This thesis explores the emerging issue of cities and countries competing for international students as part of market and talent-based economic development strategies. Based on case studies in London, UK and Toronto, Canada, this research draws on interviews with senior policy-makers as well as international students completing their overseas studies to examine three issues. First, this thesis investigates the process by which similar policies to attract and retain greater numbers of international students have been developed and introduced in both countries. Arguing that these policies are “mobile,” this thesis demonstrates how the competitive interconnectedness of policy-making leads to the transfer of policy ideas from one jurisdiction to another, while also recognizing the mediating role of institutions for contributing to continued geographic differences in the policy landscape regarding international education. Second, it examines the decision-making process for international graduate students upon the moment of graduation with regard to their settlement and employment strategies. Through a comparison of international students finishing advanced degrees in science and engineering in both sites, it reveals the extent to which students’ plans involve the complex intermingling of personal, professional and (im)migration regulation factors. The confluence of these factors tend to pull students in different geographic directions, indicating that the conventional ‘stay or return’ construct is too simplistic as a framework for understanding students’ future movements. Moreover, the comparison of students’ strategies in the two sites illustrates the differential effect of multi-scalar institutional frameworks in constructing certain types of migrant subjects. Third, this thesis investigates how career development strategies of international students differ according to broad disciplinary differences. Contrasting the career plans of graduating students in science, engineering, and art and design programs, this research finds that there are key differences in the socio-spatial career strategies held by international students in line with the differentiated knowledge bases literature.

This thesis explores the emerging issue of cities and countries competing for international students as part of market and talent-based economic development strategies. Based on case studies in London, UK and Toronto, Canada, this research draws on interviews with senior policy-makers as well as international students completing their overseas studies to examine three issues. First, this thesis investigates the process by which similar policies to attract and retain greater numbers of international students have been developed and introduced in both countries. Arguing that these policies are “mobile,” this thesis demonstrates how the competitive interconnectedness of policy-making leads to the transfer of policy ideas from one jurisdiction to another, while also recognizing the mediating role of institutions for contributing to continued geographic differences in the policy landscape regarding international education. Second, it examines the decision-making process for international graduate students upon the moment of graduation with regard to their settlement and employment strategies. Through a comparison of international students finishing advanced degrees in science and engineering in both sites, it reveals the extent to which students’ plans involve the complex intermingling of personal, professional and (im)migration regulation factors. The confluence of these factors tend to pull students in different geographic directions, indicating that the conventional ‘stay or return’ construct is too simplistic as a framework for understanding students’ future movements. Moreover, the comparison of students’ strategies in the two sites illustrates the differential effect of multi-scalar institutional frameworks in constructing certain types of migrant subjects. Third, this thesis investigates how career development strategies of international students differ according to broad disciplinary differences. Contrasting the career plans of graduating students in science, engineering, and art and design programs, this research finds that there are key differences in the socio-spatial career strategies held by international students in line with the differentiated knowledge bases literature.

This research examines experiences of Latvian students pursuing undergraduate degrees at universities in England. Working with this population positions this research in the subject area of International Student Mobility (ISM). As a relatively new subject ISM is still developing suitable concepts, methodological practices and scientific terminology. This presents a challenge but also calls for more in-depth work in the area. As an exploratory study this research answers this call and proposes new directions in the development of ISM as a research field. ISM is particularly interesting in the context of contemporary Europe where student mobility is considered as a vehicle of human capital across national borders. As such student mobility contributes to further internationalization of the European labour force and facilitates development of the knowledge-based economy. Finding out what students gain from university education abroad remains a topic of scientific debate. This research focuses on the practical but complicated part of Higher Education: competence development. The review of the literature reveals that the topic of competence development in Higher Education has been in and out of researchers’ favour, but it has not been examined in the international context. This consideration is timely as more and more students seek education abroad and competences developed at foreign universities are transferred across borders. This research is based on in-depth interviews with Latvian students in England, their family members and friends both in Latvia and in England. Interviewing family and friends enriched the self-reporting accounts of the students, thus capturing a more holistic representation of the students’ experiences. In addition, accounts of the students’ network representatives from England and from Latvia positioned this research in the international social networks of the students. This research finds that international social networks are the natural and necessary environments in which mobility of students takes place and argues that it needs to be studied with consideration to these under-researched environments. This study also proposes a longitudinal focus. The main participants of this research, the students, were interviewed three times over three years, which goes beyond most research studies on student mobility. The analysis of the interview responses relies on multiple iterations between the literature and the data. The findings demonstrate that degree-seeking students develop competences that can be grouped in three main areas: gaining access to university education in England, socio-cultural acculturation and academic acculturation. In each of these areas students develop specific skills and abilities that support the three areas of competences. The development of the skills, abilities and competences is explained through a model created by Noel Burch for Gordon Training International (GTI). The model outlines four stages of development that progress from the level of unconscious incompetence, to conscious incompetence, to conscious competence and to unconscious competence.

Postsecondary English language education is a growing industry in the United States. While there has been considerable research on international student mobility in higher education, there is limited research on the population’s participation in U.S. English language programs (ELPs). The purpose of the study was to apply existing theories and data analysis to understand postsecondary English language program participation and create a foundation for future studies. This exploratory study examined the characteristics of international students enrolled in U.S. postsecondary ELPs. The researcher investigated the relationship between ELP enrollment with U.S. higher education enrollment as well as the relationship between ELP enrollment by destination location, ELP provider type, gender and country of origin. Finally, the researcher analyzed the completion rate of international students in U.S. postsecondary ELPs by gender and country of origin. Data from 2004-2014 were collected from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Report. Data analysis was conducted through quantitative methods. Findings of this study may help educators reflect on the form and function of current English language programs to improve the quality of future ELPs.

With the advent of neoliberal globalization in the 1980s, international student mobility (ISM) has become a significant social and educational phenomenon. Given the increasing magnitude of international student flows from developing countries to the developed or major member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this research explores major OECD policy positions on international students, related priorities in higher education, and the influence of the GATT, the WTO and the GATS on higher education in these countries. Chinese graduate student perspectives are also drawn upon to understand Chinese student migrations to Canada in pursuit of higher education. The research considers ISM as a social and educational phenomenon of student migration across borders for higher education. Given the focus on exploration, meanings and understandings, an interpretive approach and qualitative case study strategy have been utilized to examine relative policy positions and to understand the experiences of Chinese graduate students who study at the University of Alberta (U of A) with the view to contribute towards qualitative studies of ISM. / Theoretical, Cultural and International Studies in Education

The increase in foreign students in countries such as the US, the UK and Francesuggests that the international ‘education industry’ is growing in importance. Thepurpose of this paper is to investigate the empirical determinants of internationalstudent mobility. A secondary purpose is to give tentative policy suggestions to hostcountry, source country and also to provide some recommendations to students whowant to study abroad. Using pooled cross-sectional time series data for the US overthe time period 1993-2006, we estimate an econometric model of enrolment rates offoreign students in the US. Our results suggest that tuition fees, US federal support ofeducation, and the size of the ‘young’ generation of source countries have asignificant influence on international student mobility. We also consider other factorsthat may be relevant in this context.

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Thesis advisor: Hans de Wit / Thesis advisor: Gerardo L. Blanco / Today’s global knowledge economy has become complex, dynamic, and competitive. In this environment, the talented workforce is increasingly diverse, educated, and mobile. International talents tend to migrate to anglophone countries and contribute to technological innovation, scientific discoveries, and economic growth. The largest international student population in the top destination countries comes from Asia. At the same time, research has shown that Asian international students reported lower satisfaction and higher adjustment challenges due to linguistic and cultural barriers, negatively impacting their learning and living experiences. This dissertation aims to understand and explain the transnational transition process through a subset of the Asian international student population. Thirty-five current university student interviewees are purposefully selected. They are graduates of the “International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme,” a rigorous education pathway program popular in Asia for families to prepare their children for Western higher education. Asian International Baccalaureate (IB) alums, who received education in linguistically and culturally diverse settings, offered more nuanced and complex answers to what traditional literature has indicated about international student transitions and experiences. A Successful International University Transition Model is generated from the grounded theory analysis. This model illustrates the causal and intervening conditions that impact international transitions, with the central tasks of being a university student and becoming an adult. Further, the results are discussed with Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus/practice to explain the heterogeneity in the process amongst the diverse international student population. Lastly, recommendations to stakeholders suggest ways to support globally mobile young adults in their transition and development journey. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

本研究旨在探討影響國際學生流動的拉力因素構面，並找出台灣大學院校對大陸學生的主要拉力因素為何，以做為未來政策制定和大學院校招生之參考。經過文獻探討之後發現國際學生流動的拉力因素有八個構面，分別是學校機構、留學政策、國際競爭力、地理環境、經濟、社會文化、家庭與體制因素。研究方法的部分，利用專家問卷進行問卷試題的適切性評估，再使用因素分析與信度分析法，確立問卷各因素構面試題並取得良好的信度，並利用網路問卷調查法進行正式問卷施測，共計386位填答者，有效填答有286位。研究分析使用描述性統計、獨立樣本t考驗和單因子變異數分析，來探討我國大學院校對於大陸學生的拉力因素排序情形與不同背景變項間的差異程度。根據分析結果，歸納出本研究之結論如下： 一、留學政策的制定是台灣吸引陸生的最主要拉力。 二、台灣的文化與大學特色是吸引陸生的重要拉力。 三、男性在留學政策因素上認同度高。 四、商業管理的學生在留學政策因素上的認同度較農業及醫藥學的學生高。 五、有來台經驗的學生在學校機構與體制因素上的認同度較高。 六、經濟因素會因學生是本科生或研究生而有所差異。 最後，根據本研究之結論，對於台灣大學院校、教育行政主管機關和未來研究提出建議，以制定相關招生策略、政策規定或是未來研究方向。 / The purpose of this study is to explore the dimension of the pull factors of international student mobility, and discover the main pull factors of Taiwan higher educational institutes, in order to make proper future policies and strategies for recruiting students from mainland China. Through literature review, this study finds that there are eight dimensions of pull factors which are dimension of educational institutes, dimension of study-abroad policy, dimension of international competitiveness, dimension of environment, dimension of economics, dimension of socio-culture, dimension of family, and dimension of national system. As for research methods, using expert questionnaire, factor analysis and reliability analysis to ensure all questions are well-stated and get good degree of reliability, and then using web-based questionnaire to do the survey. In this study, there are 386 respondents, and 286 of them are valid. By means of descriptive statistics, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA, the order of the pull factor and the differences between every background variables are found. According to the results, the main conclusions are as follows: 1.The making of study-abroad policy is the main pull factor of Taiwan for students from mainland China. 2.The characteristics of Taiwanese culture and universities are important pull factors. 3.Male shows higher degree of agreement in the dimension of study-abroad policy factors. 4.Students of business and management show higher degree of agreement in the dimension of study-abroad policy factors than students of agriculture and medical science. 5.Students who have experiences in Taiwan show higher degree of agreement in the dimension of educational institutes and national system factors. 6.Undergraduate students and graduate students show different degree of agreement in the dimension of economics factors. In the end, based on the conclusion of this study, some suggestions had been proposed to Taiwan educational institutes, educational administration authority and future research, in order to make appropriate policies, strategies, or research direction.