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

Case study: I80 
After National Service, Nigerian graduate I80 had worked as a parliamentary reporter on 
a national newspaper, but after some years was drawn to development work, and ideally 
hoped he could eventually research or teach it for the benefit of his country. Winning a 
Chevening scholarship, he went to Reading for an MA in Applied Development Studies. 
He travelled widely from there to see as much as he could of the UK, living with families 
he met around the country. He also did some part-time work and undertook volunteering 
for Oxfam.
Returning home he got other jobs, including for the BBC, but then changed career and 
joined a multinational oil exploration company to head its public affairs work. He saw this 
as a way to support the local communities amongst which the multinational worked, and 
to help steer their development through its corporate social responsibility programme. 
Although in doing so he uses many of his development study skills, when interviewed he 
remained uncertain about whether ethically he had done the right thing to move and work 
“on the inside”. 
He sees many benefits of his UK HE experience; learning about other cultures, opening 
his mind globally, becoming tolerant of other peoples and how to interact with them. 
These all help his work for the multinational, and he cites his ‘high level credibility’ as 
enabling him to get the job in the first place.
His time in the UK clearly impacted deeply on his life and he now feels a distinct 
responsibility – he feels people expect leadership from him and look up to him; it confers 
prestige and responsibility, making him more ‘prominent’ even if this is not deliberate. 
Reflecting on what life would have been like without it, he feels he would “
still be trapped 
in the old circle
” and feels lucky to have escaped it. He considers he has an ‘elevated’ 
position in society and meets people he would never have met otherwise, giving him 
more strategic responsibility (essentially power and privilege). This will endure for the 
rest of his life; “
it changes everything
”.
He also sees a large multiplier effect, through interactions with his family, his employees 
and others, and intends that society will also benefit from his good fortune, through his 
professional work but also his volunteering work for NGOs. He promotes this concept 
through unpaid teaching work with university students. He also helps at British High 
Commission events and mentors both Fulbright and Commonwealth applicants and 
scholars.
Although he does not feel a burden to ‘pay back’ the UK’s investment in him, instead it 
has instilled a deep personal commitment – an obligation for people like him to inspire 
better development in Nigeria and to help people escape the poverty trap.