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

Case study: I21 
The thought of studying in the UK came to South African interviewee I21 when she had 
visited her mother who was working here. Having studied at a German high school in 
South Africa, Germany was another HE option, she felt a more natural affiliation with the 
UK through Commonwealth connections, but also felt a UK degree would be highly 
valued by employers at home. She chose a business studies BA at Manchester 
Metropolitan, as she thought the fees and cost of living would be lower than in London. 
Arriving in the UK aged 23 she considered herself a mature student, but had to work 
part-time during terms to subsidise her costs, including as a night-time care assistant and 
serving in the university canteen. That and being very studious (she knew that she was 
paying, ultimately) she did not have much time to get into student life, but developed 
close European friends through sharing a house with other mature students. Her course 
contemporaries were from all over the world and she maintains many of those 
friendships now through Facebook. In the summer breaks she undertook internships with 
major financial firms, and reflects overall that she enjoyed the course.
I21 was able to work for 2 years in the UK on a post-study permit and then returned 
home. She joined a finance company headquartered in Europe (to capitalise on her UK 
experience) and has leapt up the career ladder as a sales manager. She feels that this 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
Case study: I21 
would have been impossible on the degree alone, as more and more people have an 
international degree in South Africa, but her experience of both degree and work in the 
UK differentiated her. She finds it easy to talk to European customers and Head Office.
Reflecting on her overall experience, I21 feels it made her more confident and 
independent but especially that she now feels different, having a different frame of 
reference now. “
I have seen how people in a 1
st
 world country live
” but crucially she saw 
how the divide between rich and poor does not have to be stark, and difference classes 
can work alongside each other. She now feels naturally drawn to people who have also 
studied abroad because they too think differently.
At home she watches UK TV, supports Manchester United, and mail orders her clothes 
from Debenhams and Marks & Spencer. At weekends she does voluntary teaching in a 
township, and encourages them to dream and see beyond South Africa. She has 
revisited the UK socially and expects to begin to do so professionally as well soon. 
I21 recommends talks about the UK all of the time, espousing in particular the tolerance 
she experienced: “
Britain is an asylum for people to be who they are
”. She observed that 
some British stereotypes were true – the stiff upper lip and some other idiosyncracies – 
but felt that these added to its character and uniqueness.