Is balanced mobility possible for a country like the UK?

Kevin Van-CauterHigher Education AdviserBritish Council, Manchester

UK Next Generation’ Report: UK undergraduates 19-21 years old

• High awareness of globalisation as an economic issue affecting businesses & trade

between nations – but with little impact on them

• 78% felt that having an international perspective was important

• Arts students felt themselves more internationally aware than science

• 75% were interested in travelling abroad. 64% would consider working or

volunteering overseas and just 43% studying

• English language countries dominated the wish list of places to work

UK Next Generation’ Report: UK undergraduates 19-21 years old [Cont’d]

• Motivations for international experience were learning about other cultures,

independence, character building. No strong association made with making them

competitive in the jobs market.

• Concentration on gaining “soft” skills: learning about other cultures, personal

experience - Having fun or good memories were more important

• Primary barriers were cost, poor language skills & perceived lack of time

• 25% considered the idea as ‘daunting’ and many worried about leaving friends

behind

• Universities played a key role in encouraging students to partake in international

experience and to think more internationally

Changing Global Context

Global education market is expected to grow significantly in the long-term

Fundamental and far reaching changes in the underlying dynamics of the global

education market mean that the operating context is very different and there are

no guarantees that the UK will maintain its strong position

Early indicators suggest a market break-point: established trends are changing

dramatically

Overall global growth in student mobility, but a slow down in the growth rates for

some major countries

Shape of Things to come – British Council research (2012)

• at a global level, demographic changes and economic slow down will affect the

growth of the tertiary education sector – it is expected to grow 1% per annum on

average, down from 5% per annum in the previous decades.

• The growth in international student mobility conforms to a constant percentage of

domestic enrolments (2%)

• as such a significant slow down in the growth in mobility is expected next decade.

China, India, South Korea, Germany and Turkey will remain the top countries of origin

for international students. However, the highest growth in absolute terms in

international students will come from India, Nigeria and Malaysia

Key findings

1.Analysis of macroeconomic and demographic data suggests a significant slow down in the growth of tertiary education enrolments.

2.The above directly affects the mobility of international students – much lower growth is projected to 2020

3.Continued trans-national education growth, determined by quality, student experience and responding to demand in niche subject areas

4.Increasing importance of international collaborations in the production of quality research

5.Implications for UK higher education institutions

Globally mobile students

• 3.5m international students in 2009 - up from 800,000 in mid 1970s

• However, global mobility rate remained unchanged at 2%

• China and India make up 29% of the tertiary enrolments, but only 21% of the

globally mobile students

• Outbound ratios vary across countries: from over 25% for Mauritius, Trinidad

and Tobago and Botswana to less than 1% for the UK, US, Russia, Indonesia,

Philippines, Egypt and Brazil

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

BotswanaTrinidad & Tobago

MauritiusZimbabweHong Kong

AngolaSingaporeMorocco

IrelandSri Lanka

NepalUzbekistan

KenyaUAE

MalaysiaKazakhstan

GreeceBelarus

SwitzerlandGermany

Saudi ArabiaSouth Korea

IsraelJordanGhana

CanadaPakistanVietnam

FranceRomania

NigeriaItaly

ChinaTurkeyPoland

EthiopiaIraq

ColombiaSpain

UkraineBangladesh

JapanIndia

ThailandMexico

IranUK

AustraliaSouth Africa

IndonesiaVenezuela

RussiaEgyptBrazil

PhilippinesUS

%

Tertiary outbound mobility ratio (2009)

Source: UNESCO, OECD, Oxford Economics

0% 10% 20% 30%

UAEAustralia

SingaporeUK

SwitzerlandFranceJordan

GermanyIrelandCanada

South AfricaMalaysia

Hong KongGreece

USJapan

ItalySpain

Saudi ArabiaMorocco

KazakhstanSouth Korea

RussiaEgypt

GhanaUkraineBelarus

RomaniaTurkeyPoland

ThailandZimbabwe

BrazilVietnam

MauritiusChina

UzbekistanPhilippinesVenezuela

BangladeshIndonesia

Nepal

%

Tertiary inbound mobility ratio (2009)

