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“She came
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK
here to Argentina many times and stayed in my house. I still keep in contact with her
and when I go to the UK I always stay at her place.”
Digital social media networks, especially Facebook, were widely cited by alumni as the
means by which they maintained continued contact with fellow students and other
personal contacts made in the UK. Most of this appeared to have been driven by the
alumni themselves, informally, but some was facilitated by their HEI or scholarship
provider:
I36 from Iran:
“Facebook […] then mostly through e-mails and nowadays with iPhones
and all the apps that we have on them. It’s just so much easier to keep in touch.
Although a lot of them have moved back to their countries but we are still in touch and
we have so many good memories I guess. The course was so tough on us that it
made our friendship so much stronger”
New Zealander I64 reported
: “There are lots of benefits for Commonwealth scholars
and ex-Commonwealth scholars on Twitter and [online] forums”.
Many alumni had felt welcomed by their institution when they arrived in the UK and had
appreciated provision of campus social events to help them meet fellow students and
share exploratory experiences. Student union activities were mentioned regularly, and
many had participated in a range of student-focused societies. Most Asian students in
particular mentioned joining their respective national or regional society, while others
fondly remembered taking up anything from ballroom dancing or badminton to amateur
dramatics. Those funded by a UK scholarship such as Chevening or Commonwealth
reported very positively on the supporting social and cultural programmes.
Although perhaps half of the alumni interviewed mentioned that they received some
communications from their HEI as alumni, the proportion reporting that they participated
actively was very much lower. It was not always possible to distinguish between social
media contact facilitated by the HEI for its alumni and that existing informally, but the firm
impression was that it was mostly alumni-driven and informal. Few alumni reported that
they actively attended alumni dinners or events in their home country. On the other hand
Chevening Scholarship alumni in particular seemed to maintain very active contact with
each other in their networks, facilitated by the FCO and/or through locally agencies such
as the British Council (or equivalent organisation) or purely amongst themselves. Very few
reported that they were making financial donations to their alma mater, but this could
increase as their careers progress.
Some alumni, particularly from India and a few other countries, perceived that anybody
with an overseas HE degree (but especially the UK or US) was automatically in an elite
social tier. Several Chinese alumni mentioned that as many of their peers were obtaining
overseas degrees, the extent of this perceived benefit was beginning to diminish. Although
that feeling of being in a social elite seemed partly to relate to increased earnings and
career progression, it could also be portrayed as a societal status.
A few alumni reported that their ‘enhanced’ social standing was manifested in their
development of different networks of contacts once back in their home society, as in the
case of interviewee I80 in Nigeria:
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK
“By some stroke of luck, stroke of fate, the generosity of the British government, you
are now elevated to a certain position in society. The interaction is at a higher level
these days… and placed me at a position to be able to access certain areas, certain
places, have a relationship with certain people that I ordinarily wouldn’t have had
anything to do with”.
However, he also considered that with this came additional responsibility:
“The truth is having that sort of qualification in this society, people expect leadership
from you and look up to you. Because they think your appreciation of international
issues would be wider, more in depth, clearer. So they look up to you for guidance and
for leadership on some issues. And that confers on you, inevitably, a lot of credibility,
and with it some prestige; I think it makes you more prominent, sort of stand out even
without meaning to, a privilege that comes with it. And it’s been wonderful for me, it’s
been amazing. I reflect on what my life would have been if I hadn’t had that
opportunity”.
While relatively few alumni said that they had moved in these different circles, rather more
tended to socialise more with others who had also studied abroad (and were perhaps like-
minded), such as:
I11 from India:
“There were a few people from my town who went to the same uni that
I’m friends with. There are many people that were studying in the UK at that time that I
like to hang out with. Otherwise, the type of city that I’m living in, it’s a very closed city.
So, the thinking is very limited and closed. So, [you] cannot mingle with those people
who do not share the same wavelength…you need like-minded people.”
And I89 from Kenya:
“I think it does make a difference on who you tend to be friends
with because when you come back you [socialise with people] who have either studied
in the UK or outside of Kenya, so it does affect what sort of social circle you end up in.”
For some, a heightened social profile was related to the commitment they had made as
part of a UK scholarship; Chevening stresses the idea of the alumnus as leader and
ambassador, while Commonwealth Scholarship holders commit to development of their
country as part of the selection procedure. We saw evidence from alumni in both these
groups that these responsibilities had extended their networks of contacts in their home
countries.
A small number of the alumni had only socialised quite narrowly, due to personal shyness,
some degree of intercultural inhibition, or other factors such as the presence of
accompanying families or partners or other factors. Most – but not all – of the ‘shy’
examples were graduates from Asia, including China, some of whom tended mostly to
socialise within their own national student group and/or focus very strongly on their
studies. A small number reported that they found the presence of alcohol within many
student social activities difficult, which steered them into the safer company of fellow
nationals. Others had largely excluded themselves from university-based social life due to
their personal living circumstances, for example some mature students who brought their
family or partner with them and lived off-campus as a discrete family unit.
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK
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