Bis research paper number 128 The wider benefits of international higher education in the uk

4.2.8.2 Implications 
Some aspects of this benefit type overlap with the potential impact of professional 
networks (benefit type A3), but they may accrue over a longer term. Impact could 
accumulate by the embedding of UK methodologies, standards or working cultures during 
capacity building in the developing nation. Laying down such footprints as a nation 
develops could deliver substantial benefits in the long term as the nation grows socially 
and economically. A practical example can be seen through the adoption of UK electrical 
standards by most Commonwealth countries, as a result of their education systems being 
developed from UK curricula; this has now resulted in substantial export and licensing 
trade with the UK in the electrical field from these countries, whereas many non-
Commonwealth nations have adopted US standards.
Although the number of examples of such activity was relatively limited across the range of 
interviews, the potential long-term benefit from any one of these ‘seeds’ could be high. 
Case study: I15 
Kenyan alumnus I15’s parents were both teachers and he chose the UK to study a 
science BSc – at the University of the West of Scotland – as he had obtained a 
Commonwealth Scholarship. He saw it as an opportunity for some international 
exposure, remarking that his experience at university in Kenya had been limited due to 
its wholly national make-up. 
In Scotland he found the academic staff very helpful and there to be lots of trips and 
opportunities for international students. He reflected that he had had high expectations 
but that these had been delivered – and people in the UK were more friendly and less 
self-centred than he had anticipated. 
Gaining the UK MSc has given him credibility and he thinks younger people see him as a 
role model. On his return to Kenya, he joined a consultancy firm – a change of career as 
he had been teaching – but then secured a PhD place in New Zealand as his primary 
focus had turned to ecology and agriculture; he had seen that all British people had 
enough to eat and could see no reason why all Kenyans should not enjoy the same right,
as they have the resources. He is now on a mission to ensure that Kenyans make better 
use of those resources and can feed themselves. 
I15’s confidence means that he feels he is becoming ‘a natural leader.’ He has 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK