Does employability of Chinese students increase if they study in the UK?

[Prof Dang]

The number of Chinese students moving to the UK for higher studies is growing at 10% every year. It was 2.1 million in 2000 and was a whopping 5 million in 2014, and is steadily increasing.

 

What is the reason?

 

Does their employability increase after studying the UK?

[DavyJonesLocker]

essentially yes. 

However it does depend what university you go to in the UK and as compared to what university in China

 

 A Student graduating from Peking University or  Tsinghua University will be certainly more favourable than a student graduating from a less known university in the UK. Employers will want to know what university you attended. In some ways a uk educated student will have an advantage simply by the fact that it was in the uk.

 

There are plenty of poor uk universities too!

 

[somethingfunny]

It also depends what degree you study.  Come to the UK and do a masters degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and I'd say your prospects are not noticeably increased.  Come to the UK and do an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and you're probably looking like a good prospect.  Some universities run 2+2 or "direct entry" programmes where you spend two years at a well-known Chinese university followed by two years in the UK.  I don't know much about the job prospects, but I imagine they're pretty decent.

 

So, I'd say that studying in the UK doesn't automatically guarantee better employment, which is roughly similar to UK students not being guaranteed a higher salary just for having gone to university.  The specific course and the university play a much bigger role.  Like all such things, those who have a clear idea of what they want to do and tailor their educational path to this will be more likely to succeed.

 

As for why there are so many students coming to the UK?  I'll be cynical and say it's that there are a lot more people in China who think it will guarantee their children better employment and have the money to spare.  "My son didn't get into Tsinghua, so I'm going to send him to University of the Arts London so he can fulfill his dream of being a fashion designer."  Good luck with that.

 

There are a lot of Chinese students on UK university campuses, and a lot of them shouldn't really be there, which is a shame, because some of the are absolutely fantastic.

[Prof Dang]

True. It has also been predicted that by 2020, China will overtake the UK as the second most popular country for international students. Would be interesting to see if it happens.

[somethingfunny]

How are those stats compiled?  Does a US students doing a semester of Chinese language count the same as a Bangladeshi student doing a four-year Engineering degree?

 

You have to be careful with all of these stats.  For instance, it sounds amazing that the UK is ranked number 2 for international students, but a huge number of those are probably on foundation courses and will probably never actually make it onto an actual degree programme.

 

Still, it wouldn't surprise me.  There are a lot of universities in China.  

[Flickserve]

6 hours ago, Prof Dang said:

What is the reason?

 

More people applying. 

[gwr71]

Dear All,

The presence of all these Chinese students in the UK is part of the plan of the UK government.  The UK sees a future with China and is encouraging that future.  But this dream is usually one way in favour of the UK, of course.  Spend your moneys in the UK get a top rate UK education and when you return to China you will be well appreciated and sought after in respect to employment.

 

However, the UK plan, in my opinion, does not extend to all these Chinese UK educated students living and working in the UK.  That is reserved for UK and EU citizens.  Now UK labour markets have to look at Brexit,  which is going to be a hard one,  there will be no deal with the UK and for a short there will be disruptions in the UK economy.  But in the long run Brexit will work better for the UK.  

 

I see the UK passing more stringent laws/policies  to make it more difficult for non-UK citizens to get RIGHT TO ABODE. This is the equivalent to Green Card in the US, landed immigrant status in Canada.   These Chinese UK educated persons will be one of the group that will be adversely affected.  The other will be from Africa and the Middle East etc  Mostly, non-white immigrants. However, all is not lost.  As was pointed out earlier it depends on what area of study they engage in.  For ex, there is a shortage of Doctors in the UK and specialists like family doctors and pediatricians etc..There are other areas like technicians etc.. in the medical field which can absorb Chinese UK educated persons.  

 

My best recommendation is that these Chinese UK educated persons make contacts here and open their own businesses and employ persons in the UK.  Trade with China is a top priority now that trade with the EU will be more costly.  There is a future there and for those persons who can see that future and take steps to replace the lost trade to the EU, billions can be earned.  

