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

5.1.4 Experiences of work 
The issue of employment during or after study in the UK was introduced under benefit type 
C4. As indicated briefly there, employment played a different role for different graduates, 
ranging from a primary purpose for their UK experience to a necessary part-time activity 
purely to offset living costs, while it was simply not on the radar at all for many others. 
Where it was positioned could also, to some extent, be dictated by visa conditions. 
Around half of the alumni interviewed had undertaken part-time ‘subsistence’ work, which 
not only supplemented their income but also provided additional social and cultural 
interactions which often greatly broadened their experiences. For those from relatively 
privileged backgrounds, who had not personally undertaken low-skilled work before, it 
opened their eyes to occupations – and the people working in them – of which they were 
previously unaware. There are also of course elements of personal employment- and 
career-related learning to be gained from such experiences. 
Although this could be affected by visa regulations and other factors, relatively modest 
numbers had undertaken internship or work placements directly related to their study 
programme, which are widely known to enhance employability (and have recently been 
recommended as an integral part of all HE programmes, Wilson 2012). 
More important to this discussion is the issue of full-time, career-related employment after 
completion of the degree programme. For a relatively small number of alumni, the 
prospect of being able to undertake high-skilled employment in the UK, opened up by their 
HE study, had been an integral part of their career-based rationale for coming to the UK to 
study. Obtaining a postgraduate degree and a few years of experience in a relevant 
occupational role in a respected UK organisation could together provide a very substantial 
enhancement to their career prospects once they returned home. However, this was 
available only to some, and others perceived that more recent visa restrictions might 
constrain or prevent this (even though workers who qualify for a Tier 2 (General) job can 
be employed in that role provided they meet the criteria. When the Tier 1 (Post-Study 
Work Route) was closed the policy design allowed non-EU graduates to apply to Tier 2 
(General) to work in an employer-sponsored job). While there are perceptions that 
limitations on post-study work options reduce the attractiveness of postgraduate HE study 
in the UK, the Home Office suggests that working in the UK after studying at a UK HE 
institution is an available option, and that it is only the [visa] system that has changed.
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
A handful of alumni perceived that the US system might be more flexible and enable 
combinations of study and employment that were not available in the UK, but such issues 
would be more accurately investigated with those who studied in the USA rather than 
those who chose the UK. 
Although quite a large proportion of the alumni were living in the UK when interviewed (17 
of the 100 interviewees) some 5 years after graduation, this rarely seemed to be a result of 
a pre-determined plan to do so. Recent research by Hobsons (Matthews, 2013) suggests 
that only around 6% of international students are motivated by the prospect of working in 
the UK permanently. Certainly there was no case where we perceived that undertaking 
HE was a device purely to obtain long-term employment in the UK. Those who were 
working here when interviewed could be seen to fall into three essential categories: 

Working in skill shortage occupations such as science, IT or engineering, where skilled 
migrant labour is deliberately welcomed as an asset to UK labour market capacity; 

Working for a defined period before return to their home country (or alternatively 
remaining in the UK to undertake postgraduate research or postdoctoral study); 

Working as a result of marriage to or partnership with a UK citizen or another foreign 
national temporarily or permanently resident in the UK. 
There were one or two individuals whose personal reasons for eligibility to work were not 
revealed during the interview, but this seemed more likely to be due to their lack of clarity 
on the issue, or limitations of their language skills, rather than anything more clandestine.