More than 10,000 international alumni from all over Asia have taken part in a wide-ranging survey by Decision Lab, conducted in conjunction with the International Alumni Job Network (IAJN) about employment outcomes and satisfaction with education institutions in Australia, USA, Britain, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.
The data has formed the basis of a 70-page report authored by IAJN and Decision Lab, entitled ‘International Student Employment Outcomes and Satisfaction’, which includes responses from international alumni from China, India, Hong Kong (SAR), Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
With the aim of providing universities, government stakeholders and policymakers with insight into what employment outcomes international students achieve once they return home, data from the two-year study also focused on student satisfaction with their chosen university, the country of study, and the accuracy and source of pre-departure information available to future students.
Download the summary report here.
A valuable partnership
Attracting 10,787 responses, the report is the culmination of Decision Lab’s collaboration with the Vietnam-headquartered alumni-focused recruitment and human resource consultancy and has enabled IAJN to release detailed reporting into international student employment outcomes and satisfaction for the second year running.
Among the 2018 reports findings, Australian-educated students were the most likely to receive a salary increase, with 60% of respondents who had studied in Australia saying they had gotten one on their return to the workforce.
Overwhelmingly, students chose to study overseas in order to improve their career opportunities; however, the location of study (45%) was equally as important as the university’s institutional ranking (44%).
Satisfaction
When asked how strongly they agreed with the statement, ‘I am satisfied with the return on investment from my international education,’ the UK (66%) scored the lowest, while Canada (77%), Europe (74%) and New Zealand (74%) topped the list. USA (73%) and Australia (69%) were the next best performing destinations.
Indian-born students were the hardest to satisfy with only 46% saying they were happy with the outcome of their international education, while Indonesian students were the most likely to be satisfied with their overseas experience; 92% agreeing that overall it was positive.
Pre-departure
Notably, 59% of alumni said they had used either an education agent or university website as their primary source of pre-departure information; however, this was considered the least reliable. Previous alumni were considered the most accurate, but this source was only accessed by 7% of those who responded.
Download our summary of the International Student Employment Outcomes and Satisfaction study here.
To order the full report contact IAJN. Customized reports for countries, states and universities are also available upon request.