International Student Recruitment and Mobility in Non-Anglophone Countries

Theories, Themes, and Patterns

Hans de Wit, Ekaterina Minaeva, Lizhou Wang, Hans de Wit, Ekaterina Minaeva, Lizhou Wang

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000539844
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Éducation générale

International Student Recruitment and Mobility in Non-Anglophone Countries offers a detailed analysis of global dimensions and trends in international student mobility and recruitment. It examines current data on student flows, policies and instruments, obstacles and opportunities for recruitment, and the roles of multiple stakeholders from different parts of the world.

Considering the current geopolitical developments and tensions, increased competition for global talent, health and sustainability concerns, growing nationalism, and other factors, non-Anglophone countries are likely to increase their recruitment efforts moving forward. This book highlights the initiatives and instruments of these countries to attract international students and build long-term internationalization strategies.

With case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, International Student Recruitment and Mobility in Non-Anglophone Countries is a must-read text for international education policy advisors at the national and institutional levels and in the international higher education industry around the globe.

1 International student recruitment and mobility Dominant themes from literature and examples from key non-Anglophone countries

Lizhou Wang

DOI: 10.4324/9781003217923-1

Introduction

International student mobility is arguably the most essential component in the field of internationalization of higher education (IoHE), a process that “integrates an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions, and delivery of postsecondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff and make a meaningful contribution to society” (de Wit, Hunter, & Egron Polak, 2015, p. 29). Both outbound and inbound students are critical subjects and components in IoHE, thereby becoming goals for national and institutional endeavors. International student recruitment (ISR), consequently, becomes a quantifiable target for many countries when setting up a strategy on internationalization (de Wit, Rumbley, Craciun, Mihut, & Woldegiyorgis, 2019). This chapter analyzes echoing discussions on the definition of “international student,” interconnected rationales, and the “push-and-pull” model of student mobility. It utilizes examples from key non-Anglophone receiving countries, national agencies, and private actors—topics that will be addressed more thoroughly in the next chapters of this book.

The definition issue

In the international student mobility literature, the foremost discussion focuses on the definition of what an international student is, due to changing forms and modes of education delivery. Richters and Teichler (2006) defined an internationally mobile student as “a student having crossed a national border in order to undertake other study-related activities for at least a certain unit of a study program or a certain period of time in the country they have moved to” (p. 83). This broad definition tends to neglect the complexity of developments in mobility. As de Wit (2008) explained, the term “international student” might be the most expedient in the present context of international higher education, “not so much describing students’ movement across borders, but the fact that the content, the mode of delivery, and the provider have become more and more international” (p. 17).

Data sources from various international organizations also diverge in their definitions, thus collecting and calculating international student numbers differently (see Table 1.1). The most comprehensive world data source originates from UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS), covering inbound and outbound flows of international students for more than 100 countries. Countries respond to an annual UIS questionnaire that includes internationally mobile student numbers and countries of origin. The statistical agencies of individual countries release more specific and detailed data, and some offer breakdowns on degree types and subjects. Project Atlas offers data that covers both degree mobility and credit mobility in tertiary education, so the figures are usually greater than those reported by UIS or OECD. In OECD’s data, international students are individuals who received their prior education in another country and are not residents of their current country of study. When information on international students is not available, foreign students—students who are not citizens of the country in which they study—are used as a proxy.

Table 1.1 Definition by different data sources

Source	Definition	Details
OECD	International students are those who received their prior education in another country and are not residents of their current country of study. When information of international students is not available, foreign students—students who are not citizens of the country in which they study—can be used as a proxy.	OECD provides the number of international students from various origins who are enrolled in each OECD country.
UNESCO	Students who have crossed a national or territorial border for the purpose of education and are now enrolled outside their country of origin.	UIS provides the most comprehensive data to date on international student inbound and outbound flows for more than 100 countries. By responding to an annual UIS questionnaire, countries report the number of internationally mobile students whom they are hosting and information on the students’ countries of origin. Some numbers are indirect estimates
	International student mobility indicators are used to track the flows of tertiary-level students seeking higher education abroad.
Project Atlas	Students who undertake all or part of their higher education experience in a country other than their home country or who travel across a national boundary to a country other than their home country to undertake all or part of their higher education experience.	Project Atlas data cover both degree mobility and credit mobility in tertiary education, so the number reported is likely higher than those reported by UIS or OECD.
Specific Countries		Data from individual countries may provide further breakdowns of international students by sex, age, or degree types. Such data might be requested by relevant statistical agencies.
Source: Elaborated by author from OECD, UNESCO, Project Atlas and country documents.

