Internationalization Strategic Plans and Chinese International Students’ Recruiting: An Investigation into the Practices of Faculty Recruiters

• In Event: What happens when institutions try to internationalize? Intended and unintended consequences

Proposal

Abstract
This study examines how program recruiters interpret a university’s internationalization strategic plan in Ontario, Canada, and how they translate this policy initiative into the recruitment of Chinese international graduate students. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the processes related to the internationalization of higher education in Canada, this study explores recruitment as one key aspect of the university’s internationalization efforts. A qualitative research approach was used in designing this study. The data was gathered from policy documents and semi-structured interviews with recruiters from an Ontario university. The findings demonstrate significant implications for internal and external recruitment networks and for recruitment strategies in Canadian higher education.

Purposes and objectives
The study focuses on how program recruiters interpret a university’s internationalization strategic plan and how they translate this policy initiative into the recruitment of Chinese international graduate students. In this study, recruiters are regarded as one of the many groups and individuals (e.g. President, Provost and Vice-Provosts.) who interpret the university’s internationalization strategic plan. They interpret the university’s expectations and enact the university’s internationalization policy through recruitment practices. To gain a deeper understanding of the processes related to the internationalization of higher education in Canada, this study situates recruitment as a key component of the university’s internationalization strategic plan. The main objectives of this study are:

1. To investigate how program recruiters interpret the internationalization strategic plan from one university in Ontario.
2. To analyse how program recruiters translate this university’s internationalization policy initiatives into their recruiting practices.
3. To explore what vision(s) of internationalization are manifest in the recruiting perceptions and practices of the recruiters in one Ontario University?

Perspectives
This research draw on Rawolle and Lingard (2013)’s interpretation of Bourdieu (1972)’s primary ‘thinking tools, namely, practice, habitus, capitals and fields (Wacquant, 1989) to address research questions. Rawolle and Lingard (2008) conclude that Bourdieu (1999)’s concepts provide thinking tools for researching and understanding of education policy, thus, this research adopted the notions of practice, habitus, capitals, and fields as suitable analytical tools to examine how program recruiters interpret the internationalization strategic plan in an Ontario university and translate their understandings to overseas recruiting practices, particularly, how they used these interpretations to recruit Chinese international students at the graduate level.
Methods
Yin (2003) explains that the desire to understand complex social phenomena generates the need to conduct case studies. Using case study provides an in-depth analysis of how recruiters understand internationalization and how they translate the interpretations into the overseas recruiting practices. The program recruiters’ interpretation of an Ontario University’s internationalization strategic plan was selected as the case in this study. The case study aimed to explore how program recruiters from different faculties translate this University’s internationalization strategic plan into international students’ recruiting practices and strategies. A qualitative approach allows researchers to explore the subjective experiences and the context of social actors to gain greater understanding of factors that influence experiences, actions, and practices (Gelling, 2015). The interview data was transcribed and analysed with NVivo 11 for Mac. The analysis included inductive coding in order to provide an in-depth understanding of the vision(s) of internationalization strategies are manifest in the recruiting perceptions, as well as the resulting practices geared towards Chinese international students’ recruitment.
Data Source(s)
Semi-structured interviews with five recruiters focused on their understandings of the university’s internationalization strategy and their translation into recruitment strategies. The focus of the interview was the recruiters’ understandings of the university’s internationalization strategy. Specifically, the interviews clarified how program recruiters understood internationalization, how their interpretations were translated into the practices, and why they made specific decisions. The recruiters interviewed have at least 5 years international recruiting experience and a wealth of knowledge and insights into recruitment, which certainly provide relevant information pertaining to recruitment and internationalization in this institution.
Document Analysis: Data was also collected from the University’s internationalization strategic plan. This document was useful to investigate the vision(s) of internationalization manifested in the recruiting perceptions and practices of the recruiters in one Ontario University. Additionally, the information posted on the university’s official website was included in the analysis of the strategies that university used to attract targeted prospective students.
Results/Findings
Four key themes were identified through the analysis of the data: (1) There was no common or unified perspective held by program recruiters. Participants made use of multiple perspectives to interpret internationalization; (2) program recruiters faced internal and external challenges in their recruiting practices; (3) recruitment networks are identified as key components in the program recruiters’ recruiting practices; and (4) different recruitment strategies are adopted and each strategy is adjusted to different contexts. The analysis also identified some of the actors and involved in the recruitment networks internally (on campus) and externally (abroad). The networks included Faculty members, the English Language Centre, and the International Students Centre on campus. Furthermore, some recruiters also work with actors and organizations outside Canada. Intermediate recruitment agencies and agents in China were found to increasingly participate in the international recruiting process.
The findings demonstrate that while the interpretations of internationalization are multiple, the program recruiters’ work was largely aligned with the university’s internationalization strategy. Participants also revealed the challenges that they faced in their recruiting practices, including the disconnect they perceived with other recruitment offices and colleagues; and the challenges of educating people to eliminate the misunderstandings regarding the role and work of recruiters.

Educational Importance of the Study
By examining how selected actors in universities interpret internationalization initiatives, researchers and policy makers would be able to identify how universities in Ontario put their internationalization strategies in practice, and in particular, how recruiters contribute to the internationalization process. In this sense, this study provides important insights to improve recruitment strategies in universities. The identified strategies could be used to frame new recruitment strategies in the future. The study also notes that HE institutions should build stronger recruitment networks, both locally and abroad, with different groups and individuals to improve the quality of international recruitment.
References
Falcone, S. (2017). International student recruitment: Trends and challenges. Journal of
International Students, 7(2), 246.
Guo, Y., & Guo, S. (2017). Internationalization of Canadian higher education: Discrepancies
between policies and international student experiences. Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 851-868. doi:10.1080/03075079.2017.1293874
Larsen, M. A. (2015). Internationalization in Canadian higher education: A Case study of the
gap between official discourses and on-the-ground realities. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 45(4), 102-122.

Author

• Jing Qu, The University of Western Ontario