Source: UNESCO, Oxford Economics

-700 -500 -300 -100 100 300 500 700

USUK

AustraliaFrance

GermanyCanada

JapanRussiaSpain

SwitzerlandUAE

EgyptSingapore

JordanItaly

MalaysiaIrelandGhana

MauritiusUkraine

PhilippinesThailand

GreeceSaudi Arabia

VenezuelaBrazil

RomaniaBangladesh

PolandNepal

Hong KongZimbabwe

MexicoIndonesia

BelarusUzbekistan

IranVietnamMorocco

TurkeyKazakhstan

South KoreaIndia

China

000s

Inbound

Outbound

Inbound and outbound mobile tertiary students (2009)

Source: OECD, Oxford Economics

Benefits of international students to the UK

• Fee income from non-EU students is a significant proportion

of total income for a large number of higher education

institutions. • International students also stimulate demand for courses

where domestic demand alone can be insufficient to sustain

them, thus ensuring that a wider range of courses are

available for all students and some strategically important

courses remain viable. • International students in the UK bring diversity to the

education sector, helping to provide an international

dimension that benefits all students.

• Engagement in international education enhances the

reputation of UK and of institutions• The experience of students in UK education helps to

create good relations that will enable successful

engagement with the next generation of global

leaders. TNE also plays a role in promoting the UK as

a destination for study.

Promoting UK outward student mobility

• We recognise the importance of UK students spending

time abroad. The higher education sector is developing

a strategy for outward student mobility. The strategy will

promote the benefits of outward mobility and signpost

opportunities for students and institutions. It will work

with business and others to source scholarship funding,

support the brokerage of internships, and reinforce

messages on the value of outward student mobility for

employability. • Government has made a funding contribution to support

this initiative

• We also have bilateral programmes with a number of

countries. For example, under UK-China Partners in

Education, David Willetts launched the British Council

Generation UK initiative in June. It aims to increase

the number of UK students going to China to 15,000

over three years. In 2012, 4,250 UK students studied

in China, the aim through this programme would be for

over 5,000 a year to go to China, an increase of nearly

20%..

Uk need sto to address barriers, which are:•cost, •language capability •academic credit •understanding of opportunities.

For example in 2013/14, England is introducing new

measures which extend support to students taking study

placements outside the EU’s Erasmus scheme. This

recognises the equal importance of students gaining

experience in other developed and emerging economies.

The Strategy will address:

• Diversity of the UK HE sector

• Definitions of outward mobility, including the length

• Language barriers and other confidence issues for students

• Widening access for under represented groups

• Financial barriers and portability of loans

• The need for a culture shift in attitudes to mobility

University to University Partnerships

• Providing outward mobility opportunities through Joint & Dual Awards (BC has provided

seedcorn funding for the development of either Joint / Dual Awards OR Student Mobility

• Through evidence from BC funded outward mobility projects to offer 2 way exchange of

students, we know benefits are accrued to

the student

the institution

the academic

Some findings from student exchange programmes

Benefits to students

• Challenges students

• Increases confidence

• Time to reflect

• Cross cultural awareness

• Cross disciplinary experience

• International networks

• Personal Professional Development

• Exhibition experience

• Experience of residency programme

• Enhances CV

Institutional Benefits

• Enhances the home student experience & the international student experience

• Strengthens Institutional links - to develop into other areas, such as research

• Student mobility increases recruitment – offering a more cosmopolitan environment

• Enhances staff experience

Some resources

• UK Students Abroad http://www.britishcouncil.org/higher-education/uk-students-abroad

• Erasmus www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus.htm

• Euraxess www.britishcouncil.org/new/euraxess

• IAESTE www.britishcouncil.org/iaeste.htm

• Thai English Language Assistants http://www.britishcouncil.org/accessenglish-

news-uk-language-assistants-leave-thailand-with-smile.htm

• UK China Next Generation programme http://www.britishcouncil.org/higher-

education/uk-students-abroad/china-generation-uk

• UK Next Generation Report

http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/PageFiles/15492/YouGov_Report_v3.pdf