With the ever-accelerating pace of change and futurists predicting further class divides in the automated world of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, students, their families and governments are calling on education providers to deliver employability outcomes. Return on investment (ROI), sizeable as it has become, dominates the global education marketplace.
The main English-speaking destination (MESD) markets have experienced a general de-funding of public education and have turned to international student markets to subsidise their education systems, with the support of their governments.
It is no surprise then that these markets, which also charge the highest differential tuition fees for international students, have sought to position their brands around employability through policies that allow international students to work during their studies and to stay in the host country and work for a fixed period after graduation. These same countries also recognise the value of retaining the highly qualified graduates in their labour market and periodically revise their immigration policy settings to align with changing market conditions.
Cognisant of market demands, and operating within national policy and collective branding, education providers must determine their employability strategy to guide their learning outcomes towards a skill set that equips their graduates for the rapidly changing world of work.
This paper provides an analysis of global policy settings and provider initiatives around international student employability. It includes preliminary findings of a new study on the uptake of post-study work rights in Australia, as well as case studies from New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Europe.