What strategies can be used to increase the diversity of international students?

Defining the metrics of diversity within your recruitment efforts of international students requires you to do some fact-finding. Consider surveying your incoming students around the idea of social and personal identities to explore how they intersect with their academic goals. Do they feel that their identities might impact meeting the mission or values established by the academic institution? How do they define belonging? Where are there misalignments or assumptions being made by your program or institution?

One of the most important aspects of working with international students, and defining strategies around them, is to consider the impact and implications they face studying in a different culture. Each student who arrives from another country has been educated in a uniquely situated pedagogical setting. Their relationship with teachers, coursework, assignments, writing styles, habits, interactions and lived experiences will be very diverse, and far ranging. In approaching these dynamic features, we need to consider and understand cross-cultural systems of thought, and have an awareness of not only how attainment and achievement are important in determining a recruitment strategy, but also the hierarchy of needs such students reflect daily.

It is important to involve alumni, who were themselves international students, in their home country. Their experiences help the institution improve support for and increase the recruitment of international students. A consistent presence in the countries from which an institution would like to recruit is also critical. International students need to see that an institution’s interest goes beyond numbers and that the interest is in making a positive impact around the world. Domestic students also benefit from contact with international alumni. Creating courses that incorporate brief trips abroad to countries from which the institution would like to increase enrollment and alumni engagement is an effective way to achieve both goals.

Why is diversity so important? No matter how you define diversity within your institution, diversity enhances the plurality of opinions, ways of thinking and ultimately empowers the learning experience. No discussion will happen in a group of like-minded, like-educated, and like-professionalized students as they will agree on anything. It fosters extreme thinking and solutions. Adding to this environment disruptive thinkers (because they have lived, learned, and worked in different “worlds”), create tension, rethinking, and awakening. It fights extreme thinking and ultimately leads to better outcomes for the entire group.

Defining diversity goals is paramount for aligning institutional strategies and garnering stakeholder support. Diversity, a multifaceted concept, can be assessed through numerous indicators like ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, among others. The granularity of these goals—be it institutional, faculty, or departmental—should be specified to ensure targeted initiatives. Setting these objectives isn't just a compliance exercise; it echoes the institution's core vision, mission, and values. Clear, realistic diversity goals offer a framework for actionable strategies, effective resource allocation, and transparent communication, thus elevating the institution's commitment to creating an inclusive environment.

Universities have entered a dubious space in the modern era of higher education; international students are worth millions, and such international students could potentially contribute far more in residency whilst overseas. If we are not careful universities will slide towards viewing recruitment as a tool to support their own budgets and needs, rather than seeking to promote global educational standards or citizenry. In approaching the design of systems of education around international students, we need to be careful that we do not slip towards exploitation, such as moving admissions boundaries to simply enable high fee paying international students to attend, but possibly not succeed, in challenging programmes of study.

Market research is a critical process for businesses and organizations seeking to understand their market, customers, and competition. It involves gathering and analyzing data to make informed decisions. Conducting market research helps you identify trends, assess demand for products or services, and make strategic choices that can lead to growth and success.

While university peer-to-peer partnerships are certainly helpful, they are not scalable. Also, the playing field is inequitable working in favour of prestigious and well-recognised university brands. Young, niche, and local universities can increase their global reach and recognition by tapping on platforms that aggregate study programs and attract the eyeballs of prospective students globally. Research shows that many students are brand-agnostic and instead are looking for the right fit, often unaware of the value proposition of the lesser known universities. Diversify channels to communicate the USP and increase programme visibility. Localise your message and tailor it to the market, by promoting the right programmes in the right places.

Partnerships are a great way to boost the institutional brand especially when entering new markets. It shows commitment and creates brand associations with prestigious local players. Joint projects with local corporations enable additional reach. Here, especially the connections of alumni can become very strategic. The type of partnerships can range by strategic objectives: exchange programs (the least common denominator), pathway programs (enables further academic growth opportunities for graduates from a local entity, often sweetened by scholarship programs), study tours, competitions up to dual degrees (easy to set-up) or joint degrees (complex and under accreditation scrutiny).

International student partnerships have also become a grey area for many universities in the modern era. On the one hand, as universities seek to establish overseas partnerships with other countries, this can lead to diverse cohesive educational experiences where both staff and students enjoy the benefits of learning across cultures. On the other, such partnerships and programmes can easily become silos of international students learning in isolation, or entire educational institutes set up to enable overseas degrees to be delivered inside a host country, whereby those who established it will be far away from the action, lessening accountability. Of course international HE partnerships are lucrative, but with this comes responsibility.

Diversifying partnerships involves expanding collaboration with a variety of organizations, industries, and stakeholders. This strategy can lead to fresh insights, resources, and opportunities for growth and innovation. By partnering with a diverse range of entities, a business or institution can reduce risk, increase resilience, and tap into new markets or customer segments. It also fosters a culture of adaptability and creativity.

