The political environment where the HE sector had to worry about the impact of a rapid influx of international students on local areas is long gone. The emerging landscape is all about “good growth in every British postcode” in the words of PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham.
That changes the conversation. What might once have been emergency rearguard action to mitigate what some local stakeholders might have considered to be over-ambitious recruitment of international students can now be set up as a constructive discussion about the region’s offer to global talent, and how international students can support the area’s knowledge and innovation ecosystem.
Making it real in the regions
As part of Wonkhe and IDP’s exploration of the baseline conditions that will allow the HE sector to make a success of the international Education Strategy, we hosted a round table discussion on international education and regional development with HE leaders and experts.
The stakes are high – many regional policymakers understand that international recruitment is currently propping up many universities’ business models. While the risks of university financial failure and the loss of a major regional institution are widely discussed within the HE sector, those risks have not yet been made visible to the public as a potential regional employment story, comparable in impact to the closure of a major industrial centre. Universities often hold quite granular data on the economic contribution of international students to their region. In theory, there are strong incentives for local MPs, mayors and local authorities to endorse and support international education.
That’s not really the world that institutions are operating within, however. Attendees agreed that the abstract economic returns argument has hit a ceiling, and simply doesn’t resonate with the key groups of voters that regional policymakers need to keep onside. Others – particularly those from parties intrinsically hostile to immigration in general – may see the numbers but simply care more about other political pressures and perceived risks. From the institutional side, however, it shouldn’t be assumed that voters or members of populist parties are necessarily hostile to international students per se – for some, the more important question is whether those students add value in tangible ways, in health education provision, or civic engagement, in meeting critical skills needs, or in knowledge exchange and innovation.
While in the current market context the idea of local services being overwhelmed by international students might seem absurd to institutional leaders, there are cautionary tales to absorb from comparator countries. In the past Australia, Canada and New Zealand have all had the experience of student number growth outpacing the absorptive capacity of civic infrastructure. Institutional international growth strategies will be expected to take into consideration the local context, particularly pressures on housing, but also – for the benefit and quality of experience of students as much as local residents – relevant public service provision, part-time work, public safety, and community relations.
Value in synergy
From an institutional perspective, focusing the dialogue on the positive benefits of international education could also mean a more evidence-based mapping of courses that are positioned for the international market against local and regional skills needs. Attendees endorsed the principle of mapping international course portfolios more deliberately both to UK industrial strategy and skills shortage areas, and to the industrial priorities of the source countries international graduates will return to. It was acknowledged, however, that altering an institutional portfolio is laborious and resource-intensive, and needs to be undertaken in line with overall mission, not just in pursuit of an international market. Where there are genuine synergies, making these more visible and seeking to generate additional value can only benefit students, institutions and regions. Where there are not, they should not be forced.
Realising additional value could involve adopting a more creative approach to pre- and post-graduation employment. The truncation of the Graduate Route to 18 months, while much preferable to cancelling it altogether, may reduce the incentive for some employers to bring in international student talent. Yet employability and career development – in the broadest sense but including UK-based employment opportunities – remain critical drivers for international student choice. Institutions that are making employability a key plank of their international offer will need to have a strong sense of the nature of labour market opportunities both regionally and in source countries, to give international students a clear sense of their realistic options, as well as employer relationships that can facilitate concrete work experience as part of the offer.
The sector is not devoid of opportunities to achieve closer alignment between its global recruitment and regional engagement, but attendees reflected on the ways that institutional structures can undermine strategic alignment. International offices are understandably hyper-focused on recruitment and associated compliance metrics. External relations, public affairs and civic engagement functions tend to sit elsewhere in the institution, and where tensions arise between those two functions it is not always clear whose job it is to resolve them, or even what weight should be given to financial incentives versus external reputational incentives. When this works, attendees argued, it tends to be by deliberate institutional design: combined PVC remits for global and civic engagement, vice-principal roles for regional engagement, or professional services structures organised around themes rather than teams. The common factor is a senior person with a cross-institutional mandate.
For the International Education Strategy to be considered a success – especially under the administration of the likely future PM – export growth will need to be “felt” across the UK. The conversation around international education and regional impact must acknowledge and seek to mitigate any concerns about the impact of international student recruitment on local areas, of course, but the real prize is strategic partnerships in regions that align international education with a wider agenda for growth and prosperity. If Andy Burnham is serious about putting universities at the heart of local growth, then international education provision forms a critical part of that calculation.
This article is published as part of a partnership with IDP Education, exploring the factors that will enable the sector to make a success of the government’s International Education Strategy. You can view the first in our series, focused on the quality of international education, here.
