International Student Recruitment Research Articles

Identifying and Responding to Gaps in Services for International Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows to Enhance the Graduate Community and Promote Quality Research Outcomes

The growing enrollment of international students in doctoral science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs in the U.S. has contributed to the need for an increase in specifically-designed programs, resources, and services that address the unique challenges of the international student population. When transitioning to the U.S. to pursue higher education, international students often experience obstacles, including language barriers, sociocultural challenges, and academic alienation, which significantly impacts the ability to successfully adapt to the new learning and living environment, oftentimes continuing throughout the duration of the program. Furthermore, international postdoctoral fellows engaged in STEM research fields may lack a sense of belonging due to similar barriers. The recruitment and retention of competitive international students and postdoctoral fellows directly impacts the quality and magnitude of research outcomes, while also enhancing and enriching the cultural diversity and experience of the graduate community. We use data collected from an international student and postdoctoral survey distributed to more than 65 students and 90 postdoctoral fellows as well as listening sessions to identify gap areas where additional resources are required and where modifications are needed to more productively serve the international population at Augusta University. Our findings indicate that international students and postdoctoral fellows experience more anxiety and isolation when they are not supported, personally, socially and academically, by their administrative leaders, faculty, peers, and surrounding community. Incoming students who were connected with current graduate students prior to their arrival to the U.S. experienced a greater level of support and were more confident and comfortable in their adjustment to society in the U.S. The implementation of additional events and experiences led by the responses of the international population, including research shadowing opportunities in on-campus laboratories, social gatherings connecting students and postdoctoral fellows of different cultures, writing circles and professional development workshops, and one-on-one sessions enhances community belonging and prioritizes personal and professional growth among this vulnerable student population. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Internationalisation For All: Rethinking University Internationalisation

Concerns about commercialisation, high costs of study, elitism, massification, and the challenge of quantity over quality are some of the common themes across the globe in the discussions on international higher education. Viewed through the lens of a small public university in the UK, this paper presents the results from a study examining the meaning of internationalisation, its practice, and what it means in the context of an inclusive international higher education strategy. It argues that in a world where 97% of the world’s student population engaged in higher education is not globally mobile for a variety of reasons, internationalisation to be inclusive must adopt a holistic approach and be woven into the fabric of the institution’s life. Implemented as a Whole Institution Initiative (WII), this must be accompanied by clear Intent, Investment, and Infrastructure (3 I’s), connecting strategy, policy, and day-to-day practices at all levels and functions of the institution. The framework that has been developed as a result of this study provides insight and practical guidance to Higher Education institutions on how to approach internationalisation holistically. At a strategic level, it will be useful to institutional leaders and national policymakers to understand the issues entailed in formulating international strategies, processes, and programmes in developing an inclusive internationalisation strategy and not merely focusing on international student recruitment and inward mobility. At a course/programme level, it provides valuable practical insight and guidance to academics and programme administrators involved in developing and delivering inclusive internationalisation.

International Student Recruitment and Support in Indonesia: A Systematic Review of Literature from 2012–2022

The Republic of Indonesia has been a significant source country of international students worldwide yet data is scarce about local international students. Increasing international student numbers is in line with the country's strategic development goals yet growth has been limited over the last two decades despite government funding of both long/short-term mobility programs and changing global/regional student mobility trends. This review systematically analyzes 28 papers from 2012–2022 investigating international students in Indonesian higher education regarding recruitment and support via an inductive thematic analysis. Six themes emerged showing that research has focused on the overall scope, rationale, and high-level organizational challenges of internationalization with scholarship only occasionally investigating Indonesia's destination attractiveness or student-centric issues. Research on international students, in Indonesian or English, is nascent and policy/practice suggestions and avenues of future research are discussed.

Thailand, the forgotten market for international student recruitment? A qualitative study into the strategies of regional Australian universities

PurposeThis study aims to explore how student recruitment practitioners at regional Australian universities strategise student recruitment efforts in Thailand. There is scarce research addressing regional universities, with prior studies focusing on metropolitan universities. Similarly, most prior studies have focused on high-volume markets, with little research exploring emerging markets such as Thailand.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with student recruitment practitioners from regional universities that were responsible for recruiting Thai students. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key themes.FindingsRegional universities lack strategic ambidexterity in their approach to recruiting international students. They viewed Thailand as requiring longer term investment and were unwilling to dedicate their limited resources towards developing this market at the expense of other markets that would yield enrolments to contribute towards short-term targets.Practical implicationsImplications are provided with relevance to the student recruitment practitioner, with strategic ambidexterity discussed.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap in the research by exploring international student recruitment and contextualising both regional universities and Thailand as a recruitment market. This study provides useful considerations that may be relevant to other emerging markets.

