Global student mobility: The experience of international students in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia

Global student mobility: The experience of international students in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia

• Kell, Peter Michael The Hong Kong Institute of Education

2010

International Conference on Educational Research (ICER) 2010: Learning Communities for Sustainable Development (2010: Khon Kaen University, Thailand)

• N Students & Student Services
  • NM Student Life & Leisure Activities, Summer Activities; Peer Groups

Student Experience Foreign Students International Students Global Student Mobility

• China
• Italy
• Iran
• Iraq
• Yemen
• Indonesian
• Myanmar
• Germany
• Thailand
• Jordan

• 1997.7 onwards

• Unknown or Unspecified

Global student mobility and the internationalisation of higher education is characterized by the movement of Asian students to North America, Europe and Australasia. Recently the global student mobility has featured the entry of many Asian providers including Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. This growing international presence is attributed to policy settings in each country designed to promote the notion of “education hubs”. This paper reports on qualitative structured interviews with over 60 international students studying in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The students interviewed were from China, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Indonesian, Myanmar, Germany, Thailand and Jordan and were studying a mix of postgraduate, undergraduate and pre-university studies. The paper reports on the reasons for studying and motivations for an Asian destination and their experiences of the academic and social environments of their host countries. The paper documents the social and cultural challenges that students experience particularly in dealing in a multilingual environment where English is used as the language of instruction. The research also looks at the ambitions of the students and their future plans. The interviews also provide evidence of some of the strengths and challenges for providers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia in securing a position as leading providers of international education. From the experience of students and interviews with some administrators, the paper also reports on the commonalities and differences associated with the development of “education hubs” in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Paper presented at the International Conference on Educational Research (ICER) 2010: Learning Communities for Sustainable Development

• English

Conference Papers

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/b0fcf24e

2016-01-07