1. MS-M 11
MA Communications, Media Practise, and PR
How Global Universities Have Become:
What are the Digital Marketing Strategies that UK Universities
use to Attract International Students?
By Elisa Miele DiGiacopo
843672
2. 1
Declaration
I hereby declare that this dissertation is my own work and has not been submitted for any other
award.
Elisa Miele DiGiacopo
Student Number: 843672
3. 2
Abstract
This dissertation is an extensive study into the marketing strategies that universities
across the United Kingdom (UK) are using to attract international students. This dissertation will
also look at government funded programmes that have assisted in the mobility of international
students. Lastly, it will be shown how globalization and internationalization have effect on
public relation strategies used by universities throughout the UK in the last decade.
The literature review that was conducted focused on academic studies as well as articles
from online databases on how globalization and internationalization have affected higher
education. There will also be a look at the marketing strategies in higher education around the
world have changed with the increase use of technology. The literature review also focuses on
the terms internationalization and globalization as they are relevant to the studies.
The research conducted is semiotic analysis and will be used to look at marketing
strategies currently in use at thirteen universities across the UK with a high percentage of
international students. The time frame is within a 10 year period and the primary focus will be on
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The last piece of research will be an analysis of
government programmes and non-government organizations to see the affects they have had on
mobility. The primary outcome of the research will look at the number of international students
in the universities and the marketing strategies that are targeted towards these students as well as
how governments have played a role in the mobility of international students.
This dissertation will conclude with an overview of current marketing practices and
future trends that might be seen. The conclusions will show how similar universities can be when
it comes to marketing to international students as well as how government policies that can play
a factor into the mobility of international students.
5. 4
Introduction
This dissertation seeks to study how the new era of technology has assisted universities in
the United Kingdom (UK) in marketing towards international students. Not only has there been a
noticeable change in the higher education sector with the new era in technology, but there has
also been an increase in government programmes that have also assisted the mobility of
international students across Europe and more specifically in the UK. This dissertation will also
seek to show how globalization and internationalization have had an effect on these marketing
strategies, especially in the last decade with the development of social media, among other
advancements.
Since 2006, there has been a steady increase of international students entering the UK. In
2015, there were 873,175 international students in the UK (HESA, 2015) which almost has
quadrupled since 2006, when there were 229,640 international students studying here (BBC,
2009)1 and is it projected that that number will only continue to rise in the next decade. As data
has shown, the UK has been a hotspot for international students doing either short term
programmes, such as ERASMUS, or doing a full degree-seeking programme due to the
reputation that the universities in the UK have. Not only has there been an increase in the
numbers of international students but also a rise in GDP. As of May 2016, UK universities were
adding £1.86 billion to the economy (Kelly, 2016, p. 3). Even though the UK has been a hotspot
for students and faculty to come and study, there has been very little research done on specific
marketing strategies in higher education, especially when it comes to universities in the UK. This
will be discussed throughout the dissertation.
1 Based on both EU and non-EU students
6. 5
The literature review will expand on the importance of defining the terms globalization
and internationalization as well as how they can be linked to higher education through the
increase use of technology among other factors. These other factors include mobility of students
and faculty, changes seen in higher education so far, the increase in international students, and
changes in the curriculum. The literature review will also seek to explain how marketing higher
education has changed drastically on a national and international level in the last decade. This
will include a focus on how the internet and social media have played a role in these changes.
Most of the text that has been found has been academic; however, the more recent pieces of text
are non-academic articles. The literature review has assisted in no way in the research, as will be
shown in the upcoming chapters.
Based on the findings in the literature review, there are very few academic texts about
marketing strategies in higher education, and there are even fewer academic texts specifically
aimed towards the marketing strategies of higher education in the UK. Most of the texts that
were found on this subject did not specify the target audience they were marketing to. The texts
that have been found on the subject are out of date for the current study, as there have been about
new developments in technology and how universities should be using them. As Paul Gibbs and
Felix Maringe argue, as early as 1995, research in this field has shown that marketing practices
within the UK education system were, and still are, underdeveloped and lacking focus (Gibbs &
Maringe, 2008). Even though there have been advancements both in the higher education and
marketing sector in the last 20 years, there is still a lack of focus and consistency in these fields.
With that being said, most of the found texts in this field are articles that can be found on various
online databases which have differing opinions about how universities should be utilizing
technology and social media when it comes to marketing. Among the other academic texts
7. 6
found, discussions included the mobility of students and how internationalization has changed
higher education curriculum. While these topics can be important, the aim of this dissertation is
to find the best marketing strategies geared towards international students.
This dissertation will aim to answer three major questions to establish why international
students decide to come to the UK to study and they are:
1. What marketing strategies do universities across the UK use to market towards
international students?
2. What government programmes have been put into place to assist the mobility of
international students?
3. How has internationalization and globalization affected marketing strategies in
universities?
By answering these questions, there will be a better picture of how to market higher
education in the UK within in the last decade when the new era of technology started to become
what we know today. The only paper that focuses on this area was written by Paul Gibbs and
Felix Maringe has shown that very few studies have been done, yet has proved very little. These
studies that are brought up by Maringe and Gibbs in their paper titled Marketing Higher
Education are also are out of the time frame that this dissertation has put forward, with the most
recent being completed in 2003. Maringe and Nick Foskett argue there is a lack of consistent
ideas in globalization and internationalization in higher education. This in turn fails to deliver
certain strategic choices that concern globalization (Maringe & Foskett, 2010, p. 6). While
Maringe and Foskett are correct in their findings, subjects in this area lack consistency, as will be
shown throughout the literature review, one consistent theme emerged and that is the use of
8. 7
technology. Besides technology, the methodology and results will show that there are
consistencies when you look at universities’ marketing strategies instead of just academic text.
The one advantage that universities in the UK have compared to other countries is that the
UK has a plethora of universities with global reputations. With the prestigious Russell Group
Universities accounting for 24 of the universities across the UK, many non-Russell Group
Universities also have programmes that interest many international students to come to the UK.
Ten of the UK’s university ranked in the top 100 universities in the world according to QS
(Tucker, 2015). While many of these universities can depend on their reputation to attract
students (Taylor, 2010, p. 102), many other of the universities throughout the UK cannot depend
on the reputation to do so. While reputation is important among so many universities, this
dissertation will look at a variety of universities throughout the UK which have differing
reputations. This is because reputation, while important in attracting international students, is just
one factor that plays into why students select the university they choose to attend. This
dissertation aims to focus solely on the marketing strategies of the university instead of
reputation. This will in turn show that some universities rely on their reputation to market to
students, while others use more marketing tools to attract students. Showing both examples
throughout the study will further enhance the knowledge of marketing strategies universities
have adopted and should be adopting.
Technology will be the key factor in throughout this dissertation and will be the main focus
in most of the research; however, there is another factor in that will be covered in this
dissertation and that will be analysis of certain government programmes and non-government
organizations. The UK and European Union (EU) governments have also had a say in how the
mobility of students, the education standards in the respective country, funding, and how to
9. 8
attract international students. There have been countless government documents and programmes
that have been implemented in the last decade; however this dissertation will only look at three
major programmes: the Bologna Process, the Lisbon Process, and the Prime Minister Initiative.
These documents, created by either the UK or EU governments, aim to welcome and control the
number of international students coming into the respective region as well as deal with the
economic aspect that comes with these students. This dissertation will also look at two non-
government organizations, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) to show
that there is more documentation out there that assists with the mobility of international students
as well as the internationalization of higher education that do not come from one specific
government. It is also important to note that within the UK, devolved government systems have
been set up in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The three devolved governments focus on
the needs of their own country, which partially includes the education systems. While this
dissertation will not focus on the devolved governments, it is important to show that there are
other factors within the government facing the higher education market. By looking at these
programmes and organizations, this will increase understanding of the government’s role in the
mobility of students.
Before talking about the research, it is important to include the recent EU referendum that
happened in the UK. While this dissertation cannot show the effect of that this referendum has
had on Europe and the UK, it will undoubtedly have an impact when the terms of breakup of the
two governments are determined and carried out. In the future, the UK’s vote to leave the EU
may have an effect on the potential marketing strategies geared towards higher education
institutions and international students. While there is still at least two years until we see the UK
10. 9
officially leave the EU, many European students are already growing wary about accepting their
place at any university in the UK. While every university in the country, as well as the Minister
of State for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson, have all made an official statement on the
subject to try and give these EU students peace of mind, there has been little discussion about
what will happen to these students in the future. For the time being, all EU nationals studying in
the UK will keep their place without the worry of a visa and will continue to get funding until
their course is finished, no matter the duration of it (Pells, 2016). There are many more factors to
this referendum; however, when the official separation of the UK from the EU, there will be
more to discuss, but until then there we can only discuss current programmes currently in place.
This dissertation will conclude with the current marketing strategies that have are in place
different universities across the UK, as well as possible outcomes for the future from both the
government and universities. The trends that are involved are websites and social media, open
days, international outreach, and student experiences. The findings discussed in this paper will
provide more of a clear and consistent view of marketing strategies, as well as the impact of the
government programmes and non-government organizations in how these universities run, and
how internationalization has played a key factor in the advancement of higher education. The
research that will be presented in this dissertation has the opportunity to advance the knowledge
in this area by improving on previous studies. This dissertation will also conclude with how
globalization and internationalization affect these universities. Given the significant number of
students already in the UK, the observed increase in the last decade shows, the effect
international students have on the GDP, shows that this is not only an important topic to discuss
but also that there should be more up to date research on the subject.
11. 10
Literature Review
Before discussing how globalization and internationalization have affected higher
education so far, it is important to start by defining the two terms and how they impacted the
world outside of higher education. Globalization and internationalization have played a huge part
in public relations and marketing. Globalization is defined as the process of extending a business
to other parts of the world (Merriam Webster, 2010). As Harris Diamond, CEO of Public
Relations giant Weber Shandwick believes that public relations are local, however global and
local will always coexist and intertwine (Diamond & Yunker, 2006). He goes onto argue that
globalization means that at some point the different cultures of the world will eventually be
uniform (Diamond & Yunker, 2006). In contrast, while globalization has been shown to be
uniform, the internationalization aspect is completely different when talking about public
relations or marketing. Globalization focuses on one global economy and one culture while
internationalization, on the other hand, focuses on the importance of international relations,
trade, etc. (Daly, 1999). The main focus of internationalization is adapting a product to specific
culture and language (Business Dictionary, 2015). While globalization and internationalization
tend to go together, as Betty Leask says in her book, the relationship between the two is complex
(Leask, 2015). While complex, both can play a big factor in public relations and business. These
concepts have become ever more prevalent in everyday society.
Globalization and internationalization have had an important impact on higher education,
especially in the last decade, with the internet making it easier to connect with the world. It can
be argued that globalization has been considered to be the central idea of the modern university
(Caruana, 2010). While it can be argued that globalization has assisted in making universities
what they are today, it can also be argued that globalization and higher education have assisted
12. 11
each other in this transformation. Simon Marginson argues that globalization has altered higher
education by boosting staff, students and graduates into a universal environment (Marginson,
2003). Maringe and Foskett state that students across the globe have been influenced by
globalization (Maringe & Foskett, 2010). As Leask states, universities have assisted the
globalization process by supporting the mobility of people and knowledge around the world
(Leask, 2015, p. 9). Leask continues by saying internationalization is a top priority in higher
education, this being due to the changing global environment, as well as globalization itself
(Leask, 2015, p. 3). As Hans De Wit states in his 2011 report, internationalization, when it comes
to curriculum, has become increasingly important especially when it comes to mobility of
students at any given university (Wit, 2011). De Wit continues saying that internationalization
can change depending on the university and is shaped by the program involved (Wit, 2011). As
Seth Saunders suggests, these higher education institutions (HEI’s) must become more global to
attract more international students (Saunders, 2013). As Izhar Oplatka and Jane Hemsley-Brown
argue that public relations issues on an international level are becoming important for the
existence of universities because they are responsible for maintaining the current market share of
international students (Oplatka & Hemsley-Brown, 2010). Based on the arguments made by
these authors in their respective books and the ever growing importance that we have seen in this
field, it goes to show how globalization and internationalization have influenced higher
education as well as the need for these terms to be successful.
Again, the higher education market has changed drastically in the last decade with the
advancements in technology. Despite these advancements, such as social media and the internet,
being fairly young, they have assisted in changes we have seen in the higher education market, as
well as how universities market towards international students. As author Stuart Banbary states,
13. 12
‘Digital marketing has experienced the most significant revolution over recent times, with
leaders and marketing departments now faced with an array of tools and techniques’ (Banbery,
2015, p. 1). Furthermore, as Jane Knight argues, there are advances in communication and
technology which have been key players in how internationalization and globalization are
changing higher education (Knight, 2000). Knight continues by saying these technologies are
permitting students to have international contacts and easier access to information (Knight, 2000,
p. 7). The increase of globalization as well as new communication technologies allow HEI’s to
tailor certain activities such as the production and transfer of knowledge and information
(Nowotny, Scott, & Gibbons , 2001). Banbery illustrates that universities have an array of new
technology at their fingertips to assist in their marketing efforts and, if used properly, can place
themselves as leaders in this field (Banbery, 2015). He continues by saying that the universities
that produce good content, personalised messages and appropriate channels are the ones that will
build trust with the students they are marketing to (Banbery, 2015). As Maringe states that the
increase in the uniformity of culture and ideals is being steered by the digital world (Maringe,
2010, p. 17). As long technology continues to as drive both globalization and internationalization
in different sectors, they will continue to have an impact on higher education, thus there will
need to be continual discussions this topic.
The advancement in technology has affected marketing strategies in higher education
considerably; especially those marketing strategies are geared towards international students. A
recent Google Trends research report states that 40% of all searched in reference to UK
Universities come from outside the UK (Ross, 2015). As Gibbs and Maringe state, one of the
largest and fastest growing segments that universities should be marketing to are international
students, especially the ones in major first world countries, for example the UK, USA, or
14. 13
Australia (Gibbs & Maringe, 2008, p. 63). As Foskett states, universities in every country have
had to respond to mobility of international students by direct marketing, overseas campuses, and
by establishing partnerships for international student mobility (Foskett, 2010). Steve Woodfield
suggest that the investment in international students, which the UK has been active in, include
developing a national brand, analyzing international student profiles, as well as their decision
making process, developing an international presence, and promoting relationships with certain
countries (Woodfield, 2010). Maringe and Foskett state that these universities have recognized
the importance of developing certain programs to recruit international students and prepare them
to succeed in a new, globalized world (Maringe & Foskett, 2010, p. 7). While there has been a
mention of very limited text in the sector, one text on this topic continues to reiterate the same
message; that universities should be doing more to market towards international students.
As mentioned, public relations and marketing have gone through major transformations
in the last decade as they have entered the digital world, and the higher education sector went
through the same transformation. Certain aspects of globalization, such as cultural aspects, have
been around for years; however, they only have been accelerated in the last decade with recent
developments in technology (Maringe & Foskett, 2010, p. 2). A recent Hanover Research report,
a leading research firm in the United States, has found that technology is just one function that
HEI’s are focusing their attention on (Hanover Research, 2014). The increased recruitment of
international students goes hand in hand with the increased use of the internet. This is because
universities have been utilizing technology, such as social media sites and websites, to
communicate with prospective students (Tucker, 2014). Many researchers recommend that
universities need to maintain good content in forms of websites and social media pages to attract
students (Hanover Research, 2015). With that being said, social media has made it easier to
15. 14
connect with prospective students both in the respective home country and on an international
spectrum. As Gibbs and Maringe state, universities have had to accept these technological
advancements since these advancements have come so far at such a fast rate (Gibbs & Maringe,
2008, p. 5). Even though direct interaction and events are still widely used and extremely
popular, a recent study from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth found that 100% of
institutions they polled were using at least one social media site as a marketing tool (Hanover
Research, 2014). This means that there is a need for digital marketing strategies, as well as these
universities needing to always be active in this area (Ross, 2015). Many researchers have found
that being present on mobile devices is just as important as being present online (Smith, 2015,
Banbery, 2016). Smartphones are slowly replacing the need for a laptop, since smartphones are
capable of doing the same actions as a laptop, whilst fitting in your pocket. A recent Pew Centre
study shows that at least 30% of smartphone users’ use their smartphone to get onto university
websites (Smith, 2015). As Craig Maslowsky argues, using smartphones to market towards
students will become more essential in years to come, because the marketing data that will be
sent to these mobile devices will need to be fully functional to be successful (Maslowsky, 2013).
