A US study downgrades the importance of agents. Elizabeth Gibney and Jack Grove report
Social media generally reach a wider range of US-bound international
students than recruiting agents, a report produced by US non-profit
research agency World Education Services has found.
Among
respondents to a survey of nearly 1,600 prospective students from 115
countries, 56 per cent follow social media accounts managed by US
institutions before making application choices and 32 per cent use
social media to source information. Just 16 per cent use agents.
The
survey also found that social media are useful for targeting all kinds
of student, whereas affluent but less academic ones are most likely to
use third-party agents.
US social media do not penetrate all
nations equally, however. Although 88 per cent of Indian social media
users log on to US-based platforms such as Facebook and Twitter daily or
weekly, only 22 per cent of Chinese users do the same, opting instead
for local alternatives.
The most widely used channels for gaining
information about US colleges are institutional websites or networks of
family and friends (used by 90 per cent and 67 per cent of those polled,
respectively).
Rahul Choudaha, director of research at WES, said
that many institutions needed to update their recruitment strategies to
take into account the increased use of social media. However, he added,
the survey also shows that they need to use such platforms more
effectively.
"A lot of the time social media usage is just
reposting the links from institution's websites, but that's
not...engagement," he said.
Dr Choudaha added that the report
highlights the differences among international students, so institutions
must tailor their recruitment services to the kinds of student they want and are
likely to attract.
Not All International Students Are the Same,
published on 28 August, aims to help institutions distinguish between
applicants by splitting them into four profiles: "strivers", those with
high academic preparedness but low financial resources; "strugglers",
those with low preparedness and low resources; "explorers", those with
low academic preparedness but high financial resources; and
"highfliers", who have the best of both.
The people termed in the
report "highfliers", for example, are generally attracted only to a
narrow band of top-ranked institutions, whereas "explorers" and
"strugglers" are less selective but require more academic assistance.
"Strivers", meanwhile, are academically well prepared but may not enrol
in the US unless they receive financial aid, the report says.
The
survey also found that different nations have different student
profiles, with Indian students most likely to be "strivers", Chinese
students most likely to be "highfliers" and Koreans most likely to be
"explorers". Different nationalities also have different priorities, it
says.
Career prospects post-graduation take precedence for around
half of the students from India and China, suggesting that institutions
that want to maximise their intake from those countries should highlight
services such as internship opportunities or career counselling.
With
many US public institutions facing cuts, universities are looking to
reduce their deficits by increasing their intake of overseas students,
Dr Choudaha said.
If a university wants to recruit more Chinese
students, "what they can do is look at where 'highfliers' and
'explorers' go to look for information first", he said.
Sceptical response
The
report's conclusion that agents tend to recruit "strugglers" or
"explorers" with weaker academic backgrounds has not been universally
welcomed.
Will Archer, chief executive of i-graduate, a firm that
tracks student perceptions on behalf of university and government
clients, said its "headline-grabbing conclusions should be taken with a
pinch of salt".
"Many of the best and most selective universities
use agents. Many of the best prospective students need advice on where
to go," he said. "The claim about lower academic ability is incorrect."
Agents
play a vital role in helping students to reach university, he argued,
as "for the countries referenced, the vast majority of students will be
coming from families without prior experience of international study".
In addition, he said, the report's claim that high barriers of
engagement are caused by agents charging substantial fees is
"misleading" as "most do not".
Mr Archer labelled the report
"lightweight", with "superficial insights. To put [its] scale into
context, we've just taken feedback from 180,000 international students
on behalf of universities that are serious about international recruitment. The report itself acknowledges its own significant
limitations."
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