VIRTUAL EVENT: COVID and the recruitment of Chinese international students

Universities that host international students face grim COVID-related challenges, given the uncertainty about what they will be able to provide in future and the concurrent uncertainty about international students’ plans to study abroad. Northern hemisphere universities need to understand the decision-making processes of students holding offers of places, given the cultural issues and significant financial implications. 

In China, education agents hold significant influence over prospective international students’ choice of degree programmes. Education agents are organisations or individuals who provide a range of services for potential international students or overseas universities in exchange for a fee.

In the session, the researchers will discuss their findings and demonstrate how education agents are guiding Chinese international students during the COVID-19 crisis and what factors will affect agents’ advice and students’ decisions in the coming academic year. They will provide suggestions for universities, especially those in the UK, that want to recruit and maintain Chinese international students.

This research was conducted by international education researchers at the University of Manchester and focuses specifically on Chinese international students as the largest group of international students.

Speakers

• Ying Yang, Doctoral Researcher at the Manchester Institute of Education at The University of Manchester
• Dr Jenna Mittelmeier, Lecturer in International Education at the Manchester Institute of Education
• Dr Miguel Antonio Lim, Senior Lecturer in Education, Co-Research Coordinator, and Co-Convenor of the Higher Education Research network at the Manchester Institute of Education

Links

• Report: Chinese international student recruitment during the COVID-19 crisis: education agents' practices and reflections
• Centre for Global Higher Education
• Department of Education, Practice and Society

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