The change in how the internet and social media are used have made marketing HEI’s more
competitive.
There is also a sense of competitiveness when marketing towards these international
students. As Foskett and Maringe state, there are strategies that are being put into place to
increase competitiveness for these HEI’s (Maringe & Foskett, 2010, p. 4). This includes
commercializing the recruitment of students and branding certain nations and universities as a
place of educational development (Maringe & Foskett, 2010, p. 4). As Taylor argues, marketing
to and recruiting international students has become extremely competitive especially in the last
16. 15
decade (Taylor, 2010). Taylor continues to argue that globalizing and internationalizing higher
education through these documents has already provided international competitiveness as well as
new opportunities and better skill requirements (Taylor, 2010). As the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argues, universities need to enrich quality of
the education to keep their universities competitive to react to changes in the current
environment (Glass, 2014). As Maringe and Gibbs suggest, because of the competitiveness of
marketing towards higher education, these universities need to identify certain aspects to position
themselves higher than their competition in this market (Gibbs & Maringe, 2008, p. 60). With
student mobility constantly rising, English-speaking countries are under pressure to compete for
these students (Choudaha & Chang, 2013). While not as important as marketing these
universities and strategies these universities use, each university throughout the UK see it
necessary to set themselves apart from their competition.
This literature review discussed how these universities have to justify themselves in an
extremely competitive market (Gibbs & Maringe, 2008) by staying up to date with technology
and social media. The literature review combined the knowledge which is already in place about
internationalization and globalization of higher education with the growing knowledge of
marketing higher education has had very little effect on what is to come in this dissertation. The
review, however, does show the effects that globalization and internationalization have had on
higher education that will be explained in depth in later chapters.
17. 16
Methodology
The primary research conducted for this study was the semiotic analysis of thirteen (13)
universities across the UK. These universities were selected at random, based solely on The
Complete University Guide’s Percentage of International Students by Universities. The
universities selected are from England (8), Scotland (2), Wales (2), and Northern Ireland (1). The
only inclusion criteria for the universities selected were that they needed to have above 5% of
international students. Having more than 5% international students’ signifies that there is
sufficient research material, as well as a relatively large international student population from
which to obtain data. The selection was performed at random, within the inclusion criteria, so
there was no bias towards certain universities or towards a certain area of the country. It is
important to note that since England has more universities to choose from compared to Scotland,
Wales, and Northern Ireland, so there is a larger selection of universities from that area in this
study.
As previously mentioned, this dissertation will primarily look at marketing strategies of the
university, not the reputation of the university. The universities selected range from world
renowned Russell Group universities, such as the University College of London and Bristol
University, to lesser known universities, such as Canterbury Christ Church University and
Edinburgh Napier University. Again, the selection was done at random by just looking at
percentages of students. While it can be argued that reputation plays a key role in marketing to
international students, the reason that there is a mix of universities is because this dissertation
will primarily look at marketing strategies, not the university’s reputation or ranking. While it
did come into question to separate the study into groups of two, it was more important to look at
just marketing strategies since there were fewer academic texts to use for support. There are also
18. 17
more factors that go into a student’s decision to choose a university, such as location or
programme, so by just looking at specific marketing strategies allowed for focus on one area.
Universities selected are from the Complete University Guide are:
University Percentage of International Students
University of Essex 35%
University College London (UCL) 33.9%
Aston University 20%
University of Leicester 21.1%
Edinburgh Napier University 17.2%
University of Bristol 15.2%
Swansea University 14.3%
University of Leeds 11.8%
University of Stirling 9.3%
University of Roehampton 8.7%
Canterbury Christ Church University
(CCCU)
7.8%
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
(UWTSD)
7.5%
Queen’s University Belfast 5.3%
(The Complete University Guide, 2013)
Marketing strategies that will be looked at during the semiotic analysis are a mix of online
presence and face to face marketing strategies. The reason to look at both of these marketing
19. 18
strategies is because in a recent study, 66% of students say that both online and offline presence
is important to them (Top Universities, 2015). These marketing strategies include:
I. Online presence
a. Website
b. Social media
II. Open days
III. International outreach
a. International visits
i. I.E. college fairs, advice sessions, education fairs
b. Regional offices and representatives
IV. Student Experiences
Research collected from these universities comes from their international page of these
universities’ websites, Facebook pages, and YouTube channels. It has been shown that
universities with multiple sites, such as websites and social media pages, have influenced
students when deciding on a university (James, 2011). University websites and social media
pages, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Weibo in China, are the most common places for
universities to market to international students. Looking at their online presence and multiple
sites will show the other marketing strategies these universities use and how students have
reacted to them through comments and ‘likes’. The results will show universities that their
presence online through websites and a social media pages is extremely important. Some of the
content that will be found on these pages is2:
Contact information
2 More points will begiven in results section
20. 19
Prospectuses
Applications
Visa specifics
The latest Hanover Research shows that having an effective website is one of the most
important marketing tools universities should have (Hanover Research, 2015). The reason to
look at websites is because they are normally the first stop for students, both international and
native, to get the most reliable information about the university. One study shows that one in five
students will not consider a university if they do not like the website or it is not responsive
(Noel-Levitz, 2011). Websites in the last decade are set up to be interactive and easily accessible
to obtain the most accurate and up to date information. Nowadays, everything can be accessed at
any time on the internet through a student’s laptop or smartphone. Since smartphones are used in
the almost the same way as laptops and desktops and are more convenient than having a laptop.
This means that having an interactive website that is also responsive on a mobile phone can
attract just as many students. The easier to access these websites by the students will give
universities the results they are looking for.
While these social media sites yield different results compared to the websites, in the last
decade they have become fundamental part of marketing towards these international students.
As was shown in the literature review, the use of social media is one of the important aspects in
attracting international students. It has been shown that having a regularly updated social media
page with sufficient marketing material can attract as many international students as websites
can. This study will only focus on two social media sites, Facebook and YouTube. While Weibo
is the most commonly used site in China, it will not be looked at due to the language barrier and
no knowledge of the site. The reason to look at these social media sites is because a large portion
21. 20
of international students has access to a Facebook and YouTube page, so obtaining the materials
shared on these sites is easy. While each university has other social media pages, such as Twitter,
Instagram, and Snapchat, most of the content found on these pages is filled with material that is
not marketable to international students. While all thirteen universities have a separate
international student Twitter page, the only university that has marketing material on this page is
UCL. Given that there is such a small amount of content on these other social media sites; this
justifies the choice of focusing on just Facebook and YouTube. Another reason to look at
Facebook and YouTube specifically is because they do not have a word limit, which plays an
important factor into why these two were selected. Lastly, is easier to connect with the university
on Facebook and YouTube than it is on Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat.
One area of marketing in the higher education sector that goes with the effect of
globalization and internationalization has on higher education and that is student experience.
Student experiences can be seen as an important to students when they are selecting their
university. This dissertation will look into student experience because there are many researchers
than can agree that student experience has had a major impact on globalization and
internationalization in higher education and has become an important marketing strategy. Student
experiences that will be looked in this section come from a small number of universities in this
study and the pages they have dedicated to this topic. As Rodney Arambewela suggests the
student experience has influenced developments in higher education (Arambewela, 2010, p.
157). This will be shown in later chapters. In this study, just look at the experiences found on the
university’s website will be considered. The universities in the study have a range of students
from around the world giving their experiences of the university, city, and programme. As
Arambewela suggests, there is a correlation between student experience and student satisfaction
22. 21
(Arambewela, 2010, p. 155). Again, this will be shown in upcoming chapters that these student
experiences do have a major impact on international students.
The final piece of research was data analysis of government documents from both the UK
and EU as well as non-government affiliated organizations. There are opportunities that
international students bring, such as economic and employability benefits, which will be
explained in upcoming chapters. The documents that will be analysed include the Prime Minister
Initiative (PMI), which was implemented in the UK, and the Bologna Process and Lisbon
Process that were implemented throughout the EU. The reason for this is to see how government
has affected the mobility of students and staff in both governing bodies as well as if it has a
positive or negative affect on mobility. Also, these programmes are specifically aimed at
bringing international students to Europe, as well as properly equip universities across the
continents to deal with the influx of students that are coming in. These programmes also look at
the affects that international students bring to the economy. It is important to note that these
documents were started in the late 1990s or early 2000s; however, all three were implemented
within the time frame set forth.