One of the most absurd aspects of higher education is the degree that an enlightened profession, those paid to think and educate, accept a wide degree of inequality. To pretend that students who come from the most socioeconomically disadvantaged settings have either the scope, scale or resources to attend the most privileged universities is like asking them to scale a mountain, without any equipment. We need, as a profession, to do far more to reflect diversity, and enable diverse students of every background and intelligence to attend university. Accessibility is one of the biggest barriers an international student faces. Consider this: Why charge higher fees for international students? If we lowered the cost, we would raise enrolment.

The challenge with this recommendation to increase scholarships for international students is that it runs counter to the economic realities of higher education. For state schools, international students are a source of revenue since they are paying higher tuition that domestic, in-state students, thus the incentive to offer scholarships runs counter to practical priorities.

Scholarships can be used in several ways: 1. As a pure marketing tool to drive applications: An aggressive marketing campaign is usually associated with those scholarship programs. Though the number of advertised scholarships might be limited, the idea is to find candidates who can afford the program anyway. So, you grant 3 scholarships of a high amount, but get 5 additional candidates who pay (almost) the full price. 2. As a way to entice certain profiles: in order to balance the overall student profile (by geography, academic backgrounds, recruiter demand), scholarships might be pushed towards profiles that fill that gap. Ranking considerations might come into place as well. 3. As compensation for income gaps: this is self-explanatory

Offering scholarships and financial aid is a key approach to make education more accessible and affordable. Scholarships can be based on merit, need, or specific criteria, and they help students pursue their educational goals without being burdened by excessive financial constraints. Providing financial aid demonstrates a commitment to supporting student success and expanding opportunities for a more diverse student body.

Les établissements d'enseignement supérieur peuvent mettre en place des stratégies efficaces pour promouvoir la diversité de leur population étudiante internationale en offrant des bourses et de l'aide financière. Ils pourraient par exemple proposer des bourses spécifiques aux étudiants provenant de pays sous-représentés, ou mettre en place des programmes d'aide financière aux étudiants à faible revenu. De plus, ils pourraient organiser des sessions d'information et des événements pour informer les étudiants étrangers sur les possibilités de financement disponibles. Enfin, ils pourraient également collaborer avec des organisations et des partenaires externes afin de proposer des bourses supplémentaires à leurs étudiants internationaux.

Students from international backgrounds live, learn and interact very differently to students of a domestic nature. The way relationships, families and friendship unfold across cultures is incredibly diverse. Therefore, it is not surprising that students from international backgrounds become isolated, fee alone or have potential to suffer mental health issues if they are not supported in an inclusive, holistic university environment whilst away from their friends and family. To this end, we need to do more to design structures and systems around their learning experiences, and ensure that we recognise the international student is more than a fee paying enrolment number. Their experience, with us, is more than just about studying a degree.

One thing I find critical for international students being one myself and having worked with so many as part of my job is showing empathy. International students especially in higher education are aware of the challenges they need to overcome, they are hard workers and are dedicated to their education. However they need to be reassured that the struggle is real and that their teachers and supervisors understand and empathise with them. This doesn't mean giving special treatment but rather providing counselling and community supprot and most of the time just active listening.

Providing comprehensive support services is crucial for enhancing student success and well-being. These services can include academic advising, counseling, career guidance, and access to resources like libraries and research facilities. By offering a robust support system, educational institutions can empower students to navigate their academic journey more effectively, address challenges, and thrive in their learning environment.

In my experience, having international students in my classes and also having been an international student myself, reaching out around campus with friendly slogans or greetings displayed in native languages and welcoming displays of culturally significant items like folk art from different cultures around the world can may international students feel welcomed.

Regularly evaluating and improving processes, strategies, and performance is essential for sustained growth and success. By analyzing data, soliciting feedback, and actively seeking areas for enhancement, businesses and organizations can adapt to changing circumstances, optimize their operations, and continuously innovate to meet evolving needs and expectations.

I feel that most international students who visit other countries for higher education come from well-to-do families. The ones from the lowest social strata never get the change to study at universities in Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, or the UK. Thus efforts should to attract students belonging to low income families. Unfortunately, even the student Visa requirements need students to have atleast $10,000 liquid cash in their accounts. How can such a policy attract students from low income households?

Government policies are also important! For example, recently, to cope with Brexit's issues like downsizing number of EU students in the UK, the British government announce graduate visa that support universities to recruit and attract more students to the UK. And visa is also an important issue that we must consider. Due to lacking of staff for visa processing, many international students could not get visa on time for studying in the UK or EU and have to delay their starting date may affect universities.

And the visa fee. UK especially have comparatively higher visa fee. For example, I applied for a visit visa to attend an academic conference. They doubled the priority visa fee from $322 to $635 within days. Total cost of visit visa was close to $1300. Moreover, their customer service is paid. Like, they charge you close to $5 to reply to your email queries.