Recruiting International Students in Higher Education

Representations and Rationales in British Policy

Sylvie Lomer

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9783319510736
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Comparative Education

This book offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of the UK's policy on recruiting international students. In a global context of international education policy, it examines changes from New Labour policies under Tony Blair's Prime Minister's Initiative, to the more recent Coalition and Conservative Government policies in the International Education Strategy. The research uses a text-based approach to primary research, adopting a critical framework developed by Carol Bacchi ('what is the problem represented to be'?). The book argues that international student policy can be reduced to reasons for and against recruiting international students; in doing so, students are represented as ambassadors for the UK or tools in its public diplomacy, consumers and generators of reputation, means to get money, and as migrants of questionable legitimacy. These homogenizing representations have the potential to shape international education, implicating academics as agents of policy, and infringing on students' self-formation. The book will be compelling reading for students and researchers in the fields of education and sociology, as well as those interested in education policy-making.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Acronyms
• List of Figures
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 International Higher Education Discourses
• Chapter 3 International Student Policy in the UK
• Chapter 4 Putting Discourse Theory into Practice
• Chapter 5 Influence: A Political Rationale and International Alumni as Ambassadors
• Chapter 6 Reputation: A Hybrid Educational-Commercial Rationale and Students as Consumers
• Chapter 7 Income: An Economic Rationale and International Students as Economic Contributors
• Chapter 8 Immigration: A Rationale Against International Student Recruitment
• Chapter 9 Conclusion
• Appendix A Policy Actors
• Appendix B Coding Structure
• Appendix C Extracts of Coding Reports
• Further Reading
• Index