GCCA | Graduate Careers Council of Australia

Graduate Careers Australia

ergo - Number 93 December 2003

International Education – Graduate Outcomes

This is an edited extract from an address given by Cindy Tilbrook to the recent IDP Education Australia national conference in 2003.

International education is one of the most important facets not only of higher education in Australia, but increasingly of the total economic activity of the country. In 2003 education is now the third largest services export, and the eighth largest overall export earner. It is worth more than $5 billion in national income, and accounts for approximately 12% of Australia’s trade in services.

The Context – Local and International Trends
Some of the key drivers for change in employment in recent years have included:

• Social changes – more participation of women in the work-force
• Changing patterns of employment – greater part-time/contract work and mobility of workers between jobs
• Greater moves towards workplace flexibility
• The “War for Talent” and the increasing rarity of “jobs for life”
• The ever-increasing technological change.

There are also some less obvious factors at play in the work/education environment; we are experiencing a “Knowledge Revolution” with an increasing emphasis on individuals learning to learn; that is how to access, analyse and use information.

In addition to traditional job-related skills, there is a greater call for generic skills – general, social and personal competencies/attitudes – deemed important for success in the contemporary work environment.

Currently there is also greater emphasis on lifelong learning; career development is not only relevant at the transition from secondary school to tertiary education but throughout an individual’s life. Around the world there is an increasing recognition of skills, education and training as fundamental building blocks for economic growth and development.

International Student Numbers Increasing
In 1993, there were just over 37,000 international students enrolled at Australian universities, both onshore and offshore; by 2002, this had grown to over 145,000, an increase of 292%. These students mainly come from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, India and the USA, and represent approximately 14% of all students within Australia. As the graph below demonstrates, this proportion is increasing at an exponential rate.

Outcomes for International Students in Australia
Many overseas students choose to live and work in Australia. In 1999-2000, 14% of permanent residence grants made in Australia were to holders of student visas, and in 2000-01, around 50% of applicants for skilled migration were former overseas students.

The 2002 Graduate Destination Survey results indicate that 59.1% of overseas bachelor degree graduates were available for full-time employment, compared with 65.4% of their Australian citizen and permanent resident colleagues in 2002.

Overseas graduates were more likely to have gone on to full-time study following completion of their bachelor degree, (33.9% compared to 24.1%), a trend that has been apparent since 2000.

While the overall number of Australian graduates going on to further full-time study has increased from 17.6% in 1998 to 19.7% in 2002, the increase for overseas students was from 19% to 33.7%.

However, of those overseas graduates available for full-time employment, 74.3% of overseas graduates had found work within 4 months after graduation, compared with 81.3% of Australian graduates.

International Education and the Future
As the level of competition for desirable candidates increases, the international mobility of the workforce is heightening, with a rise in both permanent and temporary migration for employment purposes. For example between 1997 and 2000, the number of temporary workers coming into Australia increased from 81,700 to 115,700, a trend which will undoubtedly continue.

Flexibility within training and education is increasingly important, particularly in the areas of e-learning and the delivery of services “offshore”. In 2000, around 19% of all overseas students enrolled in Australian institutions were studying offshore, most commonly in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong – this number has increased four-fold since 1994.

Some important issues concerning international education which will need to be addressed over the coming years will include:

• The international registration of providers
• New arrangements for recognising foreign qualifications
• The development of an international approach to quality assurance and accreditation.

Recently the Commonwealth government has recognised the benefits of the burgeoning international education industry through:

• Increased overseas promotion of Australian education
• Extending the government’s overseas network
• Providing new scholarships for students
• Reinforcing the quality assurance arrangements
• Establishing a number of international Centres of Excellence.

In October 2003, a new framework entitled “Engaging the World through Education” was developed to direct Australia’s involvement in international education in the next decade and beyond; this is found at www.dest.gov.au/minimas/live/nelson/2003/10/n481141003.asp .

Analysis of the educational experience for international students is also important – not only in terms of the economic benefit to the country, but also the impact on individual students; their success in obtaining a job or going on to further study, the cultural experience they have obtained, their improvement in language skills and their increased self-confidence.

Longer Term Benefits
Finally, it would be useful to measure the other benefits of the trade in international education, such as the increased economic benefit to countries as international students return home and take their new skills and talents with them, the benefits to international trade links and relations, the value of the lifelong friendships developed during student years, and a greater degree of understanding between different nationalities and races. Perhaps in the long run, these will be the truly important benefits of the trade in international education.