Although the different classifications of internationally mobile students in statistics are problematic and not followed strictly by every country, they serve as a practical basis for discussion. It is now common to categorize degree-seeking international students as “international degree mobility” and students who study for credits abroad as part of their home degree as “international credit mobility.” Similarly, students who study abroad for a certificate, such as language training, summer programs, or intensive courses, are referred to as “international certificate mobility,” and students who participate in international online programs, as “virtual mobility.”

Such categorization does not solve more complicated situations, such as how to define students who study at home for a foreign degree through cross-border delivery (branch campuses, franchises, and online programs) or who study partly at home and partly abroad (articulation programs and joint and double degrees). Nevertheless, it provides some directions, in combination with information about the type of program in which the student participates. Table 1.2 presents a summary of the different representations of international students and corresponding classification in statistics.

Table 1.2 The term “International Student” and various representations in (Inter) national statistics

Type		Category in Statistics	Examples
1	3-12 months abroad to earn credits as part of the home degree program	“Credit mobility” students	Exchange students, international internships, (inter)national scholarship program students (Fulbright, ERASMUS)
2	Undergraduate degree or graduate degree abroad	“Diploma” or “degree mobility” students	With private funding, with (inter)national scholarships, or with income from work during study
3	Degree program in own country delivered by foreign providers	Excluded from statistics in most cases	Branch campuses and franchises
4	Joint or double degree program offered by national and foreign providers	“Temporary,” sometimes “credit,” or “diploma mobility” students.	Statistics show primarily the category of students who go abroad for an undergraduate or a graduate degree, pursuing the degree program completely, or mostly, at the foreign host institution.
		Excluded from statistics in some cases
Usually excluded and less analyzed student groups
1	Students who go abroad for short-term, study-related visits	Group study tours, summer programs, intensive language courses, etc. Reliable data on this type of international student are difficult to acquire, although they represent a high number of mobile students.
	Sometimes referred to as “certificate mobility”
2	Students who study in nontraditional or nonhigher education international programs	International degree and exchange students in nonhigher education
3		Online degree courses from a foreign provider, such as the online Ed.D. and online MBA programs. Because usually no visa or transnational travel is required, students are not included in national statistical data collections.
Source: Elaborated by author from OECD, UNESCO, Project Atlas and country documents.

Even in the case of full-degree mobility, statistics are not clear, due to intricacies in nationality and residency. There are foreigners since birth, migrants, individuals with a double nationality, those who change nationality, and those who move to or return to their country of study (Richters & Teichler, 2006, p. 84). Many countries and institutions have different admission standards, scholarship opportunities, and student services for students with almost identical academic capacity and background, but who differ in terms of nationality or residency. This complication thus generates controversies of equity in international education.

The difficulty in defining and categorizing international student mobility is also a product of massification and the interplay of demand and supply forces on the global education market. Students’ demand for the best and most diverse education, higher education institutions (HEIs’) supply of degree and nondegree programs, and communication technology’s evolution all create and accelerate new forms of international education. In short, ISR generally refers to inbound degree-seeking international students, although inbound credit-seeking, certificate, and virtually mobile students may also be included in data and policies.

International student numbers

Although different calculations on the scale of international student flows have yielded different projections (Altbach & OECD, as cited in de Wit, 2008, chapter 3), all indicate strong growth. According to the most comprehensive data collection covering all types of programs, Project Atlas, over 5.6 million higher education students were mobile in 2019, with Anglophone countries receiving 47 percent of the share (the United States 20 percent, the United Kingdom 10 percent, Canada 9 percent, and Australia 8 percent) (Institute of International E...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Foreword to the Series, Internationalization in Higher Education
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of acronyms
• Contributors
• 1 International student recruitment and mobility: Dominant themes from literature and examples from key non-Anglophone countries
• 2 National agencies and private actors in international student recruitment
• 3 English as medium of instruction in non-Anglophone countries: A global comparative analysis of policies, practices, and implications
• Part 2 Europe
• Part 3 Asia
• Part 4 Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa
• Index