Accidental paradiplomats? The curious case of Ontario school board budgets and Canadian soft power projection.

From the earliest studies of soft power in International Relations, the importance of educational exchanges has been well-established. Studies of international education in the context of Canadian soft power often draw on cases from the higher education sector. This article argues that greater attention should be paid to the K-12 level, especially as budgetary pressures in Ontario's education system are leading school boards to rapidly expand their international student recruitment efforts. Although this is not an example of intentional soft power projection, it nevertheless represents an important reminder that subnational actors may accidentally become paradiplomats whose actions have consequences on the international level. Further, this case reveals the importance of paying attention to actors typically overlooked by IR scholarship. Drawing on Joseph Nye's theory of soft power and in conversation with prior research on international education as a mechanism of soft power projection, this article traces the thread between budgetary pressures in Ontario school boards and the broader context of soft power projection.

A Model for International Marketing and Recruitment in Emerging Markets: Factors Influencing Thai Students’ Decision to Enrol at a Regional University

The imperative of revitalising international student recruitment post-COVID-19 pandemic amid geopolitical realignments has brought Australian universities to the forefront of strategic marketing considerations. Reassessment of conventional markets and strategies has become critical in sustaining and enhancing competitiveness of these institutions in the global education landscape. This study aims to investigate marketing and recruitment factors, specifically examining their influence on Thai students’ decision to enrol at a regional Australian university. The research approach involved administering a survey of Thai students and recent alumni of regional Australian universities. A principal component analysis (PCA)revealed a multidimensional structure of eight factors. According to the findings, Thai students’ decision to enrol was influenced by agents, post-study migration opportunities and country-specific resources. However, due to the perceived low return on investment and delayed enrolment outcomes, regional universities are not investing sufficiently in Thailand. Implications for marketing and recruitment initiatives are discussed.

Alluvial Zones of Decolonizing Internationalization of Higher Education

Universities play a critical role in the “alluvial mixing” of Indigenous and Western knowledges, but at the same time they are reluctant to dismantle structures that support their ongoing epistemic ignorance, epistemic biases, and epistemic dominance and are resistant to dismantle hierarchies that maintain the status quo (Marker, 2019). Decolonization and internationalization of higher education does not exist in separate realities, but exists in alluvial third spaces that are often turbulent, contested, and contradictory. This article encourages researchers, faculty, and staff to rethink assumptions about long-standing, deeply-rooted policies, practices, and structures of international student recruitment and enrolment that are characterized by dominating neocolonial values and priorities and to reimagine the practice of recruiting international students and competing in the global international student market by centering primacy of place where “land is not a soulless commodity” to be exploited and profited (Marker, 2019).

Decisions, decisions, decisions: an exploration of factors affecting the decision-making of ‘Uni Connect’ students, when choosing higher education study

ABSTRACT This paper investigates influences on the decision-making process, during the consideration of applying to university, for UK further education college students from a widening participation background (Uni Connect). Much previous research has explored the international student recruitment market, however, there is relatively little literature concerning UK home student recruitment, particularly related to widening participation groups. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight, second-year, level 3 vocational students, during their final year of college study. Findings suggest that Uni Connect students seek multiple sources of information and engage with a multitude of touch points, with the context of these interactions playing a significant role in influencing university choice. The exhibition of predominately rational rather than emotive behaviours and the use of multiple touch points, suggests that Uni Connect students take an iterative approach to their decision-making. The decision-making process appears to be individualised, with no equivocal or homogenic pattern emerging.

