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

4.4.1.2 Implications 
Correlation of outward international student mobility with increased economic output or 
capability at national level is clearly beyond the realms of this study. However, seen 
through the lens of alumni experiences, it seems feasible to infer that countries of origin do 
and will in future benefit from economic and developmental impact as those who study 
overseas return home and forge their careers. This should, in turn, result in further positive 
perceptions of the benefits of overseas study in the UK, potentially in a virtuous circle to 
the benefit also of the UK.
Many of the alumni who had been funded by the UK intimated that they had a commitment 
to pay back some personal debt they felt to the UK, either through ‘ambassadorial’ work 
for the UK (as reported earlier) or in developing their country. In some cases this related to 
their participation in schemes intended to support national capacity building. This could 
well take the form of a career change for them personally, moving to work in government, 
education or an NGO, or through social or voluntary activities outside their professional 
life. The extent to which they would be successful in these longer term developmental 
ambitions, or be limited by subsequent personal circumstances or other issues, could 
obviously not be determined at this stage of their career and life trajectory, but would 
require investigation further into their careers. Interviewed around 5 years after graduation, 
it was still too early to test the genuine impact of these personal commitments that had 
been inspired by UK HE experiences, but they were very powerfully articulated. 
The observation from alumni that they had encountered volunteering for the first time while 
in the UK was particularly striking, with several commenting that it was all but absent as a 
concept in their home country. In some cases this had inspired them on return to volunteer 
personally and/or set up schemes supporting others to do so. This could potentially amplify 
greatly the impact of their personal development through UK HE; other personal multiplier 
effects were covered in benefit type D1.
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK