Recruitment and retention of international graduate students in US universities

• Autores: Soumya K. Srivastava, Anurag K. Srivastava, Adrienne R. Minerick, Noel N. Schulz
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 26, no. 6, 2010, págs. 1561-1574
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • International students account for 3.5% of graduate students in the US with 17% enrolled in engineering programs in 2008. Recruitingand retention of International Graduate Students (IGS) is an essential and important consideration for US universities with increasedcompetition from other countries. Understanding concerns and preferences influencing the IGS’s decision to choose a school in additionto factors affecting decisions to continue advanced degrees at a university will help schools effectively recruit and retain better qualitystudents and thus increase research productivity. This paper addresses the design of comprehensive online survey to find preferences andinfluential factors affecting the decision of IGS in choosing a graduate school. IGS and alumni at US schools were invited anonymouslyto participate and complete the survey. Survey results were analyzed and interpreted both quantitatively and qualitatively. Resultsindicate that preferences of IGS to choose a school depend on their nationality, gender, age and several other factors. The paperconcludes with recommendations to improve recruitment and retention, considering preferences and concerns of different groups of IGSand strategizing the efforts in view of diversity of IGS.