Diversification of International Student Base: A Misplaced Effort

• Main Author: Wei Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Journal of International Students 2021-02-01
• Series: Journal of International Students
• Subjects: international student, recruitment, mobility, diversification, macro factors
• Online Access: https://www.ojed.org/index.php/jis/article/view/1710

Underlying the goal of diversifying the sources of international students in post-secondary education is a naive logic: The portfolio of international students is controlled by host country and university recruitment efforts. Given this logic, the host countries and universities decide on how diverse their international student population is. The logic results in an overestimate of the value of recruitment efforts by host countries and universities. It also overlooks a whole range of other macro factors that determine international student mobility more significantly than recruitment efforts. Most notably, certain macro factors are beyond the control of host countries and universities, and thus their diversification efforts are futile and a waste of resources.