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

4.3.4 Benefit type C4: Personal growth and wider experiences 
Alumni reported other aspects of perceived personal and social development while they 
were students in the UK, beyond their academic learning, improved English language 
proficiency and intercultural awareness. An expected impact of international study is that 
students change and grow as individuals both through their on-campus activities and wider 
interactions with the host country society. Key facilitators of these impacts include part-
time work during the study period and volunteering activities.
4.3.4.1 Research 
evidence 
A very common example of personal growth reported by many alumni interviewed was 
through having to overcome personal challenges inherent in overseas study, particularly at 
its outset when they had to cope with setting themselves up a new life in an alien country 
and environment, in some cases initially with less than adequate language skills. Some, 
like I22 from Chile who came to the UK with his wife, believed that when the distinctive 
advantage of his PG qualification had ‘worn off’, it would be his self-confidence that would 
continue because he had been “
brave enough to put two feet out of the country
”. 
These challenges are presumably common to all overseas study, and arguably the more 
geared up the HE institutions are for international students, the less these challenges 
should be. 
Perhaps more interesting here is that some alumni related feelings of genuine hardship 
during their stay in the UK, which they had to overcome. Particularly for those who had 
been professionals in their home country (attending UK HE), transition to student life in the 
UK could be quite a shock. Some had to live very frugally as they had insufficient funds to 
cover ‘normal’ living costs, particularly where their currency was weak, and took on very 
menial work (relative to their former professional employment) where they could. Some 
findings relating to those work experiences are described later in this section. Examples of 
these ‘hardship’ challenges and the personal benefit that alumni perceived in coping with 
them included: 

Young Brazilian professional I8 moved out of student halls to a shared house to 
integrate more deeply and understand UK culture, but the costs were difficult. She 
worked as a waitress in a tearoom in order to eke out her funds. She also found dull 
and damp London a shock compared with Brazil, which contributed to some medically 
confirmed depression. However, when interviewed she saw that this had increased her 
personal resilience and confidence, which had contributed to her taking the step to set 
up her own business in Brazil. 

South African I21, from a professional and politically active family background, also 
undertook rather low-status work part-time: 
“Night-time care work wasn’t that heavy at 
all, while the rest of them were asleep, [so] I could do my work and study and the pay 
was fairly good. There’s a limit I remember, 20 hours only that I could work. I also 
worked at the university canteen and I remember the manager saying, “Oh, how are 
you going to feel about serving your fellow students?” They were aware of who I was; 
it was actually quite inviting for them, I think to see like “Wow, here’s one of the top 
students and she is working in the canteen.”
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 

Mature Colombian graduate I56 had been an established medical doctor and his wife 
and young daughter joined him in London. Despite a scholarship, and doing some paid 
part-time research work as well as studying, they could only afford a single room in 
Wanstead, a 1.5 hour commute from LSE. To save on fares he would only take the 
tube part of the way, and they had to adopt a “