International student recruitment campaign: experiences of selected flagship universities in China
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International student recruitment campaign: experiences of selected flagship universities in China Yuan Gao 1
& Jin Liu
2
# Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
Along with the significant improvement of Chinese universities’ visibility in the global higher education field, the Chinese government has been actively branding “Study in China” in recent years to market itself as a prevalent destination for international education. International enrolment has gained increasing importance and become a key component of the internationalisation discourse in China. Borrowing the theories of field and capital, this study aims to obtain a more nuanced understanding of China’s position as a leading host country for international students. Using a multiple-case study design, this study investigates the motivations for selected flagship universities in China to campaign to recruit international students, and in what way these are nested with the national priorities, as well as the key recruitment strategies and technologies they have employed. The findings help reveal the distinctiveness of the Chinese model of international student recruitment. A shift in priorities is also noted as well as controversies and tensions in respect to the employment of various recruitment strategies. The lessons of leading universities in China offer insights both for researchers and policymakers in many countries to rethink their strategies to increase their nations and universities’ presence in the global landscape. Keywords Global higher education field . International student recruitment . Rationales . Strategies and technologies . China
* Yuan Gao [email protected] Jin Liu [email protected]
1
The Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2
School of Humanities and Social Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Haidian, China
Higher Education
Introduction As the largest source country of international students, China also has marketed itself successfully in recent years as a prevalent destination for students who wish to pursue study overseas. China’s market share of international higher education students globally was negligible in 2001, while in 2018, the number of tertiary students inbound to China exceeded 490,000, more than double that a decade ago (Ministry of Education of People’s Republic of China 2019), and represented a 10% share of the entire market (Institute of International Education 2018). China’s strong performance in attracting international students has made it a significant competitor with traditional market leaders, such as the USA and UK. A closer look at the data on the international students in China reveals the distinctiveness of China’s achievements. Of the 492,185 international students, nearly half were enrolled in non-degree programs, which indicates a pattern distinct from that of other major host countries. Moreover, among the top seven host countries that occupied over 5% of the global market share individually, China is t
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