A lack of ethics in institutions
can cause serious damage to the industry, according to a lecturer from the
University of Manchester at a workshop from the
Centre for Global Higher Education.
The CGHE has assembled a
respected council for its annual conference to discuss the future of
international student mobility, where Jenna Mittelmeier gives a stark warning.
Although the field is
"relatively forgiving" and "easily adaptable" as policies
and practices have changed in the past, Mittelmeier said: "Unless
universities take seriously issues such as inclusion, decolonization and
anti-racism in teaching and support structures,
"I feel that for many groups of international students, interest in
international studies will run out."
For Mittelmeier, the future of
international student mobility is "an ethical question" and she
stressed the importance of the duty of care that institutions offer, urging
them not to view international students as "a drop in the bucket,"
and instead viewing progressive work with international students as an ethical
and ethical project that is not being seen by organizations. They should play a
positive role.
The faculty discussed how the
pandemic brought to light important issues around racism, discrimination and
micro-aggression, especially for but not limited to chinese students or
students who are supposed to be Chinese.
During the initial blockade,
Mittelmeier conducted a study of international student representation on
Twitter that she described as "the most emotionally exhausting study"
she had ever done; she said she was "overwhelmed with the volume of racism
and stereotyping that exists online."
Ka Ho Mok, vice president and
professor of comparative policy at Lingnan University, discussed a survey
conducted by the Lingnan research group in June 2021 to assess the motivation
for study abroad destinations before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Unless the university takes
seriously the issues such as... For many groups of international students,
interest in international research will be exhausted."
The survey collected 2036 answers
from 799 universities and colleges and found that a university that provides
good social security and where personal safety can be guaranteed, is among the
top five reasons to choose a study abroad destination during the pandemic.
50% of students agree that this
factor is important to them while this reason does not appear in the list of
the top five before the pandemic.
Ka Ho believes that one of the
biggest things from the survey is the importance of institutional support for
international students.
"I think that many Chinese
and Asian students over the past two years, with the outbreak of Covid-19, have
seen international media coverage of Asian students being discriminated against
because of different perceptions and different practices on sanitation and
public health, and that's why during
Covid-19, they consider security, social security, and personal safety to be
very important during their study abroad," ka ho said.
Rachel Brooks, professor of
sociology at the University of Surrey, has suggested that for the future of
international student mobility, there must be an emphasis on the quality of
experiences beyond accessibility in the face of the challenge of
diversification.
Brooks believes that although, in
many ways, organizations have made progress to become inclusive, other forms of
differentiation that have emerged must be evaluated.
During the
webinar, Aline Courtois,
senior lecturer, department of education, University of Bath, discussed the
"academy reduction" of students' mobile programs.
Based on a study conducted in
Ireland, she considers the Erasmus year abroad programme has become shorter,
not embedded from academic and stratified programmes when proposed to expand
and diversify in an unequal system. This includes modules created entirely for
international students, those that are loose or unsuitable for their degree,
and exclude international students from certain classes – a place where social
inclusion often takes place.
"Many of my participants
reported that they were not treated like other students. They are not
integrated in the same way, they are not expected to perform and in some cases,
sadly, they are prohibited from accessing modules dedicated to local students
although they may have chosen the destination based on the modules offered
there.
Mitellmeier went on to condemn
the unfair assumptions that international students suffer from intellectual
deficiencies and argue that they lower academic standards.
"There are really big
questions about the extent to which our pedagogical methods include
interculturalism," Mitellmeier said.
The future
of student mobility is an "ethical question," CGHE first appeared on The
PIE News.
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