 

 

 

[lips]

10 hours ago, gwr71 said:

all is not lost

This assumes every Chinese student in the UK wants right of abode.

[somethingfunny]

13 hours ago, gwr71 said:

However, the UK plan, in my opinion, does not extend to all these Chinese UK educated students living and working in the UK.

 

Obviously.  Who wants an extra five million Chinese 21-year olds permanently resident in the UK looking for jobs?  I don't think that would be doing anyone any favours.

[michaelS]

What on earth gives you the impression there are 5 million Chinese students in the UK?

 

[Christa]

On 17/11/2017 at 9:35 AM, Prof Dang said:

The number of Chinese students moving to the UK for higher studies is growing at 10% every year. It was 2.1 million in 2000 and was a whopping 5 million in 2014, and is steadily increasing.

 

What is the reason?

 

Does their employability increase after studying the UK?

 

I think there are a few reasons.

 

1. From the supply side, U.K. universities are courting Chinese students as a way to boost their funding since there is less money for everything in the U.K. since the government adopted its austerity agenda. So, put simply, U.K. universities are doing everything they can to welcome Chinese students to the U.K.

 

2.  From the demand side, sometimes a degree from overseas, whether in the U.K., U.S. or elsewhere is often seen as superior to a degree from China itself.

 

3. Again from the demand side, Chinese students tend to always be looking for a way to gain an edge over their peers. By gaining a foreign degree, typically in addition to a Chinese one, they allow themselves to stand out.

 

So, most definitely in regard to points 2 and 3 above, their employability in China either increases or is at least perceived to have increased.

[DavyJonesLocker]

6 hours ago, michaelS said:

What on earth gives you the impression there are 5 million Chinese students in the UK?

 

 

https://institutions.ukcisa.org.uk/Info-for-universities-colleges--schools/Policy-research--statistics/Research--statistics/International-students-in-UK-HE/

 

91k according to the above. 

 

 

[gwr71]

Dear All,

I was just expressing an opinion and had not really meant that all students want to stay in the UK.  Usually only a small percentage of students may decide to look at the option.   An even smaller amount may apply and then still even a smaller amount may be successful.

[gwr71]

but it is also true that English and Mandarin speakers living in the UK will have a golden opportunity to profit from the reduction in trade to the EU which will happen.  If you are in the UK my advise is to examine in great detail the areas of trade with the EU and what you can find cheaper in China.  You may make contacts with Chinese persons here in this forum who knows someone who knows someone who can provide the goods from China.  Make full use of this forum.You can them form your own company in the UK and visit China and make contacts and eventually sign contracts and make profits.

 

Even if you are  only acting as Broker between UK and China, you can still make money.

[gwr71]

i also believe that parents send their children to study in the UK as a prelude to opening businesses in the UK and Western Societies.  It is good for business to have your child speak English and able to freely travel to do business not only in the UK but to US , Canada, Australia etc..So in that way the policy of the UK government may not be so one sided as I had previously stated.

[Zbigniew]

Some of the students come partly because they want to get away from certain negative aspects of life in China. I know a number of by now naturalized citizens of my country that fall into that category. That number is probably matched by the people I know who were happy to return to China.

[somethingfunny]

MichaelS, I assume this five million figure quoted by the OP is the cumulative number of students to have studied in the UK.

 

As for the students who wish to escape the negative aspects of life in China, while these students exist, I fear they are far outweighed by the students who have absolutely no idea what they are doing in the UK.

[Angelina]

On November 18, 2017 at 6:39 PM, Christa said:

Chinese students tend to always be looking for a way to gain an edge over their peers.

 

 

 

This. 

 

[陳德聰]

18 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

I fear they are far outweighed by the students who have absolutely no idea what they are doing in the UK.

To be fair, I think the number of domestic students in my country who have no idea what they are doing at university also far outweighs those who are doing it for an edge over their peers. There just may be less penalty if one mucks about internationally and returns to China than there does if one mucks about at home, where as here you are actually worse off if you go get a random degree elsewhere and try to bring it back into our job market.

[somethingfunny]

Yes, I don't think it's something specific to the UK, or even to Chinese students.