The Prime Minister Initiative will be the key document that will be focused on during this
part of the research. Even though the Prime Minister Initiative only lasted for five years, from
2006 to 2011, it is the only program to focus specifically on bringing international students to the
UK to study. The reason to look closely at the PMI is because it was one of the few programs to
be given funding to increase international students and to guarantee that these students have a
good quality experience while continuing to uphold the UK’s position as a major education
market (Tayor, 2010). Findings from the PMI will make understanding of the devolved
governments and mobility of students coming into the UK easier to understand. Even though the
23. 22
programme only ran for five years, there are still many key topics to take out of it that will be
explained in later chapters.
The Bologna Process on the other hand, while still important, focuses more on
internationalization and mobility of students and staff throughout Europe. While it does not have
the same aims as the PMI, many European students come through the UK to study and vice
versa. The Bologna Process is the only programme to focus on internationalizing universities in
the EU. The Bologna Process was set up as a way to enhance global and international
competiveness and to reform the higher education system in each country involved (Gibbs,
2010). It is also important to note that the Bologna Process get revisited every two years to keep
up to date with latest trends, whereas the PMI and the Lisbon Process have not been updated for
approximately five years.
The Lisbon Process, unlike the Bologna Process and the Prime Minister Initiative, does not
focus on international students or their mobility, instead was created to focus on the knowledge-
based economy of the EU with a main focus on education. The Lisbon Process was finalized in
2010, but since its focus differs from the other two programmes, it is not as a necessary to update
it as often. As Janez Potočnik, who sat on the committee, stated, ‘universities will need to adapt
to the demands of a global, knowledge-based economy, just as other sectors of society and
economy have to adapt’ (Potočnik, 2006, p. 22). The Lisbon Process has been known to go hand
in hand with the Bologna Process since both focus on the major aspects that affect higher
education in Europe. Compared to the other two programmes, the Lisbon Process will not be
studied in as much detail.
The two non-government affiliated organizations that this dissertation will look at are the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the
24. 23
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as they have been around
since post World War Two era and have played a major role in international education. The
reason to look at these organizations is because of the lack of relationship to any particular
government; however, they each play a huge factor in the advancement of higher education and
assist with the mobility of international students. It is also important to look at these
organizations because they have seen the most changes and continuously put out material for
universities and other HEI’s to look at that can keep them up to date with the latest
advancements.
There was one interview conducted that can be found in Appendix A due to high word
count.
25. 24
Data Analysis and Results
I. Online Presence
a. Websites:
Websites have become the norm for business, celebrities, the music industry, and of
course universities. It has become increasingly important for universities to have an easily
accessible website for both native and international students to get information about the
university in question. It is also important, as previously mentioned, that these universities have
websites which are accessible on either a laptop or on a smartphone. According to one study,
91% of potential students in the study said websites are the most widely used by these students
and were essential in their research of the university (Top Universities, 2015, p. 9). With that
being said, all 13 universities in this study have websites that are compatible for both
smartphones and laptops. The important piece from each website that was looked at was the
international students’ page that each university has included on their website. These
international student pages include:
Contact information about the international office
o Also contacts for specific regions of the world (if applicable)
Applications
Visa information for each country
Courses
Prospectus
Options to study
o Undergraduate & Postgraduate
26. 25
o Summer School
o Erasmus & Study Abroad
Fees and scholarships
Open Days
English language requirements
Representatives in your country (if applicable)
International offices (if applicable)
International visits (if applicable)
Country specifics pages
International student testimonials
Many researchers agree that having a responsive and interesting website gives
universities an advantage (Patel, 2015). As shown, websites have become increasingly important
when it comes to marketing towards potential students of all kinds. Based on the findings,
websites need to be responsive and up to date in order to be successful. While correlation
between responsive websites and student numbers could not be find, the feedback from students
and academics alike have said that the material found on websites make selecting universities
easier.
b. Social Media:
While websites have been around for a while and are the most commonly used online
marketing tool for international students, social media is the latest marketing tool that
universities are using. Universities tend to have multiple social media platforms such as:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Weibo in China. However, two specific social media site that
27. 26
have been looked at for this study are Facebook and YouTube. Based on the interview with
Kenon Man from the Swansea University International Development Office, he stated that, when
marketing on social media, Swansea University utilises Facebook and Weibo in China more than
their other platforms just because it is easier to attract students on these outlets (Man, 2016). As
previously mentioned, Weibo will not be looked at due to lack of knowledge of the site.
Facebook and YouTube are just two of the most commonly looked at social media sites. As the
research will show, these sites have attracted many students to their respective page and are
updated frequently. The feedback shown from these two sites have yielded positive results.
The first social media site that was looked at was Facebook. Nowadays, everyone has a
Facebook page. Universities tend to have multiple pages for different areas of interest. One of
these pages includes an international student page. All but three universities have an international
students Facebook page. However, the three universities, University of Stirling, University of
Leeds, and Queen’s University Belfast, use their main Facebook page to direct international
students towards important information and the international student section of their website.
Each page, like the websites, is updated regularly with events and information aimed towards
international students. The information includes:
Applications and visas
Important information about the EU Referendum Vote
Tips for international students about studying in the UK.
The number of likes on each universities main Facebook page and international Facebook page
are as followed3:
3 Number as of 13 July 2016
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University Main Facebook Page International Page:
UCL 144,988 likes 13,631likes
Aston University 44,241 likes 17,677 likes
University of Essex 56,958 likes 1,435 likes
University of Leicester 33,998 likes 1,456 likes
CCCU 41,578 likes, 9,270 likes
University of Stirling 33,406 likes N/A
University of Roehampton 90,784 likes 1,526 likes
Queen’s University Belfast 49,268 likes N/A
UWTSD 11,335 likes 264 likes
University of Leeds 60,214 likes N/A
Bristol University 60,791 likes, 2,596 likes
Edinburgh Napier University 72,778 likes 4,087 likes
Swansea University 30,846 likes 29,585 likes
YouTube is another channel that universities use to show videos of campus, students
testimonials, and events, such as graduation. While it is not considered a traditional social media
site and it is known for showing cat videos, YouTube has become a platform for many to
promote a product or themselves. Since the site has gone through many changes since it started
in 2005, including using a live stream option which has become important for every industry,
including universities, to market themselves on YouTube. All 13 universities have at least one
main YouTube channel and 10 of these universities utilising a separate playlists within these
channels to show videos geared directly toward international students. Besides separate playlists
29. 28
directed at international students, universities have made it an option to take tours of the campus
and see different programmes offered at the university which will be explained more in depth in
upcoming chapters.
YouTube subscribers, views, and number of videos from the main account from the main
YouTube page and number of videos on the international playlist are as followed4:
University Subscribers Views Videos Videos on
International
Playlist
UCL 9,761 subscribers 2,339,270 views 259 videos 10 videos on
separate playlist
University of
Stirling
372 subscribers 84,157 views 104 videos N/A
University of Leeds 2,447 subscribers 770,034 views 574 videos 8 videos on
separate playlist
Queen’s University
Belfast
997 subscribers 280,472 views 292 videos 32 videos on
separate playlist
University of
Leicester
12,092 subscribers 5,644,073 views 368 videos N/A
University of Essex 5,401 subscribers 950,258 views 695 videos 54 videos on
separate playlist
Aston University 1,665 subscribers 553,984 views 501 videos 10 videos on
4 Numbers taken as of 13 July 2016
30. 29
separate playlist
Swansea University 713 subscribers 223,853 views 244 videos 15 videos on
separate playlist
Edinburgh Napier
University
866 subscribers 314,895 views 246 videos 20 videos on
separate playlist
University of Bristol 5,939 subscribers 1,862,146 views 281 videos 14 videos on
separate playlist
UWTSD 397 subscribers 144,444 views 390 videos N/A
University of
Roehampton
646 subscribers 247,228 views 95 videos 4 videos on
separate playlist
CCCU 500 subscribers 159,027 views 349 videos 15 videos on
separate playlist
In the last decade, these social media sites have become increasingly important when it
comes to marketing since many university age students tend to use these sites. While many other
social media sites could have been looked at in this study, by just looking at these two sites has
shown that many students use these pages to get their information. These social media sites have
been shown to attract students and have become an important marketing tool when it comes to
attracting international students since it is one of the easiest ways to connect with the world.
