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

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References........................................................................................................................... 102
 
Appendix 1................................................................................................................................... 105
 
Rationale for groupings of graduate characteristics.................................................................. 105
 
Detailed characteristics of the interview sample ....................................................................... 106
 
Additional alumni groupings accessed...................................................................................... 108
 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
Executive summary 
Research objectives and method 
The UK has a long tradition and worldwide reputation for being at the forefront of 
international higher education (HE), and is a top destination for internationally mobile 
students. The 435,000 international students in the UK in 2011/12 comprise a major part of 
UK HE provision with potentially large-scale impacts on the HE sector and the UK itself. 
There is direct financial impact of international students on the host country through fee 
income and associated expenditure during study. The value of this ‘education export’ for 
the UK has been researched and for HE was estimated at about £8 billion for 2008/09 
(Conlon et al., 2011). However, there has been much less investigation of the wider 
benefits of international HE study in the UK. The Department for Business, Innovation & 
Skills is undertaking work to understand the range and extent of that wider impact.
This study was commissioned to develop understanding of wider benefits to the graduates, 
their countries of origin and, especially, to the UK. The aim was to investigate and illustrate 
social, economic and political benefits, including ‘soft power’ impact. This was attempted 
through primary qualitative research with non-EU international graduates who studied in 
the UK, underpinned by a review of existing knowledge and literature. Hitherto, many 
studies of the UK’s international HE have focused on current students and their 
perceptions of the study experience. Our study provides a new angle on study experiences 
and especially subsequent benefits and impact, through the lens of international alumni. 
Interviews were carried out with non-EU international alumni who graduated from UK HE 
institutions in 2007 and 2008, re-contactable after participation in recent research (i-GO 
study, BIS, 2012), and others responding to targeted invitations through alumni networks 
including Chevening and Commonwealth scholars. The interview sample was designed to 
reflect the range of characteristics of international students in the UK, including country of 
origin, level and subject of study, HE institution type and location, current residency and 
occupation, and funding type. A total of 100 telephone and Skype interviews were carried 
out in February-March 2013, by a small team of ‘expert’ interviewers skilled in career 
conversations and international education, using a semi-structured interview basis. 
The focus on non-EU international graduates was partly pragmatic, as there was access to 
the previous survey sample, and partly because less is known about their circumstances 
(they have not to date been included in HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher 
Education surveys). Non-EU students have also historically been a distinct group in 
relation to fee levels. For simplicity, the research was restricted to graduates who had 
physically studied in the UK (excluding transnational education students and other models 
of international HE which could be worthy of separate research).