Abstract
This chapter examines the effects of globalization in terms of factors driving international student mobility, and the demand for and supply of international education in the Asia-Pacific region. It analyses the resulting patterns of cross-border student mobility in the region, where we observe that intra-regional student mobility is growing faster than the movement of students to other regions. We discuss the growing export orientation of nations in the region and the influence of language and national regulations. We explore tensions between the role of student as learner and student as client, concerns about the impact of foreign students on the domestic education system and the potential for trade-offs between quality and profit in the globalized market for higher education.
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- 1.
Including, in order of number of students from East Asia and the Pacific, the USA, Australia , United Kingdom , New Zealand , Canada , Malaysia (where nearly all international students study in English-language institutions or programmes), Philippines and Ireland.
- 2.
GDP per capita data from United Nations, percentage of the tertiary age population studying overseas (“Gross outbound enrolment ratio”) from UNESCO.
- 3.
As well as including tuition fees, such expenditure figures include living expenses in the host country, which typically account for as much or more export income as fees (Kenyon and Koshy 2003).
- 4.
See coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald March 17, 2006, Brisbane Courier Mail March 17, 2006, p. 21; and The Age March 14, 2006, p. 21.
- 5.
The other predominantly English-language system in the region, India , is understandably focused on meeting local demand rather than recruiting foreign students. International students in India numbered just 12,263 in 2003–2004, with over 90% of these coming from other developing countries in Asia. Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Kenya were the largest sending countries (Agarwal 2008).
- 6.
The Star, March 9, 2008; The Star, April 4, 2009.
- 7.
People’s Daily, March 26, 2009.
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Ziguras, C., McBurnie, G. (2011). International Student Mobility in the Asia-Pacific: From Globalization to Regional Integration?. In: Marginson, S., Kaur, S., Sawir, E. (eds) Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1500-4_6
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