31. 30
II. Open Days
Open days have become an integral part of looking at universities on both a national and
international level. Open days allow students and their family to see accommodations, talk to
faculty in their department, and get a tour of campus. However, for international students,
traveling to the UK for an open day may be expensive traveling from their home country. All 13
universities have open days for undergraduates and postgraduates that take place on their
respective campus. However, out of those 13 universities, only seven of them accommodate
students who may not be able to attend an open day. There are five ways that have been found
these universities are allowing students to still see the campus, they are:
Virtual open houses and tours
Interactive maps
Video tours5
Live chats
Live streaming or YouTube Videos
Those universities that provide these services include:
Swansea University
UCL
University of Essex
Aston University
University of Stirling
University of Leeds
5 All 13 universities do video tours, the other seven fall into the other categories
32. 31
Edinburgh Napier University
University of Leicester
Canterbury Christ Church University
The first option that many universities are adopting is the use of virtual open houses or a
virtual tour. These virtual open houses and tours allow international students who are not able to
attend the open house in person to see the university without having to leave their home country.
The same benefits apply to the virtual open house such as seeing accommodations, talking to
faculty, and getting a campus tour. Out of the seven universities that accommodate international
students, only three universities, the University of Stirling, the University of Essex, and
Canterbury Christ Church University, are using virtual open houses or virtual tours as an option.
Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Stirling allow students to see one of
the three campuses and accommodations, contact certain offices for more information, and see
what life at the respective university is like. Neither of the universities are doing a virtual open
house at the moment; however, the University of Stirling does have an option for 360° views of
the campus as well as an option to Skype with staff from various departments. The University of
Essex, on the other hand, does a virtual tour of both of their campuses with looks at buildings
around each of the respective campus as well as a 360° look inside and outside each building.
The virtual tour at the University of Essex also overlaps with the interactive map, which will also
be talked about in the next section.
The second option is the interactive map which may not allow you the same options as the
open days, but still allow the student to see the campus. The four universities that have adopted
the interactive map are UCL, the University of Leeds, the University of Leicester, and the
University of Essex. The interactive map allows the student to see the campus, specific sites
33. 32
around the city, and specific buildings on campus that might interest the student as well as
websites and opening times of these buildings. The University of Essex is the most interactive of
the four universities. It is the only one that allows students to take a virtual tour of the campus
buildings which was talked about in the previous section. By using this map, it also allows you to
look at both campuses and the area around them. UCL’s interactive map is less interactive than
the University of Essex; however, it does have videos and information about each building. UCL
also has multiple maps, including a basic map, virtual tour map, maps available for mobile
phones, and an audio tour that can downloaded from iTunes. The University of Leeds on the
other hand, while basic, still provides information, pictures, websites, and hours the building
might have. The University of Leeds also has the option to download their map to a phone or
laptop. The University of Leicester allows you to see the campus via Google Maps. Like the
University of Leeds, it is very basic; however it does not have the option to go in depth on the
buildings you are seeing, by having links to information on the building. Unfortunately, options
to see views, comments, and reviews are not available on any of the websites.
The third option is the video tours. These videos show academic buildings and
accommodations across campus often given by a member of staff or students. While not as
interactive, these videos still yield many positive views of the university. All 13 universities
have tours available on their YouTube channels or another viewing platform; however, three
universities will be used as examples for this section. Queen’s University Belfast’s videos are
quick tours of the campus and accommodation given by a student. Their videos have received
high numbers of viewers and comments and questions which they have responded to in a timely
manner with helpful links. Aston University also has students giving the tour which gives more
insightful view of the campus; however, these videos are shorter than the previously mentioned
34. 33
university and less in depth. These videos also yield a high number of positive comments. The
University of Essex videos are longer and use a different video platform, Vimeo, which is a more
advanced video sharing platform than YouTube. However, it is the same quality as the YouTube
videos and yields the same results. As previously mentioned, these video tours may not give
students the same views as the open houses or an option to talk to staff, however all three sets of
videos in these examples have reached over 10,000 views and have received positive comments
on YouTube videos. Besides these positive comments and views, any questions that might arise
on these channels get a response from a representative in the university in a timely manner. This
goes for all of the videos on each respective YouTube channel.
The fourth option is a live chat. The live chats give the students the opportunity to talk to
staff quickly. There are three universities in this study that use the live chat option, Edinburgh
Napier University, Aston University, and University of Essex. These live chats do not allow the
students to see the campus but still get the option of talking to someone from the university to
their answer questions at a quicker pace than emailing. Edinburgh Napier University and
University of Essex have a general live chat where students can ask the representative anything
about the university or the programmes they offer. However, both Edinburgh Napier University
and the University of Essex also have other options to see the campus such as having quick
videos or virtual tours of each of their campuses to view. Aston University does specific live
chats, such as having a representative from the international office or a specific office to talk
with students from certain regions of the world to discuss visas and applications. These live chats
have garnered high number of attendees and have received positive reviews. Many students have
said that talking to someone, even though not in person, still have the same effect. As Aston
University states on their website about these live chats:
35. 34
‘Live Chat session gives you the opportunity to talk to our staff about our courses, entry
requirements, accommodation or any other queries you may have about life here at Aston
University. You can use your computer, smart phone or tablet device to get involved in our on-
line discussion.’ (Aston University, 2016)
The last option is live streaming on Facebook or posting videos from the open day on
YouTube. Only two universities, Swansea University and UCL, have done this so far. The live
streaming has become the latest trend on both Facebook and YouTube and has been useful for by
businesses and celebrity personalities for conferences and news pieces. Swansea University used
the live broadcasts option on their Facebook page during their June 2016 open house specifically
to target international students that cannot attend the actual open house. Eight live broadcasts
allowed students to view different sessions, tours, and interviews with different colleges on
campus throughout the day. The views of these videos ranged from 150 views to over 1,000
views depending on the video. These broadcasts got positive reviews, feedback, and multiple
likes. According to Kenon Man, depending on how these videos go, the university will continue
to use this technology for other open houses in the future (Man, 2016).
In 2015, UCL posted a series of videos from one of their open days. These videos included
talks from the Social Sciences Department as well as from different subjects in the university.
The university also has videos that allow the students to see the campus. These videos have a
variety of views ranging from 700 to over 3,000 views; however, there are very few comments to
see if these videos were a success. Even though it is only one open day, based on the views, it
would be considered successful. Based on these findings, more universities may adopt these
features to allow students to still get the opportunity to attend an open house without having to
be there.
36. 35
The use of virtual technology and live streaming has become a norm in the last few years.
While they are still new pieces of technology, having the option to see the university without
leaving one’s home country has been shown to be successful. Many universities are now moving
towards these one of these technologies because of the success they have seen. While direct
interaction still yields positive remarks, the use of virtual technology and live streaming have
already yielded the same results.
37. 36
III. International Outreach
a. International Visits:
International visits are not new thing; however, they have become an important
marketing strategy for universities. This is because, while having an online presence is
important, having face to face interactions with international students has been shown to be just
as successful. Universities throughout the UK have made it a priority to do country visits and
these visits range from higher education and college fairs to study abroad fairs to private
functions such as the International Academy visits by the University of Essex6. The reason why
these visits are important is because, as studies have shown, having a physical presence when
marketing towards international students is just as important as a virtual presence. There have
been positive results that come from these visits as the data will show.
Out of the 13 universities in the study, 11 of them have an easy to access page about
upcoming and previous country visits. Those two universities that do not have these pages are
Canterbury Christ Church University and UWTSD. Six universities, including the University of
Essex, have done something extra besides just visiting university and study abroad fairs. These
other international events range from:
University of Leicester has meeting of prospective students in China
University of Stirling has pre-departure events in various countries
University of Roehampton has on the spot admissions and advice sessions
University of Leeds has a virtual visit as well as in person visits
University of Bristol has an offer holder event
6 International Academy is a department within the university thatoffers programmes for international students
(University of Essex, 2016)
38. 37
University of Essex has visits from their International Academy to China and also
live chats with certain regions of the world
Many of these universities have marketed their international visits on their respective
Facebook sites. For example, the University of Leicester, the University of Roehampton, the
University of Bristol, and Edinburgh Napier University have created events on their respective
Facebook pages about certain events pertaining towards upcoming international visits. While
these events have passed, they have received high number of attendees that RSVP’d on the
Facebook page and positive feedback about these events.
