A new manifesto for international education

Featured in University World News 7th December 2019

Louise Nicol  

As the various political parties in the United Kingdom campaign on their election manifestos, it is worth considering a new Manifesto for UK International Education.

We know that manifestos can be short-sighted and intended to grab headlines with reductions in taxes and increases in spending to appeal to voters. In the same way tuition fee discounts, usually dressed up as ‘scholarships’, are introduced by institutions to recruit students. Alongside these are the parade of honorary graduates, Nobel prize-winning lecturers and hand-picked alumni to add lustre to the prospectus.

But this focus on short-term recruitment obscures the reality that it is the career outcomes of graduates that will determine the winners in the long run. Globally ambitious countries and their universities are realising that in the ‘Asian Century’ it is what happens to students returning home that will make – or break – reputations.

The definition of success is important because it is through graduate outcomes that a university creates a living and lasting legacy. This is particularly so when over 90% of international graduates return to their home country to create a global network of future advocates, employers and decision-makers.

UK universities would do well to note that Australia is looking increasingly closely at the graduate outcomes for international students through qualitative research as well as data insights.

Thinking beyond the current mindset of student recruitment as a measure of success is important if universities are to equip their international graduates for working lives and careers. It is a major strategic shift that will prove to be a point of differentiation and strength for those who are the first movers.

Here are seven winning manifesto pledges and some examples of current good practice:

Develop a mindset that sees graduate outcomes as strategically more important than student recruitment. Fifty graduates engaged in brilliant careers are worth more to reputation and recruitment after two years than 100 disenchanted people who have drifted from one dead-end role to another. After five years they will continue to be more effective than those who have had to return home through the lack of a visa to stay for post-study employment.

Coventry University offers students a ‘primary focus…on preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market’. It is globalising its careers service and focusing on Graduate Outcomes as a key facet of international student recruitment and marketing.

Make data the basis for your decision-making to fulfil the graduate outcome agenda as well as broader corporate aims. It is not enough to rely on half a dozen graduates to remain in touch or rely on the downgraded response rates of the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’, now ‘Graduate Outcomes’. You need decent sample sizes that allow you to compare by country and company while contrasting with competitors.

Durham has articulated its 2017-27 strategy with a strong focus on data and outputs. It plans to have 35% international students and to have 25% of students working or studying abroad as part of their degrees. This commitment to students is matched by its focus on global reach and reputation through achieving 50% of eligible subject areas in the QS World Top 50.

Understand and respond to employer needs, market conditions and changing trends by using longitudinal data that capture successful career paths while identifying changes in international job opportunities. Recognise that most Asian employers have little or no understanding of the strengths of most foreign universities and use targeted data to build robust and productive employer networks.

The business schools at Nottingham Trent University and King’s College London put employer engagement at the heart of their offer to both students and employers. Their teams look to engage globally, particularly in Asia and the ASEAN region.

Champion fundamental changes to academic development and careers service provision. Determine and measure how globalisation is embedded into every course. Test ideas for new curricula with international employers, alumni, governments and current students.

Invigorate, empower and invest in graduate careers and advice departments that are as concerned about the careers of students going overseas as they are about those staying at home.

Aston University has a long history of putting work-based learning and industrial placements at the heart of its student offer. With one of the largest placement teams in the UK, an additional focus on international industrial placements is adding to the existing strength of the placement offer.

Long-term trailblazer in terms of international activity, Exeter University is revolutionising the importance of Graduate Outcomes with 20 new posts in its careers, employer engagement and student success teams.

Lead the revolution in preparing home students for the Asian Century. The power of Asian companies and their employment of graduates around the globe will change the face of employment. Increasing opportunities will follow from Asian companies servicing the changing demographic and wealth needs of their communities. More students will need to be comfortable with working and living overseas and seeking jobs in companies they did not grow up knowing about.

Smart universities are engaging in targeted activity with Asian-based companies to improve the chances for their graduates being employed in fulfilling careers. Examples include Nottingham Trent working with Astro, the all-Asia satellite TV and radio operator, and Aston University linking with Tesco to fill graduate positions in the retailer’s stores in Malaysia.

Decide how you can exploit the brand awareness, global reach and reputation that emerges from a comprehensive approach to international graduate outcomes. No other institution has graduates like yours and so you can have unassailable claims to differentiation. Your engagement, contacts and well-placed alumni bring you opportunities across research, professional development and executive courses.

The management school at the University of Sheffield has been market-leading in terms of establishing a differentiated brand in the business school space, focusing on their research reputation and employability in the areas of corporate social responsibility, human resources and global impact. They have built brand awareness and a global reputation in this area.

As we have seen with the recent reintroduction of the post-study work visa in the UK, different countries are in the ascendancy at different times. But differentiation and long-term sustainability of reputation and power can be secured by having a well-placed alliance of students in-country.

With foresight planning and measured implementation to achieve outstanding graduate outcomes, it is possible to build that foundation while providing international students with the lifetime support they deserve.

Louise Nicol is director of Asia Careers Group SDN BHD, a company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which provides longitudinal graduate outcomes and average salary data to both the UK, ASEAN governments and higher education institutions.

Asia Careers Group Investing in International Futures

? Contact - [email protected]