Best practice in understanding and enhancing students’
motivations for integration
Bethan Payne, Higher Education Policy Advisor, NUS
Jo Holiday, International Student Adviser, Sheffield SU
Academic Integration
Social Integration
Key player = Institution
Supporting = Student Union
Key player = Student Union
Supporting = Institution
Is this always the case?
International Students
Home Students
Different challenges and different motivations
Perceptions of Integration
NUS/QAA student experience research 2011/12
How integrated, if at all, do you feel with domestic
students?
40.0%
34.7%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
22.0%
19.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
9.2%
9.8%
5.3%
5.0%
0.0%
1 - Not at all
2
3 - Somewhat
4
5 - Fully
Don't know
How integrated, if at all, do you feel with international students
30.0%
25.0%
27.8%
22.6%
20.0%
15.1%
15.0%
13.1%
12.7%
8.7%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
1 - Not at all
2
3 - Somewhat
4
5 - Fully
Don't know
Importance of Integration
NUS/QAA student experience research 2011/12
How important, if at all, do you think that integration
with domestic students is?
35.0%
32.0%
30.0%
25.0%
22.2%
20.6%
20.0%
15.0%
11.6%
10.0%
5.0%
6.3%
4.1%
2.1%
1.1%
1 - Not at all
important
2
0.0%
3
4 - Somewhat
important
5
6
7 - Very
important
Don't know
How important, if at all, do you think that integration with international students
is?
30.0%
26.4%
25.0%
19.5%
20.0%
14.8%
15.0%
10.0%
12.7%
8.3%
7.2%
6.4%
4.7%
5.0%
0.0%
1 - Not at all
important
2
3
4 - Somewhat
important
5
6
7 - Very important
Don't know
Internal Motivators
NUS/HSBC student experience research 2010/11
The top 5 motivators for going to university are:
•To gain qualifications
• Necessary for career
• Improve earning potential
• For the experience
• To improve chances of getting a job
But…are these motivators the same for both groups? There
are many different sources that can provide institutions
with this data at local level.
External Motivators
Global Graduates into Global Leaders report 2012
Employer demand:
You need the mindset that says, ‘The person I’m talking to
isn’t like me and I need to understand what they are like and
then work with them.’ It isn’t only about having the technical
knowledge, it’s also necessary to understand the values,
customs, cultures and behaviours that are significant to them.
(National Grid)
I think cultural dexterity is important: an ability not to impose
one’s own culture on another one, to be sensitive to other
cultures and how to do business in different environments.
There are certain ways of working with clients in the Middle
East that you wouldn’t adopt in Japan. (PWC)
You probably can’t make someone have a global mindset or
develop this learning agility on their own. You’ve really got to
invest time in them to get them comfortable with it. (BNP
Paribas)
Activity

What factors demotivate domestic and international
students from integrating/engaging in intercultural
contact ?

Do student motivations for integration differ? By
type of student? By level of degree? By type of
institution? How can we reflect these differences
appropriately?

What incentives could universities/students' unions
offer to motivate students to engage with
integration/internationalisation activities and how
could this be done more collaboratively?
Conclusion slide