Challenges that overreliance on recruitment agents creates for Canadian community colleges

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday V)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Higher education and internationalization: Recruitment and challenges in Asia, Africa, and North America

Proposal

Background
The number of international students attending Canadian community colleges has increased dramatically in the past two decades, more than tripling between 2004 and 2016 (Colleges Ontario, 2016). Research shows that such students have become increasingly reliant on recruitment agencies to help them navigate the complex college-application process (Hagedorn and Zhang, 2011; Havergal, 2015; Ma, 2012). Research on the impact that recruitment agencies have on the institutions employing them is lacking, however.

Objectives
The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the growth in the number of international college students and their reliance on recruitment agents, as well the challenges that such reliance creates for the colleges.

Conceptual framework
The agency theory was used to explore the relationship among colleges, students, and agents. Building on the agency theory, the author developed a conceptual framework based on two types of contractual relationship: the one between students and recruitment agencies and the other between colleges and agencies (Coffey, 2013).

Methodology
Data related to the use of educational agents from 2000 to 2015 were collected from an internal student information system with permission from the authorities of a Canadian college and approval from its research ethics board. The number of students who used educational agents was then compared with the overall number of international students.

Results and Analysis
The research findings show clearly that, as the number of international college students increased, the number of educational agents who assist such students also increased. Furthermore, it was determined that the motivations and objectives of all parties involved – colleges, agents and students – contributed to the increase. It should be noted that, even though agents are considered independent contractors, they work hard to cultivate close relationships with the institutional departments responsible for admitting international students and they lobby the departments relentlessly to ensure their clients’ acceptance. Such eagerness is understandable; agencies are businesses that generate revenues by enrolling as many students as possible. This approach, however, is almost certain to place international applicants who do not use agents at a disadvantage and in some instances to prevent colleges from admitting the best students, because they all have a first-come-first-served admission process.


Significance of the study
As the study has shown, agents are quickly becoming a dominant force in colleges’ international student recruitment. Such a development may have a significant impact not only on the colleges’ recruitment practices but also on their abilities to make independent decisions.
References
Coffey, R. (2013). The role student choice plays in agent mediated college searches (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

Colleges Ontario (2016). Student and graduate profiles environmental scan 2013. Retrieved from http://collegesontario.org/research/2016_Environmental_ Scan/CO_EnvScan_2016_ PRO FILES_WEB.pdf


Hagedorn, L., & Zhang, Y. (2011). The use of agents in recruiting Chinese undergraduates. Journal of Studies in International Education, 15(2), 186-202.

Havergal, C. (2015, February 20). The cost of agents. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/20/britishuniversities-are-spending-more-agents-recruitinternational- students

Ma, J. (2012, February 13). College apps cheating scandal is a learning moment for China. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonma/ 2012/02/13/howto-stop-Chinese

Author

• Oleg Legusov, OISE, University of Toronto