The rise in reputation of Asian examine locations such as Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore amongst fellow Asian students, was highlighted as a contributing issue to lack of market share for Western international locations which have created restrictive immigration insurance policies.
The session, facilitated by Oxford International Education group, charted the newest traits in worldwide scholar mobility, with the various locations taking a “bigger piece of the pie” when it comes to attracting Chinese students.
“We’re entering what I call the China hangover era,” defined Matt Durnin, principal at assume tank Nous, who spoke at the occasion.
“That’s because China dominated growth in all kinds of study for a really long period of time and to have an economy of that size growing over 10% each year for a decade is not going to be something repeated by any other country,” he continued.
“The growth-pace of China [as a source country for the West] was over well before the pandemic” mentioned Durnin.
The reliance on Chinese students as the main supply market has created a false image of edu-immigration for the large 4 examine locations, as historically Chinese students wished to return dwelling after commencement.
The growth-pace of China [as a source country for the West] was over nicely earlier than the pandemic
Matt Durnin, Nous
“The economic development [in China] was so fast that [outbound] student numbers soared but these students didn’t have immigration intentions because the global financial crisis meant that job opportunities and salaries were better [in China] than in the West,” defined Durnin.
That state of affairs has modified now, with inflation placing stress on world economies, and lots of households looking out for methods to facilitate work abroad after commencement, or scale back the price of examine in the first occasion.
As such, Asian international locations are actually rebalancing from being supply markets to establishing themselves as fascinating examine locations.
The variety of Chinese students making use of to the US has been falling persistently for the final seven years, lengthy earlier than the pandemic, with India now surpassing China as the primary supply nation for the US.
“The data [we are presenting] is showing how some regional study destinations [in Asia] are starting to rise,” continued Durnin.
“Using survey data from New Oriental, one of the largest education agents in China, we can see the opinion of around 10,000 parents of students every year. What’s really interesting is that shift [in demand] away from the US, UK and Canada towards Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore [as alternative study destinations],” Durnin revealed.
“When I speak to institutions in Hong Kong, they are telling me mainland applications are up 400% and enrolments up 200-300%.
“[In the past], Chinese students were not that interested in looking at these regions or there was parental resistance at looking at these regions before the pandemic. This has changed.”
Data from the British Council additionally highlighted cultural affinity for the totally different international locations as examine locations.
“What we saw was that the older generation [in China] are very, attracted to the West, while the younger generation are much more interested in regional study destinations in terms of culture and study experiences,” mentioned Durnin.
“The pandemic gave students a chance to experiment with some of these local, nearer study destinations, which are also very cost effective.”
This sentiment was additionally backed-up by information from Studyportals, with CEO Edwin van Rest talking at the occasion.
“The decade of Asia is upon us” mentioned van Rest. “You see, Asia has become a destination, rather than only a source market, and this will drive a new competitive landscape,” he added, highlighting on-line search information for increased training programs based mostly in Asian international locations.