International Student Mobility: International Student Recruitment at the University of Saskatchewan
Date
2020-01-22
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The number of international students studying at the University of Saskatchewan has not
seen the same growth trends as the rest of Canada and has actually decreased in the number of
international students from a peak of 2,542 in the 2015/2016 academic year to 2,516 in the
2017/2018 academic year (University of Saskatchewan, 2017). The University of Saskatchewan
ranks near the bottom of the U15, the premier group of research universities in Canada, for the
percentage of international students as part of its student population and last in overall
international student population in Western Canada (U15, 2017). The goal of this mixed
methods study was to determine what factors influenced the current international students at the
University of Saskatchewan and compare the results with the university’s initiatives and
structures supporting the recruitment of international students so the university may become
more efficient in attracting international students. Quantitative data was collected from an online
survey. Qualitative data was collected through document analysis and follow-up interviews from
the online survey. The data collected from the documents was analysed in relation to migration
theory proposed by Lee (1966) and the push-pull factors identified by Lam, Ariffin, and Ahmad
(2011); Lee and Tan (1984); Mazzarol, Kemp, and Savery (1997); and Mazzarol and Soutar
(2002) to see if the structures and initiatives are in alignment with earlier research. Both
qualitative and quantitative data was analysed using a side-by-side comparison approach outlined
by Creswell (2014); the qualitative findings were reported so that themes were drawn and then
compared to the quantitative results.
Description
Keywords
Internationalisation, international student, push-pull factors, recruitment initiatives
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Educational Administration
Program
Educational Administration