Since direct interaction is one of the most important factors in marketing towards
international students, international visits yield some of the best results among universities.
While very little feedback was found about how successful these visits were, the feedback that
was found has shown that these visits are a great marketing tool and have become increasingly
helpful among these international students. This is because these students appreciate the face to
face interactions they get from the universities.
b. Regional Offices and Representatives:
As mentioned throughout this study, having a physical presence with international students is
just as important that the online presence. Many universities have adopted regional offices or
representatives in order to appeal to these international students. In this study, 11 of these
universities either have regional offices or work with representatives. These offices and
representatives are the few places within a country that students have to talk to an actual person
about their visas or ask questions about their application. The reason to have these offices and
representatives is to assist the arrival of international students by establishing partnerships to
39. 38
help these international offices gain insight to these other countries and work together with other
nations to assist the transition for these international students (Barnett & Jacobson, 2010). Also,
as mentioned, the physical presence of the university has become important in attracting these
students.
The first option that universities have opted for are regional offices in specific countries
around the world. These offices allow students in these countries to get an actual person in their
country to answer questions about the university. The most common places to have offices are
throughout Asia and Africa, more specifically China and Nigeria, since there are more students
coming from these areas that need to meet different requirements. The number of students
coming from these areas has always been high and those numbers will only continue to grow. As
Swansea University said in their Annual Report for 2015 about having offices in China and
Nigeria that there are a number of markets that have surfaced in Africa, including Nigeria, and
China, so having these partnerships have been helpful (Swansea University, 2015). Four
universities, including Swansea University, have regional offices:
University Office Location
University of Essex China, Nigeria, Malaysia, India
University of Leicester Nigeria and Kazakhstan
University of Roehampton China
Swansea University Nigeria and China
The other option that some universities have opted for is representatives that work with the
university to assist students with questions about their applications, visa requirements, etc. These
representatives are normally outsourced agents in these specific countries. Even though these
40. 39
representatives do not work for the specific university and are normally hired by many other
universities and are knowledgeable about the process to apply to universities in the UK. Eight
universities in this study use representatives are:
UCL
University of Essex
University of Leeds
University of Bristol
Edinburgh Napier University
University of Stirling
University of Roehampton
Aston University
As the University of Bristol states on their website when it comes to these representatives:
‘The University has agreements with a number of education representatives (also known as
agents) around the world, who can assist you with your application if you so wish. Please note
that using a representative does not put your application at any advantage or disadvantage when
the academic decisions are made within the department. Independent applications will be
considered on an equal basis’ (University of Bristol, 2016).
Having these offices and representatives available for international students has been shown
to be a key marketing tool for these universities. Research, from both this study and others, has
shown that direct contact with these students is just as important as having an online presence. It
has been reported that students feel more comfortable about selecting a university when they get
answers and feedback from an actual person. While having a representative has been more
41. 40
common in this study, feedback that was found on both cases has been shown to be useful and
informative. Like the international visits, students appreciate the direct interaction just as much
as they appreciate the online presence universities have.
42. 41
IV. International Student Experiences
Hearing from students about their experience makes the decision to study at a university
easier. As Arambewela suggests that the new reality of higher education is the presence of a
diverse student population (Arambewela, 2010, p. 158). As previously mentioned, student
experiences have become an essential part of picking a university. As Banbery states, using these
student stories has become dominant in the last year when universities market themselves
(Banbery, 2015). While many international students choose to come to the UK because many of
these universities have great reputations, many of these students also enjoy having students from
their country that share a similar experience as them. It is suggested by Arambewela is that
students recognize that certain cultural benefits and the presence of a large number of diverse
students are acknowledged as important (Arambewela, 2010, p. 155). It is also important to note
that these experiences change depending on certain factors such as social, cultural, degree, and
the student’s background (Arambewela, 2010, p. 164). These suggestions made are seen by these
international students in their statements.
Nine universities in this study have a page on their website dedicated to hearing from
international students. These universities style them differently, however the same message gets
across, that international students enjoy going to the respective university. Besides the nine
universities, the universities in this study with separate international Facebook pages also have a
section to review the international office; however these reviews will not be looked at due to
limited comments. It has been shown that hearing from another student about their experience
has helped the decision making process. The universities that have these pages on their website
are:
43. 42
Aston University has testimonials from every continent with focuses on certain countries.
Each profile includes:
o My Aston, My Programme, my Birmingham
University of Essex has testimonial from 12 students from different countries as well as 4
blogs from various international students at different levels of study
o Links to blogs can also be found on their Facebook page
University of Leicester has eight student profiles from various Asian countries as well as
one from Columbia
University of Leeds has international student ambassadors from a range of countries with
a profile for each and option to contact them with questions
University of Bristol has videos testimonials from international students from a range of
countries
Edinburgh Napier University has testimonials from students from various countries and
has contact information for each student
University of Stirling has testimonials from current student viewpoints and alumni
viewpoints
University of Roehampton and UWTSD have student testimonials on country specific
pages
UCL has student experience videos on a select number of their country specific pages
One of the most common comments that these students give is that they enjoy the fact that
these universities have a high population of international students, but also get the full effect of
the UK culture. They also enjoy that there are societies that are geared specifically towards them
so they do not get too home sick. As one student from Romania that studied at the University of
44. 43
Roehampton stated, ‘Throughout my studies I never felt like a foreigner, but as a proud member
of a large Roehampton family’ (Rugea, 2015). Since all of the universities chosen in this study
have a high number of international students, many students also have enjoyed meeting different
cultures as well. One student from Aston University said, ‘One of the main reasons that l chose
Aston was the wide variety of nationalities of students’ (Yamamoto, 2015). Hearing testimonials
like these from other students has yielded positive results from international students.
Based on the research provided, sharing these experiences has shown to be a great way for
students to understand the experience from a peer, which in turn has assisted their peers in
choosing a university. The research so far has shown that having student experiences presented
either online or in person has been a key marketing tool for these universities so far and these
experiences will continue to be successful. Many students from these universities felt that having
both students from their home countries and different countries made the environment at the
university more welcoming.
45. 44
V. Government Programmes and Non- Government Organizations:
a. Prime Minister Initiative (PMI):
The Prime Minister Initiative (PMI), as previously mentioned, was launched in 2006 as a
five-year plan to secure, as well as guarantee, the UK’s place as definite leader in the
international education market (Taylor, 2010). It was also put into place support the growth of
international education that was produced in the UK as well as oversees (Association of
Graduate Careers Advisory Services, 2006). There were two initiatives that were put into place at
this time. PMI1 aimed to increase international students and PMI2 aimed to further develop
universities’ international activity (Al-Youssef, 2010). This dissertation will look at both of them
simultaneously. The UK had always been a leader in attracting international students by having
some of the best universities in the world and by having a higher standard of learning. While the
UK is a top choice among international students, in recent years Australia and the United States
have been slowly gaining traction in this area and closing in on the UK as the top place for
international students to study. The PMI was put into place to make sure that the number of
international students coming in would continue to increase and could keep itself above its
competitors. Throughout the five years, a series of projects were put into place including: virtual
career fairs, various websites focused on job training and online communities, and country
guides (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, 2006). In the five-year span, these
projects were successful.
One of the major projects undertaken was about employability. The main aims of this
project were two pronged. The first prong was to allow professionals in career services to expand
their skill set so they can assist in advising international students. The second prong was to assist
international students in developing their skills with websites that give advice, country guides,
46. 45
and vacancies (Hallett, 2011, p. 15). The aims that came out of this project were to improve the
understanding of the job market, develop relationships with alumni and professionals, and
network (Hallett, 2011, p. 16). In those five years the PMI increased satisfaction within
employability 7% in a two years span (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services,
2006). This goes to show that the program was not only important for bringing international
students to the UK, but to also keep these students employed within the UK. These results show
that employability is an important outcome in higher education.
