Recruiting International Students in Higher Education

Representations and Rationales in British Policy

This book offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of the UK’s policy on recruiting international students. In a global context of international education policy, it examines changes from New Labour policies under Tony Blair’s Prime Minister’s Initiative, to the more recent Coalition and Conservative Government policies in the International Education Strategy. The research uses a text-based approach to primary research, adopting a critical framework developed by Carol Bacchi (‘what is the problem represented to be’?). The book argues that international student policy can be reduced to reasons for and against recruiting international students; in doing so, students are represented as ambassadors for the UK or tools in its public diplomacy, consumers and generators of reputation, means to get money, and as migrants of questionable legitimacy. These homogenizing representations have the potential to shape international education, implicating academics as agents of policy, and infringing on students’ self-formation. The book will be compelling reading for students and researchers in the fields of education and sociology, as well as those interested in education policy-making.