International students are iDeaL employees
Australia's education sector is the third biggest export earner according to a recent report from Access Economics1. Moreover, Access' report also highlights that for a small country, Australia hosts a high proportion of the world's international students, hosting just over 7.5% of all international tertiary students studying worldwide. An article in The Australian newspaper suggests that although Australian universities report continuing strong international student enrolments, there is real concern that the economic downturn in Asian source countries, in conjunction with increasing pressure in the part-time job market, could impact future international enrolments2.
A reduction in the number of international students studying in Australia could impact the Australian economy both in terms of the "value adding" contribution international students make to the Australian economy and also in terms of the long-term availability of skilled migration needed to counteract an ageing workforce. New research by Professor Hawthorne (Melbourne University), reported in The Australian, suggests that industrialised nations will compete for skilled migration in order to realise growth in professions. The research cited Canada as one example of a country that will be dependant on skilled migration by 20123. Furthermore, Professor Hawthorne's research also indicates that international students who migrate to a host country are significantly more successful at finding work and adapting compared with sourcing already skilled migrants from offshore.
In the global marketplace, Australian companies compete for economic opportunities in many linguistically and culturally diverse markets. Australian employers can reap significant benefits from having a more multicultural workforce to meet the demands of an interconnected, global marketplace and to service an increasingly multicultural domestic market. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) reported that most of the top Australian export markets are non-English-speaking countries4. Furthermore, the ACCI suggests that businesses can use the talents and connections of skilled migrants to improve their commercial performance, benefit from increased productivity and innovation in the workplace, develop domestic niche markets, and enter or increase market share in new overseas markets.
Despite pre-recession skills shortages in several professions, many international students still experienced enormous difficulty finding employment related to their field of study. Dr Bob Birrell, co-director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research and Reader in Sociology at Monash University, is concerned that graduating students' English skills are inadequate for the workforce. In his research into the poor employment outcomes of migrant accountants, Dr Birrell argues that the universal complaint from employers is that international graduates lack the required English skills5. The Evaluation of General Skilled Migration Categories Report comments that 'as early as 1985, low English was demonstrated to triple unemployment risk for males, while doubling it for females'.6
Australian universities play a key role in preparing international students for job readiness to ensure the workforce is equipped to meet the challenges of a fast-changing knowledge economy and long-term skills demands. Deakin University currently has around 5,500 international students enrolled in degree courses, with over 60% studying in the Faculty of Business and Law. Deakin is committed to ambitiously pursuing all aspects of internationalisation and a number of initiatives are underway to enhance the educational experience of all Deakin students. International students, in particular, are set to benefit from a major new initiative aimed to improve students' language skills for academic and professional success. A new, interactive tool called iDeaL was recently piloted by new students in the Faculty of Business and Law at Deakin. iDeaL is a comprehensive web-based English language diagnostic tool, developed by Deakin's Language and Learning Advisors within the Division of Student Life. It provides the opportunity for students to monitor and develop their academic and professional language skills.
Key features of iDeaL are:- It covers 10 skill areas across reading, writing and listening.
- Results are accompanied by ideas, activities and resources for students to develop their skills in areas of need.
- Students can access iDeaL multiple times during their study and track their progress.
References
1 Access Economics Pty Ltd, The Australian education sector and the economic contribution of international students, Report for Australian Council for Private Education and Training, April 2009, pi.
2 Trounson A. (2009), Battle for Foreign Students, The Australian, Higher Education, March 25, 2009, p31.
3 Trounson A. (2009), Battle for Foreign Students, The Australian, Higher Education, March 25, 2009, p31.
4 Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2006), Skilled Migration Necessary for Continued Economic Growth, ACCI Review, N.137, July 2006.
5 Birrell B. (2008), Migrant Accountants - High Numbers, Poor Outcomes, People and Place, Vol16, No. 4, p13
6 Birrell B., Hawthorne L. & Richardson S., Evaluation of the General Skilled Migration Categories Report, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/gsm-report accessed 1/4/09, p107.
