US, UK, Middle Class & Employability #GEI 19
Global Insights for the week 17 Jul 2017
An in-depth examination of private providers in the UK
In 2011/12, there were a total of 674 private HE providers operating in the UK with an estimated enrolment of 160,000 students. International students play a major role in this space, making up just over half of the total intake, compared to 15% in public providers. The research suggests that students who come to the UK to study at a private HE provider — especially pre-university foundation pathway providers — are likely to go on to study at a UK public HEI, bringing greater returns to the sector. In this market, ensuring high quality of privately-funded provision aimed at international students is important to maintain a strong reputation for UK HE overseas. The report also explores student perceptions, bringing to light their reasons for choosing their provider, what they thought of the experience, and their outcomes.
Report by Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS), June 2013 Download
US still has the upper hand over other destination countries
The US remains the most attractive study destination in the world, with 74% of survey respondents in an IIE survey voting the US as their top choice. Prospective students perceive the US to be a welcoming environment for international students, with a high quality higher education system and a wide range of schools and programs to suit a variety of students. Expensive tuition, however, was brought up as the primary obstacle to overseas study. While the US is well-positioned in the international student marketplace, improving the dissemination of timely and accurate information is crucial to attracting the best students, especially in light of competition not only from other traditional English-speaking destination countries, but also from transnational and traditional sending countries that are now strengthening their own domestic HE sectors.
Report by IIE, March 2015 Download
Emphasise student outcomes, not just dollars
It’s time to refocus Canada’s discussion about postsecondary education from how much funding institutions get to what outcomes are being achieved. This is in light of research that found no correlation between the performance of the Canadian university system and the funding it receives. Some provinces perform well with lower levels of funding, while other provinces perform lower even with higher funding levels. To improve Canadian postsecondary education, this report suggests the need to refocus the higher education conversation in Canada from one of “how much money is spent on higher education” to “how the money is spent and what outcomes are being achieved.”
Report by Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2015 Download
Key takeaways about the emerging global middle class
The growth in the global middle class has led to an increasing demand for domestic education in developing nations and an escalation in demand for international education experiences. Recent data analysis shows just how big the middle class is getting. The world’s middle-income population — people living on $10–20 per day — nearly doubled, increasing by 385 million from 2001 to 2011. China alone accounted for more than half of the increase at an additional 203 million. This is followed by countries in South America and Eastern Europe, adding 50 million and 39 million to the global middle class respectively. By contrast, Africa and much of Asia, including India, have lagged behind. The standard of living of the global middle class is modest by Western norms, where the $10–20 a day that qualifies people as middle income is on par with the U.S. poverty line.
Article by Pew Research Center, 8 July 2015 Download
Blended learning serves niche market
In conversations around blended learning, it is time for institutions to shift their focus away from the traditional undergraduate student market. Demand for blended learning is driven by two very unconventional and historically at-risk student segments: 1. Students planning to start at a community college and transfer to a four-year institution, and 2. Students planning to take more than four consecutive years to graduate. To serve these two groups, Eduventures recommends that institutions use online courses as a recruitment tool, as a means to strengthen cross-institutional partnerships through data exchange and as a retention and predictive modelling solution.
Article by Eduventures, 7 July 2015 Download
Educators need to play greater role in employability outcomes
The UK is experiencing a deep-rooted skill and employment challenge. For young people, securing that first foothold into a good career is a lot harder than it used to be as opportunities to combine work and study decline. For those in work, there is a risk of getting stuck in low quality and low productive jobs, without opportunities to gain new skills, earn more, and progress. Persistent skills shortages are hampering growth and competitiveness, at the same time as the talents and skills of significant portions of the workforce are underused. Education must play a big part in repairing these issues, by establishing quality vocational routes that lead to good jobs and building relationships between education providers and employers for collaborative opportunities for relevant skill development.
Report by UK Commission for Employment and Skills, November 2014 Download
Part-timers feel pigeon-holed by the wider student population
Inflexibility in institutional structures, inadequate guidance received about higher education and feelings of disengagement from the student community represent some of the challenges reported by part-time students in the UK. These findings were the outcome of research by Open University in response to the knowledge gap around the experiences of, and barriers faced by, part-time mature students in higher education. According to OU, part-time higher education must not be perceived as a disposable ‘add-on’ that is allowed to wither, whether as a result of the unintended consequences of policy decisions at national or institutional levels, or more broadly as an invisible consequence of the economic downturn. The report details recommendations at the policy maker, institution and sector levels.
Report by The Higher Education Academy, July 2015 Download
Private providers vital to education in developing countries
The skills and talents of youth in the global south will be the engines of the world’s future growth and prosperity. But, critically, an education crisis in these regions threatens this very possibility as parents and governments are unable to provide young people with a quality education. Conventional wisdom states that national governments should fund and deliver state controlled public education systems. However, demographic shifts will put a disproportionate burden on the countries whose systems are least able to cope. This report on global education investment states that the private sector, who have most to gain (or lose) from weak education systems, should engage more fully in solving this education crisis through a combination of funding and capability.
Report by Center for Universal Education at Brookings, September 2013 Download
Mexico may just be the next big source market for US
Mexico may soon send more students to the US than any other country in the world besides China (currently 274,439) and India (currently 102,673). In 2013, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced Proyecta 100,000, an initiative designed to send 100,000 Mexican students to US universities by 2018. These goals are ambitious, since Mexico sent only 14,779 students to US higher education institutions in 2013/14. However, there is much potential to explore this opportunity, especially with 26.8% of the 120 million population aged between 15 and 29 years old, 70 million Mexicans in the middle class and a tripling of university enrolment to almost 3 million students in 30 years.
Article by ICEF Monitor, 26 June 2015 Download
Aussie-wide workshops yield inputs for education market development plan
More than 800 sector specialists across Australia participated in consultative workshops for the Australian International Education 2025 (AIE2025), a market development plan for Australian international education for the next decade. A recently released report provides insights into the discussions. Three major themes were explored: the potential vision, strategic priorities, and delivering systemic change. The AIE2025 market development plan will be ready for release during Quarter 1 2016. Austrade plans another similar scale consultation in early 2016 to engage more broadly with the sector on the activation or implementation stage of the plan.
Report by Australian Trade Commission, April 2015 Download
This week’s infographic
