University to Work Transition of International Students Studying in Malaysia: Focusing on the New Mobility Patterns of International Students

Abstract

  This paper aims to reveal the journey of international students in Malaysia, from their decision regarding place of study, study experience, and transitions into the workforce. This study also investigates human resource mobility patterns, including those after graduation.

  Recently, skilled workers or professionals have been welcomed by developed countries that are experiencing a lack of human resources due to low birthrates. International students are getting attention from those countries as potential members of a skilled workforce. In fact, the number of international students who stay on in host countries after completing their studies has been rapidly increasing.

  Many studies have focused on international students who have studied in traditional host countries (mostly Western countries) and obtained jobs or permanent resident status in those countries. Studies comparing students who return home versus those who remain in the host country after graduation also exist, as do studies that consider the multiple geographic directions of such students. However, although Malaysia is an emerging nation that is now accepting large number of international students, the transition from university to the workforce of international students studying in Malaysia is not well researched.

  More broadly, the mobility patterns of international students using frameworks such as the Absorption of Developed Technology/Knowledge, Acquisition of a University Degree, Implementation of Area Studies, Promotion of Cross-cultural Understanding, Promotion of Community Understanding, Exploration of Second Chance, Stepping Stone, or Regional Tour, have been widely researched. However, these patterns generally focus only on mobility or student motivations before choosing study locations. As a result, research on the mobility patterns of international students after they complete their studies is insufficient.

  This study conducted fieldwork for a total of five weeks between 2015 and 2017 at four universities located in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas. Interviews with 59 international students were conducted as well as with teachers, staff members, and graduates. The four universities involved in this study included public and private universities as well as a branch campus of a British university.

  The framework of transition of local students from university to the workforce was employed to analyze how international students transitioned from studying to working. This framework emphasizes the motivations for choosing a place of study, past work experiences, study experiences in Malaysia, work experiences on or off campus, smoothness of the transition process, and students’ utilization of respective specializations.

  This study revealed that international students who study at a branch campus have a completely different motivation than those studying in a conventional or twinning program. Those who studied at the branch campus first selected the Western university, then compared three campuses (in the United Kingdom, China, and Malaysia). They eventually selected the Malaysian campus because of affordability, entrance criteria, available subjects, class size, necessary school years, etc. Some students also chose Malaysia after realizing that their desired educational path was inaccessible to them in their home country.

  Some of the surveyed students had working experience in their home countries before pursuing a master’s or doctoral course in Malaysia. Two students had work experience in Malaysia and one in a third country. Quite a few students had studied at another university before entering their current universities in Malaysia; most of these students had attended a university in their home country, but some had entered another university in Malaysia and later transferred to (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)