses that also target international students. Malaysia's strategic regional position have unique multi-lingual, multi-cultural society is quite appealing to its neighbors for the similarities that they share in some way (Verbik, Hobsons, & Lasanowski, 2007 Malaysia has achieved a world ranking of 11th in terms of total international student population from around the world (Chi, 2011). Currently, there are more than 40,000 foreign students are studying in Malaysia (MITI, 2006) which has risen above 90,000 or the equivalent of around two per cent of the total international student population in the world (Chi, 2011) international students from 27 countries (Kulasgaran, 2011). Based on the statistical breakdown provided by the MOHE website, the top five countries from which the majority of students were derived in 2009 were Iran, Indonesia, China, Nigeria and Yemen (Chi, 2011). Indonesia is one of its neighboring countries with many of its students currently  (Salim, 2007). Aceh is one of the areas in Indonesia that also send many of its students to study abroad such as in Malaysia. These Aceh students either study at their own expense or on a scholarship from the government (Inggried, 2011).
Aceh government make a program to provide scholarships for student who have a good achievement in Aceh (Atjeh, 2012). This program purposes to improve human resource of Acehnese people (Serambi, 2012). In 2010 government of Aceh make main program during period 2009-2011 for educational sector with increase fund for scholarships and send 905 people to study outside the country (Seuramoe, 2012).
Malaysia provides good quality education in this region. image of the higher educational institutions to meet the challenges of increasing global competition, rising student expectations of quality (Arambewala, Hall & Zuhair, 2006). The high educational ranking of Malaysia is appealing to many Acehnese students including to study in Malaysia (Symonds, 2011

Past Research of Life satisfaction among International College Students
One of the notable developments within the field of psychology in the past decade has been the emergence of a broad perspective termed ''positive psychology'' (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi 2000). Its' proposed mission was the scientific study of human strength, resilience, and optimal human functioning. One way to approach positive psychology is through life satisfaction.
The main responsibility for college students is to study alongside other skills that they need to develop such as time management, planning, and balancing their study with other activities including leisure time. Being able to do this well will reduce pressure and increase life satisfaction in the students (Edginton et al, 2006). This endeavour is seen to be in line with one current view of health where emphasis is now placed on well-being as an objective to be attained (Beardsley and Pedersen, 1997 Previous study also addressed possible gender effects. Among girls, the lower their self-esteem, the more their life satisfaction increased during the educational transition. A happiness gap seems to exist between girls and boys: adolescence seems to be harder on females than males. Previous research has explained girls' higher vulnerability to low wellbeing by changes in hormonal levels (Costello, Sung, Worthman & Angold, 2007), entering puberty early (Ge et al. 2001).

Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction is defined as an individual's overall appraisals of the quality of his or her life (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), including the perception that one is progressing towards important life goals (Diener, Suh, Lucas & Smith, 1999).
Life satisfaction refers to a cognitive process (Diener et al. 1985 (Diener et al, 1999).

Research Questions
1. Is there a difference in life satisfaction between male and female Acehnese college students?

Objectives Study
This study aims to investigate the levels of life satisfaction among Acehnese students in

Malaysia. And to see the difference in life satisfaction level between male and female
Acehnese college students in Malaysia.

Significance of Study
This study will add to the understanding life satisfaction Acehnese students in Malaysia (government policy, educator, student).

Hypothesis
1. There is a difference in life satisfaction level between male and female Acehnese college students in Malaysia.

Method
Purposive sampling. A type of nonprobability sampling in which the researcher consciously selects specific elements or subjects for inclusion in a study in order to ensure that the elements will have certain characteristics relevant to the study. Characteristic of respondent is male and female from universities in Malaysia.
Descriptive analysis in this study will be used to explain the demographic distribution of sample. For example gender.

Procedures
Participants will complete a set of questionnaire hosted online (e-mail or social network) on demographic information, and a measure on life satisfaction. The quistionnaire took about 15 minutes to complete.

Measures
Satisfaction with Life Scale. It is a five-item scale on general life satisfaction.
The researcher uses original scales in this study, English version. An internet form was created for students to complete survey.

Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics has been applied to analyse the demographic data. A t-test analysis has also be performed to analyze the mean life satisfaction between male and female students.

Life satisfaction between male and female Acehnese college students
An independent sample t-test was conducted to examine gender differences in life satisfaction. The results are presented in Table. Table 2:
The similar report also has reveal that an indication that the males control life satisfaction (mean: 3,61) was higher than females' control life satisfaction (mean: 3,53) among international university students in Malaysia but the differences was not significant (Fitria, Khan, & Almigo, 2013). Further study by Utami (2009) (Utami, 2009).