Page 8 – Industry insight from professionals in international education

Schools wanting to compete for top international faculty need robust integration strategies

“Faculty willing to migrate to work for you are usually happy to relocate to work for your competitors”

Growing diversity has been a key objective in the business world for a few decades now, as international corporations realise bringing a mix of people to the table introduces fresh ideas and allows for continuous innovation.

It’s been no stranger to the higher education sector either, especially for institutions that teach business and management. From the executive level down to bachelor courses, having a diverse cohort of students and participants has been (rightly) deemed an important issue.

July 14, 2022
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Europe, Higher education, Internationalisation, Teaching

Transforming Thai higher education through global partnership

“Thailand’s unique location in South East Asia sees it poised to become a regional education hub, an advantage the UK cannot ignore”

In response to Thailand’s ambition to internationalise its higher education system, the flagship Thai, UK World Class University Consortium initiative pairs seven Thai universities, through 15 research projects, with 14 lead UK university partners. This impressive partnership empowers outstanding collaboration on topics high on the list of national agendas.

July 6, 2022
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British Council, Higher education, Innovation, Transnational education, UK

Covid proved universities could rapidly innovate, don’t stop

“Issuing digital credentials, authenticating in Blockchain-secure digital wallet, verifying with the click of a button. This is all possible now”

As the Colorado Avalanches – the Denver-based ice hockey team – played for their spot in the Stanley Cup, tertiary education admissions teams discussed the avalanche of international student applicants this year. The NAFSA international education conference was in town.

Naturally, the conference mood was positive. People were happy to be back in person at the famed NAFSA event. It had a real sense of “business as usual”. The conference theme was “building our sustainable future”, but the talk in the expo hall was all about getting numbers back to pre-Covid levels.

June 29, 2022
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Edtech, Higher education, Innovation, USA

The challenge of attracting international students in an increasingly competitive marketplace

“Universities might not be corporate entities, but they do need to adopt a business mindset to compete successfully”

How can universities in the UK protect themselves from losing ground to other countries hungry to encourage more applications from international students?

Although currently sitting at number two in the global rankings, the higher education sector is facing rising competition from other nations keen to maximise the income and enrichment that international students bring to campuses. And the stakes are high, writes Ian Anderson, Global Enterprise Architect at Ellucian.

June 29, 2022
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British Council, Europe, Higher education, Study abroad, UK

We must target the root causes of gender bias in the classroom

“Despite girls’ education having been advertised as a priority for decades, top aid agency education investments have rarely targeted the underlying barriers girls face”

Recently, the UK launched their new International Development strategy. Almost at the very top of their priorities is girls’ education—“every girl receiving 12 years of quality education”—and women’s economic equality–“improve economic security for girls and women.”

The strategy talks about the specific barriers that girls face: violence in school, early marriage, unintended pregnancies, as well as issues that are likely to disproportionately impact girls, like poverty and disability. Tackling these issues is a crucial step in the right direction, and is something which has been overlooked in the past.

“Many education providers have started to think about alternative ways to allow their international students to receive in-person support and experience a physical learning environment”

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed important challenges but also proposed new opportunities and solutions to international education.

Most students worldwide have had to spend most of the past two years studying remotely, which has raised pressing questions about value for money, in particular for international students, and about the quality of the student experience.

June 9, 2022
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Edtech, Europe, Higher education, Transnational education, UK

What will global student mobility look like post-pandemic?

“We have outlined four key focus areas which can help benchmark your internationalisation strategy against rapidly changing market dynamics”

As we move beyond the Great Lockdown into the new normal, the challenge of attracting and engaging international students is no longer the same.

Covid-19 disruption has forced universities to think outside the box and build a more diverse international student pipeline, but what will global student mobility look like in three years’ time and which markets should recruiters prioritise?

“Aspirations are shaped in early years with more than one in 10 international students considering HE abroad before their eleventh birthday”

The past two years have undeniably presented significant barriers to international student mobility. Closed borders, digital learning, social unrest, virtual outreach, visa uncertainties and geopolitics to name but a few – but, far from hitting the panic alarm, millions of students continue to follow their dream of studying overseas.

Within UCAS’ new report, published today in collaboration with the US-based non-profit organisation College Board which delivers programs like the SAT and Advanced Placement, we estimate that during the pandemic, over 155,000 international students chose the UK as their destination of choice and begun their studies. The global HE marketplace appears to have weathered the Covid storm.

“None of the SDGs can be achieved in isolation: to truly deliver lasting change, collaboration between universities and partners around the world will be critical”

In an opening address to the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers late last month, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta sounded a clarion call to government education ministers around the world.

They should, he said ‘be alarmed to note that, by 2050, Korea and Japan will be enrolling 80% or more of their high school graduates to higher education, while countries such as the Central African Republic and Niger will be struggling to reach 5%.’ This gap, he said, was a critical issue for the Commonwealth, whose 54 member states are home to one in three of the world’s young people.

“Even with all restrictions on travel lifting, there is an increasing demand for higher education in the hybrid format”

2021 has been a breakout year for the study abroad segment globally and in India. The year showed an industry-defining bounce back from Covid induced setbacks with strong growth on all fronts. As per the Government of India data released, a total of 444,553 students went abroad for higher education in 2021 in comparison to 259,655 in 2020. That is a massive 71% increase in student outflow. As per trends we’ve seen, countries like the US, UK, and Canada lead the way in terms of top preferred destinations for Indian students.