Talent Beyond Borders started in late-night conversations with colleagues across the sector, including friends at Cambridge IELTS. And if I’m honest, it came from frustration, sometimes close to despair, around how international students are sometimes portrayed.
We really felt something needed to be done about the misinformation around and mischaracterisation of international students. Many of us have been international students ourselves and know they generally go on to create a lot of positive impact on the societies they touch.
But knowing this isn’t enough. We must show it. To do so, we need to win both hearts and minds, not only of policymakers but of the broader public.
Yet our own sector still talks about international education mostly as an “export”.
The most prominent reports from the big four destinations (the US, the UK, Canada and Australia) calculate students’ value from tuition, rent and local spending while they are studying. Add those four countries together and you get about $153 billion. Worldwide, the figure was last estimated at about $300bn.
However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. As a sector, we have been seriously underselling ourselves. That’s why we launched Talent Beyond Borders – a research report that looks at the global economic and social impact of international graduates and the human stories behind them.
However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. As a sector, we have been seriously underselling ourselves
Studyportals has the biggest data set of international enrolments in the world, and has been following students into graduation and their career. So we, together with Cambridge IELTS asked a different question: what do international graduates contribute to economies and societies once they start working?
Our numbers show that 41% stay in their country of study, 35% go home and 24% move on to a third country. Just the “stayers” from one graduating cohort, the class of 2024, will contribute an estimated $1.7tn to their host economies over their careers. Add the traditional figure and the total impact excedes $2tn. That’s roughly twice Switzerland’s annual GDP from one cohort. We’re no longer talking about billions. We’re talking about trillions.
And that’s before we count everything that’s harder to quantify: new businesses, trade links, skills gaps filled, soft power and classrooms that are richer for the mix of people in them. International graduates aren’t just an export. They are a real source of competitive advantage and have a positive impact on countries all over the world.
As Francesca Woodward, global managing director, English at Cambridge University Press & Assessment put it during the launch of Talent Beyond Borders: “International students bring significant cultural and social impact to countries all over the world. They enrich communities, plug vital skills gaps, boost diversity and help build stronger connections between people and countries”.
We know that in many leading economies, demographics are changing, and fewer and fewer young people are being born to fill tomorrow’s jobs. That’s why talent flows are inevitable, and they’ll only become more important in the decades ahead. I don’t believe countries that close their doors can stay as leading economies without attracting the right talent.
In the Netherlands, we saw significant anti-immigration rhetoric and serious discussion about forcing universities to increase Dutch-language undergraduate teaching to restrict international student flows.
At the same time, because of the talent narrative, the region introduced an initiative with large government support to attract more talent to the Netherlands to study and work in the semiconductor industry.
The government made €2.2bn available to strengthen the ecosystem and talent pipeline.
This shows that even within a populist political environment, universities can find a new way of demonstrating their relevance. For years we have been helping our universities to focus ‘beyond enrolment’: student success, graduation and now relevant employment.
It’s the idea of the fourth-generation university: an institution that doesn’t just teach and research, but helps build the regional economy around it, together with employers, government and talent drawn from all over the world. When employers add their voices, it creates a wider spectrum of social license for the sector.
Numbers persuade minds. To win hearts, though, international students also need a face. That’s the second part of Talent Beyond Borders: sharing their real, human stories. Where did they come from? What did their education mean to them? What career did they pursue and how do they contribute to society?
We’ll tell the stories of top CEOs, entrepreneurs and researchers, of course. But we’ll also tell the stories of teachers, nurses, carers and support staff, the people who keep our societies running, our kids and parents supported. In the same vision we also partnered with Made Impact to amplify stories demonstrating the everyday impact of international education.
We can’t do this alone. We need everybody in the sector to join us. And if we really want to reach our goals we need to get outside our echo chamber and connect with the general public, beyond our own bubble. The people we need to reach are policymakers, family dinner tables, community organisations and sports clubs.
So, please share your story, or the story of a remarkable international graduate you know and promote that everywhere, in particular outside our sector circle. When we help the world to more completely see the value of international students: we can enrich lives and connect our world.
Yes, we can change this narrative. Let’s do this.
Read more about Talent Beyond Borders here.
