'Graduate migration' problematic or favorable?

The Independent published yesterday an article evaluating the current situation regarding students from UK studying abroad, the reality of the country is that only the 1. 8 per cent of the UK students in higher education go abroad.

While 33, 000 UK citizens are currently undertaking part of their studies internationally, the amount of foreigner students choosing UK is considerably higher 370, 000. Considering that a number of UK postgraduate science, technology and engineering courses would fail without the presence of international students, it seems to be fruitful for the country.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the British Council, within universities, and the UK Government are involved in researching the effects of outward mobility.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, carried out a study exploring the motivations and experiences of UK students studying abroad, results show that 76 per cent of surveyed students planned to return.

Will Archer, CEO of the International Graduate Insight Group (igraduate), an independent, global benchmarking and consultancy service states: “There are British graduates working all over the world. The traditional brain drain view is that those people are therefore not helping Britain, but that’s not the case at all. They may be working for international organisations, they may even be working in British organisations based abroad. ”

A 2007 British Council report, in which 60 per cent of the UK’s top 20 employers conside that experience of international study augments employability. The vast majority of the companies commented that study overseas makes an applicant more suitable in terms of skills, experience and personal development.

The reason why UK students decide no to go abroad to complete their studies may be related to their self-doubt when learning other languages, together with the high ratings of UK universities and the lack of information about studying abroad.

Christina Yan Zhang, international officer at the National Union of Students (NUS), points out: “If in the next 10 or 20 years we see more British students going overseas to study, most of them will bring back a wealth of language, culture, experience, and it will help to increase the diversity and multiculturalism of British society, ” she believes. “People who worry that we’ll lose some of our best talent need to stop thinking about how we stop our talent seeking an international education, and instead focus on how the Government can incentivise those students to bring their skills and expertise back to the UK after they have gained their qualifications, so that we benefit as a nation.”