Options for Attracting Research Students to Australia

Transcription

1 Options for Attracting Research Students to Australia Christopher Ziguras Overview 1. Trends in international research student enrolments 2. Should Australia aim to increase the growth in international research student enrolments? 3. Policy options to increase the attractiveness of Australia to prospective international research students RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 2 1

2 How many international research students are studying in Australia? In 2008, over 3000 international students commenced research degrees in Australia. Commencements: Totals and Growth by Full Calendar Year Data * Commencements 2,059 2,196 2,355 2,304 2,469 2, Change on Previous Year % Change on Previous Year 6.7% 7.2% -2.2% 7.2% 13.0% 9.2% An additional 278 students commenced in 2008 on Australian government scholarships, bringing total commencements to Between 2002 and 2008 international research student enrolments have grown by 10% per year on average, not including students on Australian government scholarships Enrolments: Totals and Growth by Full Calendar Year Data * Enrolments 5,324 6,080 6,826 7,462 8,069 8, Change on Previous Year % Change on Previous Year 14.2% 12.3% 9.3% 8.1% 10.2% 6.3% * 2008 full year estimate based on July year to date data (Source: Australian Education International) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 3 International Research Students in Australia by Nationality 10,000 10,000 9,000 9,000 Enrolments Enrolments 8,000 8,000 7,000 7,000 6,000 6,000 5,000 5,000 4,000 4,000 3,000 3,000 2,000 2,000 1,000 1, China China Malaysia Malaysia India India Thailand Thailand Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Germany Germany United States of America United States of America Vietnam Vietnam Singapore Singapore Taiwan Taiwan Other Nationalities Other Nationalities (Source: Australian Education International, excludes AusAID and Endeavour Scholarship students) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 4 2

3 Which source countries are growing fastest? Compound Annual Growth Rate of International Research Student Enrolments by Nationality, International research student enrolments from the top ten source countries are growing faster than enrolments from other countries Iran (5) 24% India (3) 22% Germany (6) 22% Malaysia (2) 21% Vietnam (8) 17% China (1) 11% Taiwan (10) 11% USA (7) 11% Singapore (9) 8% Thailand (4) 1% Subtotal - Top 10 14% Other Nationalities 7% Total 11% Figure in parenthesis is source country rank order. (Source: Australian Education International, excludes AusAID and Endeavour Scholarship students) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 5 What disciplines are international research students enrolled in? International Research Students by Broad Field of Education Broad Field of Education 2007 Enrolment CAGR Society and Culture 2,080 6% Natural and Physical Sciences 1,866 12% Engineering and Related Technologies 1,787 14% Health % Management and Commerce 679 8% Information Technology % Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies 347 8% Education 321 6% Creative Arts 177 7% Architecture and Building % Total % (Source: Australian Education International, excludes AusAID and Endeavour Scholarship students) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 6 3

4 What proportion of research students are international students? Proportion of Research Students in Australian Universities who are International Students Total Creative Arts Society and Culture Management and Commerce Education Health Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies Architecture and Building Engineering and Related Technologies Information Technology Natural and Physical Sciences 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% (Source: DEST Higher Education Statistics, 2006 data) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 7 How many international research students are supported by the Australian government? Scheme Department Number awarded in 2008 Endeavour International Postgraduate Research DIISR 330 Endeavour Postgraduate Awards AEI 104 Endeavour Europe Awards AEI 15 Endeavour Awards for Turkey AEI 3 Endeavour Malaysia Awards AEI 3 Australian Development Scholarships AusAID 57 Australian Leadership Awards Scholarships AusAID 96 Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, AusAID 38 John Alwright Fellowships Australia-Pakistan Scholarship Program AusAID 5 Total Australian Government 608 Australian government funding of tuition in 2008*: Domestic students - Research Training Scheme $585.3 million (97%) International students - International Postgraduate Research Scholarships $19.2 million (3%) * Department of Innovation, Industry, Science And Research (2008) Submission to House of Representatives Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation Inquiry into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues in Australian Universities, p.37 RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 8 4

5 Financial support provided by Australian universities to international research students Type of support Full scholarships and fee waiver scholarships Full scholarships but not fee waiver scholarships Fee waiver scholarships only Living allowance for IPRS recipients only No university-funded support Total Number of universities (Based on information provided on university websites, accurate as at October 2008) RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 9 Sources of funding for international research students Source of funds Australian government full scholarship Australian government fee-waiver scholarship Australian university full scholarship Number of students commencing in (rough estimate) Percentage 8% 10% 15% Australian university fee-waiver scholarship Other (self-funded, home government, employer, philanthropy) Total 500 (rough estimate) 1717 (remainder) % 52% 100% RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning

6 Should we try to increase the rate of growth of international research student enrolments? RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning Relatively small proportion of international students in Australian universities are undertaking research degrees Australia has been much more successful in attracting students to undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs Some are concerned that this positions Australia internationally in a second tier of provider countries, behind the researchintensive first tier International Research Students as a Percentage of all International Higher Education Students, OECD countries Spain 36.0 Switzerland 27.3 United States 15.7 Finland 14.3 United Kingdom 11.6 Japan 10.1 Canada 9.8 Czech Republic 8.5 Austria 8.3 Belgium 6.2 Norway 5.6 Sweden 5.3 Hungary 4.6 Slovak Republic 4.3 Australia 4.2 New Zealand 3.2 Denmark 3.2 Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2008, Table C3.4. Distribution of international and foreign students in tertiary education, by level and type of tertiary education (2006). No data for Germany, France, Ireland. RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning

7 2. Relatively small proportion of research students in Australia are international students The proportion of research students in Australia who are international is lower than in any other Anglophone country in the OECD The UK enrolled 50,365 international research students in , equivalent to 840 per million residents (Kemp, et al. 2008). Australia had 8981 international research students in 2006, or 450 per million residents. International Students as a Percentage of Higher Education Enrolments, OECD countries, 2006 Higher Education Total Research Higher Degrees Switzerland United Kingdom United States New Zealand Canada Belgium Australia Japan OECD average Austria Spain Finland Denmark Hungary Czech Republic Sweden Norway Slovak Republic Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2008, Table C3.1 Student mobility and foreign students in tertiary education (2000, 2006). No data for Germany, France, Ireland. Data for Australia does not include offshore students. RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning Australian labour market needs more PhD graduates Nearly three quarters of recent PhD graduates in Australia work outside of the university sector* Yet we have a lower rate of PhD graduates per thousand in the workforce than countries that are research leaders**: Australia 8 United States 11 Germany 20 Switzerland 28 The current rate of completion of PhD graduates is not adequate to supply the domestic academic labour market*** The number of local commencing PhD students decreased by 30 per cent between * Graduate Careers Australia ** Senator Kim Carr, ANU Luncheon with Victorian Business Leaders, 26 March 2008, page 5 *** Group of Eight, Backgrounder No.3: Researcher Supply and Demand, November 2007 RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning

8 4. To strengthen Australian university research Research students make a significant contribution to the research productivity and reputation of universities For example, at the University of New South Wales between , 27% of journal articles and 30% of conference proceedings published by staff were co-authored with a research student* The diffusion of PhD graduates builds research linkages between institutions, and international research graduates returning home have to capacity to strengthen research links between Australian universities and universities and other organisations across the region * UNSW Response to Inquiry Into Research Training and Research Workforce Issues In Australian Universities, 30 May 2008, page 5 RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 15 How could we make Australia more attractive to prospective international research students? RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning

9 Increase and simplify international scholarships The Commonwealth government each year awards 330 new International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS) covering tuition fees plus Overseas Student Health Cover. From 1996, 300 were offered, rising to 330 in 2002, while the number of commencing students more than doubled. The Endeavour and Ausaid scholarship programs are bitsy, complex and poorly targeted **, and a single internationally competitive scheme would be much more effective in attracting the best researchers ** Go8, Adding to Australia s Capacity, 2008 RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 17 Improving visa conditions for students families Allow full working rights for partners. Partners of international research students may accompany students in Australia are only allowed to work 20 hours per week in Australia. In the UK*, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand partners can work full-time. Partners can not work in the USA. Waive tuition fees for children of research students in public schools Victoria, Western Australia and New Zealand waive state school fees for children of all research students, while NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT waive state school fees for students on particular scholarships * If married RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning

10 Is it time for a third phase approach to research training? Government: Combine fee-waiver schemes for domestic (RTS) and international (IPRS) research students, so that institutions can offer their government-funded places to the best students regardless of nationality (and increase the number of funded places overall) Combine full scholarship schemes for domestic (APA) and international (Endeavour) research students, so that institutions can offer full scholarships to the best students regardless of nationality (as the ARC has done with its scholarships) Universities: Combine research fee-waiver scholarship schemes so that they are awarded to the best unfunded students regardless of nationality (as Swinburne has done) Combine full scholarship schemes so that they are awarded to the best students regardless of nationality (as several universities have done) Set the same tuition fees for self-funded or third party funded domestic and international research students RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning 19 Conclusion Australia s international education policies are centred on a user-pays principle, however postgraduate research programs are a global scholarship market, due to intense global competition for the best research students The number of students being supported by home governments is increasing rapidly, and funding bodies are increasingly driving competition between institutions and governments to provide favourable conditions for research students RMIT University 2008 School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning