The effect of education agents on prospective Chinese international students’ reflexivity in their position takings of the university application competition

• In Event: Education, Social Mobility and Struggles

Proposal

Purpose of Study (Abstract)

In the marketised international higher education sector, international student mobility has been remarkably expanding since 2010 (OECD, 2022). Consequently, both the university application competition and the international student recruitment campaign are becoming fierce. In parallel, as international student enrolment expands, deficit narratives about international students prevail (Jones, 2017), including deficiency in the language and academic skills required for the host country (Lomer, 2017), discriminatory language, bias and even racism from their classmates (Heliot, Mittelmeier & Rienties 2019) and lecturers (Rhoden 2019). In other words, international students are perceived to be disadvantaged and deficient. Against this backdrop, it is essential to develop our understanding of prospective international students and their university application experiences, which to greater or lesser implies their subsequent learning and living experiences abroad. However, little attention to this aspect has been given in the pertinent literature. Drawing on my PhD project investigating the role of education agents in Chinese students’ choice-making regarding studying abroad from the perspectives of education agents and students, this paper sheds light on the particular cohort of prospective international students who use an education agent to apply for overseas programmes (agent-user students), aiming to examine how agent-user students gain awareness of the structural or cultural power in the overseas university competition and then react/respond to such social powers. More importantly, in tune with the conference theme that the protest denotes hope and promise in many cases, this paper also investigates how agent-user students develop their personal power of reflexivity in courting the scope for their choice-making regarding studying abroad.

Education agents/ agencies act as intermediaries between international students and overseas higher education institutions (IHEs). Higher education institutions overseas normally contract and pay education agents to recruit international students. The commission rates typically are between 10% and 20% of the first-year tuition fees, but because of competitive pressures, some institutions have been compelled to pay more or less (BUILA & Universities UK International, 2021). For agent-user students, education agents tend to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for overseas education services (Robinson-pant & Magyar, 2018; Raimo, Humfrey & Huang, 2014), from a full-information provision, to advising services, to assist with applications, to visa-processing services, to pre-arrival services. They are charged for the services in many cases (Author, 2020). These demonstrate the prominent role education agents play in the process of international students’ choice-making regarding studying abroad.

This paper deploys Archer’s approach about reflexivity to develop discussions. Archer (2007) argued that ‘reflexivity is the regular exercise of mental ability, shared by all normal people, to consider themselves in relation to their (social) contexts and vice versa … Reflexivity itself is held to depend upon conscious deliberations that take place through ‘internal conversation’…The subjective powers of reflexivity mediate the role that objective structural or cultural powers play in influencing social action and are thus indispensable to explaining social outcomes’ (p. 4-5). In this sense, apart from established studies about objective social (structural and cultural) influences on international students’ choice-making, it is very important to discuss their reflexivity in the position takings of overseas university application competition.

Research Method

This paper is built on my PhD project titled ‘the role of education agents in the marketised international higher education sector’, which constitutes two studies: Study 1 investigates how education agents support Chinese students to apply for UK PGT programmes from the perspective of education agents (Author, 2021) – this study was conducted by a one-off interview with 16 education agent consultants in May, 2020; Study 2 explores how Chinese students who use education agents reflect on the value of education agents in their application process (Author, 2023) – this is a longitudinal study by means of four rounds of semi-structured interviews with 10 Chinese agent-user students from November 2020 to July 2021. Through synthesising the findings of the two studies, the theme of Chinese agent-user students’ reflexivity was identified and developed.

Findings

This paper demonstrates many Chinese agent-user students are the first generation in their families to apply for higher education overseas, resulting in being independent from their families in terms of choice-making and propelled to develop do-it-yourself and tightrope biographies concerning study abroad. Using an education agent for their overseas application is not a taken-for-granted choice. Chinese students’ reflexivity plays a significant role during their choice-making process. Many Chinese agent-user students tend to prepare their applications and approach education agents early, which facilitates the development of their ability to reflect on the rules of the application game and desired position takings. Early preparation allows applicants to have time to continuously adjust their projects and accommodate themselves to the rules of the application game. Hence, time is a significant social condition for influencing Chinese students’ reflexivity and the effect of education agents on their application. In addition, education agents’ involvement per se works to facilitate the development of Chinese agent-user students’ personal power of reflexivity in courting the scope for their choice-making.


Reference

Author, 2023

Author, 2021

BUILA & Universities UK International. (2021). The Good Practice Guide for Providers Using Education Agents A Modular Guide. https://www.buila.ac.uk/uploads/docs/0511_EE_UUKi-and-BUILA-Good-Practice-guide.pdf
Héliot, Y., Mittelmeier, J., & Rienties, B. (2020). Developing learning relationships in intercultural and multi-disciplinary environments: A mixed method investigation of management students’ experiences. Studies in Higher Education, 45(11), 2356-2370.
Jones, E. (2017). Problematising and reimagining the notion of ‘international student experience’. Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 933-943.
Lomer, S. (2017). Recruiting international students in higher education: Representations and rationales in British policy. Palgrave Macmillan.
OECD. (2022). Rising international student mobility. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/data-insights/rising-international-student-mobility
Raimo, V., Humfrey, C. and Huang, I.Y. (2014) Managing international student recruitment agents: Approaches, benefits and challenges. London, England: The British Council.
Rhoden, M. (2019). Internationalisation and Intercultural Engagement in UK Higher
Education – Revisiting a Contested Terrain. International Research and Researchers Network Event . Society for Research in Higher Education.
Robinson-Pant, A. &Magyar, A. (2018). The recruitment agent in internationalized higher education: Commercial broker and cultural Mediator. Journal of Studies in International Education. 22(3), 225-241.

Author

• Ying Yang, The University of Manchester