Facilitated by: Dr Miguel Antonio Lim and Dr Sazana Jayadeva who are the co-convenors of the International Research and Researchers Network. For more details about the network convenors and its activities, please click here.

Introduction

This event will be the first of a series of events to be held by the IRR network, over 2023-2024, exploring ethical challenges associated with international student migration. In the morning session, Rachel Brooks (University of Surrey) and Johanna Waters (UCL) will give a presentation focussing on some of the key ethical challenges associated with contemporary student mobilities, especially those relating to: access to educational mobilities, the treatment and construction of international students in receiving countries, and the ethical implications of international student migration for sending and receiving countries. The presentation will be followed by Q&A and discussion.

The afternoon session will be a panel discussion focussed on the ethical aspects of international scholarships for higher education. The panel discussion will bring together research and policy perspectives on several international scholarships schemes including: Latin American Government schemes, the (USA) Fulbright scholarships, the Chinese Scholarship Council scheme, and the Commonwealth Scholarships scheme. The panellists for the session will be Jessica Amarilla (University of Arizona and CONAHEC), Marisa Lally (Boston College), Limanzi Xu (University of Manchester), and Annabel Boud (University of Cambridge and Association of Commonwealth Universities).

Format

This is a hybrid event, hosted face-to-face at SRHE’s premises in London and online for remote participants and speakers.

• Face-to-face participants will engage live with each element, have opportunities for networking with presenters and fellow attendees, and be hosted for lunch by SRHE.
• Remote participants will be able to engage with the speakers via Zoom chat function and will be prioritised in Q&A.

Schedule

Presentations: 

Session 1: Student Migrants and Mobilities: Ethical Challenges

This presentation focuses on some of the key ethical challenges associated with contemporary student mobility. We first consider the issue of access to educational mobility, and how this relates to debates about equity and fairness. We then explore the differential treatment of home and international students – for example, in relation to fees, opportunities to work and experiences of racism – and the problematic ways in which international students are constructed in marketing, media and policy texts.  Finally, we argue that while international student mobility can, in some circumstances, be advantageous for both sending and receiving countries, it can also work to exacerbate inequalities between nation-states and this, also, has ethical implications. 

Session 2: The ethical aspects of international HE scholarships: a cross country discussion

Research and policy discussions on the ethical aspects of international scholarships for higher education emphasise equitable access, cultural sensitivity, and shared responsibilities. Scholars and many policy makers highlight the ethical imperative of providing opportunities to marginalised individuals globally, promoting inclusivity and diversity. Cultural sensitivity concerns underscore the importance of scholarships that respect local contexts, fostering cross-cultural understanding. Another important aspect are the donors' or sponsors’ responsibilities which include transparent communication and responsible resource allocation, while recipients are encouraged to contribute to their home countries' development. Increasingly there are also discussions around decolonisation and restorative justice in the awarding of scholarships. Among many other issues is the ethical dilemma of "brain drain" which prompts debate over the return of scholars' to their home nations. Overall, many voices call for intentional program designs that balance individual aspirations with societal and cultural considerations, ensuring ethical outcomes for all involved.

 This panel discussion will bring together research and policy perspectives on several international scholarships schemes including: Latin American Government schemes, the (USA) Fulbright scholarships, the Chinese Scholarship Council scheme, and the Commonwealth Scholarships scheme.

Speaker bionotes:

Rachel Brooks is Professor of Sociology at the University of Surrey. She edits the journals Sociology and the British Journal of Sociology of Education, and is co-editor of the SRHE/Routledge book series, 'Research into Higher Education'. She has published widely on different aspects of the sociology of higher education, with particular interests in processes of internationalisation and Europeanisation, student politics and protest, and student experiences. 

Johanna L. Waters is Professor of Human Geography and Co-Director of the Migration Research Unit at University College London (UCL). Previously she has worked at the universities of Oxford, Birmingham and Liverpool. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Global Networks. For the past twenty years, Jo has worked on issues related to families and educational migration. She is particularly interested in understanding the role that education plays in migration decision making and the outcomes of educational migration for all household members. She has published on international student mobilities (with Rachel Brooks) and transnational education and cross-border schooling (with Maggi Leung). She recently edited a Handbook on Migration and the Family (with Brenda Yeoh) and is presently working on an International Encyclopaedia on the Sociology of Education (with Ravinder Sidhu and Yi-En Cheng).

Jessica Amarilla is a 3rd year PhD student at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona. She is interested in exploring international and government scholarships that fund postgraduate studies for students from Latin America, scholarship design, access to these scholarships, and the experiences of students who return to their home countries. This interest arose from her personal experience as a recipient of the BECAL Paraguayan postgraduate scholarship and the Fulbright award with which she funded her master's and PhD respectively.

Marisa Lally is a doctoral candidate at Boston College's Center for International Higher Education. Her research interests include national identity in higher education, internationalisation policies, and history of education. Her dissertation research explores discourses of power and ideology in historical materials of the Fulbright Program. She has published peer-reviewed articles in Education Sciences and American Behavioral Scientist. 

Limanzi Xu, is a PhD candidate currently studying at MIE, University of Manchester. The main research subject during the PhD is Exploring the Chinese Government Scholarship Policies and the Chinese Scholarship Council - A Practical Analysis of China's Public Graduate Program for Building 'Highly Qualified' Universities. As a research assistant, she focused on a DAAD-funded study of interviews with international students at several German universities. Furthermore, together with supervisors and colleagues, the research also focused on the new pedagogies in Chinese higher education of humanities and social sciences. Her main interests are in international student mobility, international scholarship systems, higher education policies, among others.

 Annabel Boud is Head of Commonwealth Scholarships leading the Secretariat of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan Management Unit, and the Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship programme at the ACU. Annabel joined the ACU in 2013 and has over 20 years’ experience working in higher education and sustainable development in Australia, Fiji, Sri Lanka and the UK. She is a doctoral researcher at the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge where her research focusses on equitable access for refugees and other historically excluded groups to international higher education mobility.