Besides the increase in employability, the PMI has also 10,000+ hits on each of three
websites it has set up, has received amazing reviews on how these websites worked as well as
other projects it had set up in those five years including internationalizing the student unions
(Hallett, 2011, p. 13). These websites were set up to help international students get better
acquainted with the UK and the university they selected before and after they arrive. These
websites were not affiliated with any university, but the UK government instead. The websites
set up focused on different areas that affect international students. The information that could be
found on these websites was unique to the searches conducted by these students. These websites
are:
1. International Student Calculator
a. Helps with budgets and finds discounts
b. Reached 200,000 visits
2. Student Calculator Wiki
a. Site where students and institutions can add their own content to support
other students
b. Reached 22,500 visits
47. 46
3. Prepare for Success
a. Helps international students prepare for the UK education system
b. Reached 500-800 visits a day
(Hallett, 2011)
There were also 61 pilot projects which were set up in certain universities across the
country and funded by the PMI that were also huge successes, this includes three projects at two
of the universities in this study. The University of Leicester set up a work experience model for
international students and an international student experience project to show that there is more
to the university than studying (Hallett, 2011, p. 11). The University of Stirling had a project to
make induction easier for international postgraduate students (Hallett, 2011, p. 11). While little
information was given about the success of these pilot projects, the overall review of these pilot
projects and the rest of the projects implemented were a success.
The last important aspect of the PMI is the internationalizing of the student unions. The
student unions are set up to make students feel comfortable at their university; however, as of
2006, very few universities had an international student officer in their student union (Hallett,
2011, p. 13). Since there was no full time international student officer in these unions,
international students had to deal with their problems differently. This project, with the help of
the National Union of Students (NUS) helped to set up an officer that specifically dealt with
international students as well as set up a self-assessment of these unions. Four universities
participated in this project between 2009 and 2011 and they are:
University of Leeds
UCL
48. 47
University of Essex
Swansea University
(Hallett, 2011, p. 14)
While it was only a five-year plan, there were many aspects that were achieved from this
programme and if it had continued until the present-day there would have been many more
advances and successes in the programme. As mentioned, this is the only programme that
focused on the UK and the benefits that the UK has from international students, including
employability. The initiative was shown to be successful in many aspects such as employability
and assisting students with the initial culture shock. Even with little information about which
projects continued after 2011, the PMI had a definite impact on the recruitment of international
students.
b. Bologna Process:
The Bologna Process has been in the works since 1999 and set up in 2000 and still
continues to this day. There are currently 48 member states that are a part of the Bologna Process
that belong to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The EHEA was launched in 2010
as part of the Bologna Process’ decade anniversary with the goal to ensure a more compatible
and coherent systems of higher education throughout the continent (EHEA, 2010). The Bologna
Process and EHEA were created to not only deal with the conflicting education systems
throughout Europe but also to help improve universities across Europe by becoming more
appealing and competitive to the rest of the world (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice,
2015). The way they achieved this is by ensuring that the member states agree on measures to
reform the system; however, when implemented, meet the criteria of the individual country
(EAHEP, 2010). This means that while the same agreement is put into place, each country can
49. 48
implement it to fit the specific education system. To ensure that the Process is achieving its
goals, every two to three years, a ministerial conference take place in order to assess any
progress made within the EHEA and plan accordingly for upcoming years (EAHEP, 2010).
While the Bologna Process is voluntary, many countries have the same need to ensure that their
education system improves, which is why most European countries are involved.
In May 2015, the ministerial conference took place in Yerevan Armenia. This conference
showed that since 2012 there has been a slow and steady increase of student mobility throughout
Europe with the help from the Bologna Process (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice,
2015). Many countries did not set a target goal of student mobility between 2012 and 2015;
therefore, the slow increase may be due to no knowledge of a number of students coming into the
country. Even though the knowledge of students coming into and out of certain countries is
unknown, that have benefitted from the mobility and the experience, there is a sizeable indication
of national action to improve mobility (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015). While
mobility was one of the main topics, another topic that was also touched upon was quality
assurance agencies. While these agencies were set up to maintain standards of education and
almost all of the countries in the EHEA have these agencies set up, there was little progress made
by students in this area (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015). Lastly, the ministers
identify four key priorities to look forward for the next conference:
1. Enhancing the quality and relevance of learning and teaching
2. Fostering the employability of graduates throughout their working lives
3. Making our systems more inclusive
4. Implementing agreed structural reforms
(European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015)
50. 49
The major benefit from the Bologna Process is that it gets revaluated every two years, so
it has seen the changes that the internet, among the other technological advancements, has had in
the last decade. Even though there has been a slower increase of students, it has encompassed all
of Europe to make sure that every country gets an equal amount of say. Unlike the PMI, the main
focus is ensuring that the mobility of students and improving the education system is top priority,
which in turn assists with other factors such as employability and student satisfaction. The
Bologna Process is the only programme in this study that focuses on internationalization and
making the European higher education system internationalized.
c. Lisbon Process:
The Lisbon Process was started in 2000 by the European Commission to not only respond
to globalization, but to also deal with the need of a knowledge- driven economy with the aim to
make the EU have the most competitive economy by 2010 (EAHEP, 2010). There were three
pillars created to assist the strategies set forth by the Lisbon Process. These pillars each have a
different outcome; however, the general idea of the pillars focus on driving the knowledge-
based economy and assist Europe with modernising their social model (EAHEP, 2010). The
three pillars are:
Economic pillar
Environmental pillar
Social pillar
(EAHEP, 2010)
The main goals to come out of the Lisbon Process were to get employment rate up to
70% and the investments in research and development in the EU up to 3% (European
51. 50
Commission, 2010). To meet these initial goals, the people working on this process would need
to improve and change education through Europe. There were three core factors in meeting these
initial goals set out to meet these goals: education, research, and innovation (EAHEP, 2010). By
stressing the importance of these three factors early means that the Lisbon Process would have to
transform the education system (EAHEP, 2010). The way that the European Commission were
going to achieve this was with three objectives:
To improve the quality and effectiveness of EU education and training systems;
To ensure that they are accessible to all;
To open up education and training to the wider world.
(EAHEP, 2010)
The Lisbon Process often goes hand in hand with the Bologna Process as being the
economic part of internationalizing higher education while the Bologna Process was the core
element in internationalizing the education system in Europe. Even though the Lisbon Process
finished in 2010, it still is an important programme because it dealt with the economic factor that
came with international students, with these students essentially getting jobs within the EU after
studying in an EU country and continuously helping the economy. While it is the only one to
focus solely on the economy, it has made good points to make the economy and the education
systems work together in the long run.
d. Non-Government Organizations
The two organizations that will be focused on are the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Organization for Economic
Development and Cooperation (OECD). Unlike the other three government programmes, the
52. 51
primary focus will be the organizations as a whole instead of individual programmes. It is
important to look at these organizations due to the lack of influence that the governments may
have on them. Also, these organizations have had an impact on education through programmes
they have set forth.
UNESCO was created along with its parent organization the United Nations following
the World War Two evolving out of a meeting in 1942 (Bassett, 2010). The organization is a
forum to examine current issues in international higher education as well as plays a role in
understanding higher education (Bassett, 2010). This organization is the only UN branch to have
a mandate to work on higher education (UNESCO, 2003). In the early stages of the organization,
there was a realization that there was a need to focus on the international aspect of higher
education. As UNESCO state on their website, ‘Education transforms lives and is at the heart of
UNESCO’s mission to build peace, eradicate poverty, and drive sustainable development.’
(UNESCO, 2015). The organization puts out reports annually about the importance of education
starting from a young age. While the focus remains on younger children, they also deal with
higher education by developing policies to respond to new trends and developments in the new
millennium, such as the increase use of technology (UNESCO, 2003). While UNESCO does
have a mandate to deal with higher education, UNESCO’s main focus is on working with
younger students to get them basic education needs. While the main focus is not on higher
education, UNESCO is a huge factor in developing higher education across the globe.
OECD was formed around the same time as UNESCO; however, it was formed out of an
initiative better known as the Marshall Plan. OECD is less cultural and is geared more towards
the economic side of higher education (Bassett, 2010). OECD’s stance on education is that
53. 52
education is a significant part of economic development (Bassett, 2010). Early on, six objectives
were created for OECD, including:
Connecting lifelong learning policy with other socio-economic policies
Evaluating and improving outcomes of education
Promoting the quality of teaching
Rethinking tertiary education in a global economy
Building social cohesion through education
Building new futures in education
(OECD, 2004)
While OECD also mainly focuses on younger students, they do have a higher education
programme that organizes an annual forum for members to address current issues facing this
sector (OECD, 2015). These programmes also gather data, analyses policies, and shares new
ideas on how the higher education sector can be improved (OECD, 2015). While the publications
from this programme are not as well- known as the PISA publications, the “State of Higher
Education” report is still produced and released annually to focus on new developments and to
analyse the policies to assist members to adapt to the changes (OECD, 2016). The latest report
came out in early 2015, covering a proposed framework for quality assurance, new and
innovated business models for this sector, and advancements in research and funding (Glass,
2014). Besides the annual report, there were also a series of debates that were held prior to the
report coming out. These debates recognized trends in higher education which include:
A. The expansion of student participation in higher education
B. The increase in diversity in the profile of students
54. 53
C. The increase in international mobility of students
D. The increase number of international mobility of graduates
E. The increase number of international mobility of staff
(OECD, 2008)
While both organizations are very different and have little connections to any
government, they have shown to be important to understanding the need for international
students. The frameworks that have come out of these organizations have been proven useful to
the advancement of higher education throughout the world in the ways of cultural and economic
impacts. While they drift away from the main focus of attracting international students that the
other three programmes focus on, the information put forth by these organizations can be seen as
useful to improving the quality of higher education. Both of these organizations have a place in
the higher education community and will continue to be of importance.
55. 54
Conclusion
Even though there was a lack of initial research in this area, this dissertation has achieved
obtaining more research than necessary to answer the questions that were set forth. The research
that was found assisted in finding how marketing strategies in the higher education sector have
changed in the last decade with the advancement of technology and also showed that direct
interaction with prospective students plays a huge factor in attracting them. The research also
found that government run programmes and non-government organizations have also played a
huge factor in internationalizing higher education across Europe. Lastly, based on the finding
from the literature review, not only has internationalization and globalization have affect higher
education in a positive manner, but also higher education has been a key factor in assisting the
terms become what we know today. The results have shown that even though marketing towards
international students has made advancements in the last decade, unless looking for these
strategies, it is not often talked about.
The most noticeable change in these marketing strategies is the advancements in technology.
These advancements have created new strategies that universities use such as social media,
websites, and the use of virtual technology. The use of social media and other technology has
made an impact on the influx of international students, as well as retaining the international
students that were already at the university. The use of technology has made it easier for
international students to connect with universities, students, and staff. As shown, websites and
social media pages have made it possible to contact and see the university without leaving your
home country. While some of the universities in this study have used more advanced forms of
technology, such as virtual open houses and interactive maps, to attract these international
students, by just having a responsive and visually appealing website has made the way of looking
56. 55
at universities easier for international students to get answers. The online presence that these
universities have, have made a huge impact when it comes to marketing towards international
students.
Along with these technological advancements, universities also know the importance of
having direct interactions with international students. Based on the comments seen on the
selected universities’ events pages and social media sites, along with studies that have been
found; having these events, regional offices, and representatives in different countries have
proven to be effective in attracting international students to attend these universities. The effects
of direct interaction are just as important to marketing a university as having a website and social
media pages. While it was a small subject area in this study, the impact of direct interaction is
much higher than could possibly be shown in this research. Many students will agree that having
that face to face interaction with someone in their country or someone who is knowledgeable
about their situation has had a positive impact when they choose their university. The fact that
direct interactions have the same attraction to students as having an online presence does shows
that students are not as focused on technology as was once thought.
The research shown in this study has proven they not only is the many strategies that these
universities use are working, those universities both well-known and not, use similar marketing
strategies to attract international students. Of course, the fact that the former have more of a
reputation than the latter may have a factor in the decision these students have made. While these
marketing strategies are important, there are other factors that international students might factor
into their decision when they choose a university, such as location, programme of study, or
employability. With that being said, the main reason why international students choose to come
to the UK is because the universities they choose are a good mix of their home culture and
57. 56
British culture. Reputation, while important in marketing, is not the sole cause of international
students attending these universities as was shown in previous chapters.
The three government programmes and two non-government organizations that were
analysed in the research, showed to be extremely effective worldwide, but specifically in the UK
and EU. The Bologna Process, the Lisbon Process, and the PMI were the only programmes to
focus on internationalizing education and making mobility of students and staff an important
factor in universities across the European continent and in the UK, as well as showing the
importance international students have on the economy. While the PMI may be out of date, the
Bologna Process gets reviewed every other year, and the Lisbon Process focuses mostly on the
economy, they have become a turning point in international education in the EU and the UK. All
three government documents have shown to be successful with the growing number of
international students, the higher employability rate, and the established projects that have been
successful that came out of these programmes. The non-government organisations have been
consistently producing quality work about their respective area of expertise. While they put out
few documents and programmes that implemented in the governments, the documents do have
an effect on how countries look at international student mobility and the importance of assisting
the push for internationalizing education. As it was shown, the government programmes and
non-government organisations in question were successful and will continue to be successful as
long as they remain intact. These government programmes have driven and will continue to drive
experiences for international students (Oxford University, 2014). While not important to the
marketing aspect, the role that the governments play is important in globalization and
internationalization.
58. 57
Unfortunately, these programmes might have to change in the next few years to adapt to the
UK leaving the EU; there will have to be changes in visas across the European continent,
changes to funding to these EU students, and new policies for these students. The referendum
has already made a huge impact on the world and it has not even been put into action yet. As
previously mentioned, the vote that the UK took to leave the EU that had taken place in June will
not come into effect for at least two years, thus we cannot predict how this outcome will affect
these government documents. As of right now, nothing will be changing and very little has been
said by the governments that will help us get a better picture of this change, but that might
change in the next few years. Again, when the breakup of the two governments does take effect,
we will start to see what happens to these universities. This topic will remain on everyone’s
mind, including those working in the higher education sector and those who chose to come to the
UK to study, because it will eventually affect everyone.
The affect that internationalization and globalization have on higher education has been
widely recognized, especially in the academic text that was found in the literature review. While
many of the academic texts that were used did not focus on marketing strategies, they did focus
on how globalization and internationalization have already affected these universities and how
they will continue to affect them. If there is one thing that academics in this field can agree upon,
it is that both of these terms are major factors in the changes that are already seen in universities
across the globe, no matter if it is mobility of students and staff or if it is how to international
students benefit in the long run. As we have seen there has been an influx of international
students studying in the UK, and British students going to undertaking study abroad programs in
the last decade. Without the two concepts and the affect that they have had on higher education,
marketing in this field might have been very different.
59. 58
Globalization and internationalization have always played a huge factor in public relations
and business, but it is only in the last two decades, with the advancements in technology and the
growing importance of traveling, that we have started seeing it play a large factor in the higher
education sector. In the last decade alone, with the advancements in technology, that these two
terms have been taken to the next level with social media and the internet making it easier to
connect the world which in turn accelerates both globalization and internationalization. Without
technology, globalization and internationalization would not have affected higher education or
the marketing strategies they use to this extent. Many authors will agree that without the
advancements in technology, we would not see internationalization and globalization become
this important to higher education at such a fast rate. As technology is will continue to grow in
the next decade and beyond, globalization and internationalization will also continue to grow and
help with the growth of the universities and marketing strategies they use.
To conclude, in order to have a successful marketing campaign, universities need to have
not only a good online presence but also have a good physical presence. The research has shown
that universities that have both forms of presence have a higher number of international students
coming to study and have received positive feedback from these students. One recommendation
for universities to undertake in the future is to keep up with the ever changing technology, as
well as continue to use the trends that prospective students know, such as international visits and
open houses. By doing this, universities will see more positive results and a growing
international student population.
60. 59
Appendix A
While I did not reach out to the universities listed in the semiotic analysis, I did manage
to get one interview with Kenon Man, the international digital and marketing recruiter for
Swansea University’s International Development Office (IDO). Only one interview was
undertaken because of time constraints and accessibility to the university. Questions were
constructed based on marketing strategies that the university is currently using as well as new
techniques that the university will be implementing in the future. The answers from this
interview can also be accessed on the Swansea University international page on their website or
on their social media pages if the interview could not be conducted. His answers will be factored
into the semiotic analysis, since the information given had the same bearing as the results found
in the semiotic analysis of the other universities.
61. 60
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