International Students’ Perceptions of Their University-To-Work Transition
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2019-11
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Abstract
International students are increasingly seeking a foreign education. Part of this increase is due to institutional goals for revenue generation and for diversifying the student population. At the same time, governments of developed countries such as Canada are creating incentives for international students to work in the destination country post-graduation to fill skilled labour shortages. Post-study, international students often face barriers when integrating into the workforce, defeating these policies and decreasing the value of a foreign education. Moreover, researchers have predominately focused on the in-study experiences of international students, particularly their academic adjustment. Few studies have addressed the post-study experiences of former international students. In my doctoral thesis, I sought to help address this gap by investigating the post-study experiences of former international students, three to five years post-graduation. Specifically, I used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore how former international students in Canada made sense of their transition out of university and into the Canadian workforce. Guided by a Systems Theory Framework, I used the results to offer insights into the barriers these former international students faced, how they were able to overcome them, and the influences that were important to their workplace transition. Implications included suggestions for policy-makers, universities, and career practitioners to help international students successfully navigate the transition into and out of study. By supporting former international students in their post-study transition, practitioners can help with concerns such as un/under-employment, universities can help improve the value of education, and policy-makers may recruit highly talented workers to address labour shortages.
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international students, career transitions, internationalization, career development, interpretative phenomenological analysis