International Students

I appreciated this reflection on the experience of international students in Australia, and the media's response to the recent violent attacks against Indian students.

As a general rule, I've seen many university and government policies (some have come and gone, other have stuck) that disadvantage international students. This should be a topic of debate and discussion. The media is currently distracted by some extreme and violent responses to international students. While terrible, these are not the everyday experiences of international students, nor does it reflect the attitude of the majority of the student populations in our institutions. At least, I believe and hope that to be true.

A more productive discussion, which I think is starting to emerge, would be to consider how our educational institutions can best attract, support, integrate, educate, empower, and learn from international students. Further, it would be ideal if we did this in the name of diversity, and not solely in the name of the international student dollar. I think this shift in mentality at the top (hello Mr Vice Chancellor) is important, so that at a policy level we can reflect to the student body and the broader community that there are more than just financial advantages in having a culturally diverse education environment. 

As always, I want to give a shout out to the international postgraduate students. These postgrads do it tough. They've generally left VERY well paying jobs in their home countries to pursue a higher degree in Australia. Most aren't eligible for scholarships here. None are eligible for government financial support. They compete for casual teaching positions with postrads who have English as their first language. They are the only students that have to pay to enroll in a PhD. They work damn hard to get their PhD done in as little time as possible because they're paying by semester, with next to no income. Then at the end of it all DIMIA give them the bureaucratic run-around when they try to get their visa extended while the PhD is being marked, and make them sit a patronising English test if they want to apply for permanent residency. These people just submitted a 100,000 word PhD thesis in English, but for some reason DIMIA think it makes sense to give them what is effectively a basic skills test in English language use. 

After implementing these and other road blocks, our universities and our government turn around and boast about our higher degree international student graduations. They have nothing to boast about. All credit goes to the individuals who have worked against the system for years, and their family and friends who support them in the process.