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

4.3.4.2 Implications 
Personal development impacts from study abroad can accrue before (organising their 
study period away), during and after the study period. The two aspects of impact focused 
on here are, broadly, perceived personal growth through overcoming challenges (or even 
hardship) encountered during UK study, and benefits through wider experiences such as 
work or volunteering. 
Many of the challenges faced by international students entering the UK are germane to 
any study abroad, i.e. settling into unfamiliar accommodation, studying under a different 
pedagogical regime, meeting new people, coping with a new language and environment 
and so on. It is hard to assess which aspects might be unique to study in the UK, or the 
extent to which they are different here, other than on an individual basis for every graduate 
taking into account their particular background and culture. This issue of individuality is 
considered further in the next chapter. It is tempting to suggest that the more substantial 
the challenge the greater the potential personal gain in the long term, provided the student 
copes and stays the course. However, deliberately imposing hard challenges would 
appear to be a somewhat high-risk approach, and runs counter to other recommendations 
here about assistance with integration. Indeed, many alumni reported that they had found 
the UK generally ‘welcoming’ as an incoming student, and the support of a scholarship 
was particularly appreciated where it obviated or lessened the need for subsistence work. 
International study is expected to help students to improve confidence, foster 
independence and develop new friendship groups and social circles. Study abroad can 
leave them profoundly changed, transformed not only through the challenges of living and 
studying in an unfamiliar context, but also through awareness of their increasing difference 
from their peers at home. This difference may help them to stand out from other students 
without overseas experiences, but can sometimes make cultural readjustment and re-entry 
more difficult, or even in more extreme cases make it difficult for them to return to their 
previous lives and careers. 
Many international students work in their host countries, prior to, during or after their study 
period depending on the in-course and post-study work regulations that are in place. Host 
country working experiences also provide them with different insights into their host 
country’s culture and values, and its people and the lives that they lead. The majority of 
students that work in the UK are self-financed, many originating from SE Asia and Africa 
(according to i-GO statistics, BIS 2012). Host institutions facilitate some of this activity, in 
the form of on-campus employment, engagement with local volunteering opportunities or 
work placements. However the majority of such employment is organised by the students 
themselves and comprises low-paid ‘subsistence’ work in the service sector. In this way 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
international students also contribute to the wider UK economy by filling gaps in the local 
labour market, although there can be perceptions that take such jobs from local people. 
There is likely to be different potential for these personal benefits dependent on the 
individual, unsurprisingly. Arguably, those with the least cultural connection with the UK 
might have the greatest challenges to face, but if they do so successfully then they might 
have the most gain in the long term. However, our evidence if anything tends to suggest 
that this is probably not the case, but that the deepest benefits were obtained by those 
with somewhat less cultural difference but the personality and strongest personal drive to 
maximise their experience. This variety also supports the notional wisdom of having a 
diverse international student body. 
The vast majority of UK undergraduates undertake some form of part-time work, and it is 
now an established expectation of student life (Purcell & Elias, 2011). Indeed it has 
recently been recommended that all HE students should undertake some form of 
structured experience of work as part of their study programme, to support long-term 
employability (Wilson, 2012). This presumably should apply to international students, and 
it would seem ironic if they did not have such entitlement given that more of them cite 
directly career-related motivations for attending HE than of home students. There is 
currently an entitlement to work for many courses of study where work placements are 
integral. Some visa restrictions have changed since our alumni studied in the UK, so 
inferences from their perceptions have to be made cautiously. There is now no post-study 
route but the Tier 2 (General) visa route does exist for non-EU applicants to work in skilled 
occupations. 
It is increasingly understood that employability-related benefits can be gained through part-
time work or volunteering, and many HEIs have schemes to recognise and support that 
learning. It would again seem illogical for this not to be open to international students. In 
summary, although the nature of work undertaken (and its relation to their course of study) 
varied strongly, alumni who had experiences of work in the UK seemed universally to think 
it had added to their overall experience and benefit, and regarded it as a valuable element 
of their study experience in the UK.
The ability to undertake more ‘substantial’ work for a year or two after study was clearly a 
strong motivation for some to study in the UK, given their career-related motivations. Such 
work was seen to build naturally on the immediate course benefits and consolidate career-
related impact, even for those who fully intended to return home afterwards. Perceptions of 
any loss in entitlement to post-study employment would have a negative effect on the 
attractiveness of UK HE for such students, as reported in the press from certain source 
countries, and some alumni raised this issue directly with us (see Chapter 5).