Crisis or Opportunity? International Income Growth in Scottish Universities during Covid-19

How did Scottish universities fare in the pandemic? This paper looks at changes in income and student enrolments, comparing the pandemic years (2020–2022) to those preceding them. Despite concerns that Covid would have negative impacts across the university sector, the analysis shows that both income and student numbers increased substantially in Scotland. This article builds on a related analysis ( Armstrong 2023 ) and focuses on a selection of ten universities that encompass the diverse range of sizes, locations and student cohorts making up the Scottish university sector. It finds that growth in income, against expectation, accelerated during Covid, and this is largely attributable to expanded recruitment of international students, who pay significantly higher fees than those located within the UK. Scottish universities made a record amount of income from international fees in 2021–22 of £1.14 billion. The analysis of income growth is followed by exploration of changes in student numbers and cohort compositions, where international student numbers also accelerated in the pandemic. A discussion of the implications of these changes considers the growing divide among Scottish universities, and the wider implications that rapid growth and increasing dependence on one source of income has for universities, their staff and students and the cities and towns in which they are located.

Transnational public and global health education in China

Transnational public and global health programs in China have rapidly expanded over the past 20 years, and have potential to make important contributions to China’s global health workforce. However, there has been sparse if any literature specific to transnational public and global health higher education in China. In response, this perspective article aims to: (1) outline current transnational public and global health programs in China, and (2) delineate opportunities and challenges for transnational public and global health programs to enhance China’s global health workforce. Based on internet searches, eight active transnational public and global health programs in China were identified in September 2022 (one Bachelors; four Masters; three doctorate). Degree awarding institutions are located in Australia, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Courses for stand-alone transnational programs were co-delivered by faculty from the Chinese and foreign sponsoring institutions. The earliest and latest programs were respectively established in 2001 and 2022, and the average year of establishment was 2013. The endurance of some programs (three programs operating ≥ 10 years) indicates the potential sustainability of transnational public and global health programs in China. However, opportunities for cross-cultural engagement appear to be constrained by lack of English (or other language) requirements in some programs, limited recruitment of international students, pandemic travel restrictions, and a dearth of funding for global health research outside China. In addition, students enrolled at transnational universities in China are currently ineligible for China Scholarship Council funding. As China’s need for global health capacity grows amid a rapidly shrinking population of younger citizens, strategic investments in transnational public and global health programs may be of increasing value.

Students’ changing conceptualizations of university internationalization in Australia

ABSTRACT Interrupted international mobility since 2020 emphasized the limited nature of focusing higher education internationalization on the recruitment of international students. Likewise, the term ‘internationalization’ has lost appeal as it connotes for some the imposing of Western approaches and colonialist assumptions about best practices. To assist universities as they reimagine international education in Australia, this article discusses a study that explored how students conceptualize an internationalized university and the importance they place on various strategies. Analysis compared the responses of those who commenced their studies pre-pandemic, at the start of the pandemic and mid-pandemic to explore the influence of the pandemic on students’ ideas. Findings suggest consistent beliefs that common internationally minded strategies and graduate skills are important; however, some university characteristics, such as a diverse student population, seem more strongly associated with ‘internationalization’ than others. Slight differences based on when students commenced their studies suggest that some characterizations of internationalization are more static while others might be outdated. Such insights can assist universities in restructuring their internationalization approaches for this current period of change or future crises.

Settler nation-building through immigration as a rationale for higher education: a critical discourse analysis

ABSTRACT As education-migration (edugration) blurs the line between international student and immigrant recruitment in some jurisdictions, higher education admission is becoming linked to settler nation-building projects. Using critical discourse analysis, this article examines the Canadian higher education sector’s response to COVID-19 through pre-budget submissions to the House of Commons of Canada Standing Committee on Finance for the 2021 federal budget. Findings demonstrate how institutions instrumentalized international students to position themselves as valuable actors in Canada’s immigration regime and justify their requests for public financial support. In this way, nation-building through immigration – both globally, as an imperial power, and domestically, as a colonial power – is now a new societal role of higher education which is becoming hegemonic within institutions. This is significant because, as higher education’s purposes align with those of economic immigration, the sector not only fails to interrupt, but itself reproduces, systemic patterns of border imperialism and settler-colonialism. The article urges higher education institutions to (1) more deeply consider how a reliance on international student enrolment is impacting its societal roles, while also (2) avoid exceptionalizing the present by recognizing that higher education has long functioned in the service of the state as a colonial and imperialist power.

The Influence of International Student Recruitment on Korean Product Export

유학생 교육은 국제 교육산업의 교육 서비스 무역 형태로서 한국의 대외투자 및 무역의 중요한 분야이다. 한국의 내한 유학생 사업이 국가 전략 차원에서 추진되면서 내한 유학생 규모는 급속한 발전 추세를 보이고 있으며, 동시에 한국의 수출 무역도 산업 구조의 고도화를 위한 중요한 발전기에 접어들었다. 세계화의 맥락에서 한국 유학이 한국 수출 무역에 미치는 영향을 올바르게 이해하고 분석하면 한국 수출 무역의 품질과 효율성을 높이는 데에도 도움이 될 수 있을 것이다. 본 논문에서는 한국의 수출 무역액을 연구 대상으로 하여 한국의 유학 교육 현황이 한국 상품 수출에 미치는 영향을 검증해 보고자 하였다. 본 논문에서는 양방향 고정효과 회귀모형을 이용하여 내한 유학이 수출 무역에 미치는 영향의 매커니즘을 규모와 품질의 측면에서 종합적으로 논의하였다. 실증된 논의의 결과를 살펴보면 유학생 교육은 전반적으로 한국의 수출 확대를 촉진할 수 있을 것으로 보인다. 매년 유학생 유치 규모가 큰 국가의 경우는 해당 국가에 대한 상품의 수출도 확대되어 긍정적인 영향을 미치고 있다고 판단할 수 있는 반면, 유학생 유치 규모가 작은 국가의 경우는 상품의 수출 확대에 유의미한 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 볼 수 있다. 본 논문의 연구 결과를 통해 한국이 국제 교육 협력하에서 ‘유학 대상국’이라는 긍정적 브랜드를 더욱 발전적으로 구축하고, 동시에 인재 유치 정책을 개선하여 우호적 외교 관계를 발전시키며, 국제 인재 유입 활성화 및 한국 수출 무역의 발전에도 긍정적 영향을 줄 수 있기를 기대해 본다.

ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC LANGUAGE SOCIALIZATION FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AN INDONESIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Academic language socialization refers to the process of helping students to gain knowledge of the language and an ability to participate in new discourse communities by using the language appropriately. Previous research mostly discussed language socialization from students’ perspectives in overseas, such as in Taiwan, America, and Malaysia. In Indonesia, academic language socialization is still less explored, whereas Indonesia is incessantly to internationalize the university by receiving international students from around the world. Therefore, this research is designed to explore academic language socialization for international students from the university administrators’ perspectives, focusing on the university policies, academic and non-academic supports, and challenges. To collect the data, the researcher interviewed five participants; the director of postgraduate, the head of department of masters in Economics and Development Studies, the head of the language centre, one lecturer, and one international student. In addition, the researcher also did classroom observations, [W1] and document analysis (i.e., policy documents). By using interactive data analysis by Miles, et al. (2014), the findings revealed that there were gaps between the applicable policies and implementations.[W2] To overcome the gaps, the university provided academic and non-academic support. For academic supports, the university provided the language center support for international students to have Indonesian language training both for general purposes, and academic purposes. For non-academic supports, the university provided the international students with some facilities, such as housing, cultural studies, vacation together, and art and culture festival. However, there were also several challenges both from bottom-up and top-down perspectives. The challenges were the results of the gaps between the applicable policies and implementations in receiving international students at the university. This result implies the need to reformulate policies of recruitment of international students and provide better academic and non-academic support for the students.

Management Strategy of International Students in Higher Education State Islamic Religion

The existence of international students at State Islamic Religious Colleges (PTKIN) is a demand in globalization. Their presence is an essential element in realizing a world-class university. But on the other hand, his presence leaves homework and becomes a challenge for PTKIN to always appear excellent in its services. At the implementation level in the field, various problems arise in the management of international students at PTKIN. This study aims to find out in-depth the strategy of PTKIN in building a global campus through the recruitment of international students and to fully understand the form of management of international students while studying at the PTKIN campus and the prospects challenges towards a world-class university. The data or information obtained through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation studies will be analyzed critically (critical analysis) to achieve the above objectives. The results of this study are that the prospects for State Islamic Religious Colleges (PTKIN) Towards World Class University at each university are not the same. This is because the academic and non-academic conditions of each university are different. State Islamic Religious Colleges (PTKIN) towards World-Class Universities are global competition and micro regulations and policies. The strategies and policies of PTKIN in managing international students to realize a World-Class University include improving services to international students, commitment to Good University Governance (GUG), strengthening the distinction of higher education, and increasing cooperation and collaboration.

Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Can Online Teaching Reduce the Carbon Footprint of the Internationalisation of UK Higher Education?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a learning curve for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in devising and delivering teaching online. This transition has enabled HEIs to continue teaching students, especially international students, who were restricted to travel to their countries of study. In the UK, approximately 20% of the student cohort are international students. The pandemic resulted in a drop in international student recruitment, which generated concerns about a potentially alarming economic crisis in the UK HE sector. However, COVID-19 measures have also been portrayed as a significant contributor to reducing global CO2 emissions. Thus, the question arises: can online teaching reduce the carbon footprint of the internationalisation of education? This paper reviews online teaching as a potential solution to reduce carbon footprint and increase access to HE, whilst maintaining high student performance in HE within the remits of internationalisation.

It’s Not As Easy as They Say: International Students’ Perspectives About Gaining Canadian Work Experience

This study provides insights into international students’ perspectives of preparing for entry into employment in the Canadian workforce. From a human capital perspective, international students are valuable resources for the Canadian labour market and other countries where populations are in decline. However, most research on international students has focused on their initial transition experience, and available research on their employment experiences is often limited to the post-graduation transition. International students need to build their capacity for employment concurrently while they are studying, gaining local work experience. In this article we present an analysis of critical incidents collected from international students which highlights five key barriers in their experience of the Canadian work context, including policies and procedures, competition and economic conditions, challenges for navigating local cultural norms, language abilities, and their personal life circumstances. The discussion draws connections between international student recruitment and their longer-term goals for residency in Canada, with recommendations for bridging policies and services.

COVID-19: Threat or Opportunity for the Portuguese Higher Education's Attractiveness for International Students?

The paper analyses the influence of COVID-19 on Portuguese institutions’ intake of international students and their responses to the pandemic. Two dimensions are considered: quantitative impact on international enrolments and higher education institutions’ strategies for the recruitment and support of international students. The first dimension is analysed through national statistics and comparison of enrolments over the past five years. Then, the institutional strategies implemented to encourage recruitment of new international students and to support existing ones during the lockdown are explored. Statistics show that COVID-19 had a negative impact on international enrolments, although less severe than expected. Growth has continued, but at a much slower pace than in the past few years. The slowdown in growth was much more pronounced in polytechnics than in universities. Additionally, the measures implemented by Portuguese higher education institutions suggest that these have coped with COVID-19 as an opportunity to rethink and redefine strategies.

Towards Sustainable Internationalization of Higher Education: Innovative Marketing Strategies for International Student Recruitment

Globalization and internationalization have received increasing attention from researchers in the field of education management over the past decade, who have found that internationalization is an indispensable component in the sustainable development of higher education (HE). This research aims to construct Innovative Marketing Strategies (IMS) for international student recruitment and contribute to the sustainable internationalization of higher education (IoHE). A literature review was used to construct an Innovative Marketing Strategies questionnaire. Data collected from 300 international students studying in Taiwan were used for a feasibility analysis in order to construct the final questionnaire, and survey data collected from 522 participants were used for more in-depth statistical analysis of the final strategies. The research results indicate that combining the marketing mix 4C with an innovative strategy (IS) approach provides sustainable recruitment marketing strategies toward higher education institution internationalization from a customer-oriented perspective. The IMS in this study includes 2 dimensions, 10 strategies, and 32 indicators. Additionally, a comprehensive analysis demonstrating the perspectives of international students with respect to the strategies was also conducted. This research contributes to the theoretical development and practical implementation of sustainable HE internationalization management. Discussions and recommendations based on the results of this study are also given.

Pandemic Repercussions

The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic have both short- and long-term repercussions on higher education. To crystallize these impacts in a sector that was particularly vulnerable to the economic effects of the pandemic, this mixed methods study explores the intersection of international education and community college responses to the pandemic. Findings indicated that due to the pandemic, community college international education programs faced a reallocation of institutional resources, both financial and otherwise, which shapes the educational opportunities available to students and informs the institutional habitus of the US community college. This study’s findings have implications in the areas of international student recruitment, limitationss to higher education access, and impacts on local and regional communities.