Effective Global Mobility and International Recruitment During A Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had a rapid, profound and unprecedented impact on international education and global student mobility. A near-total shutdown of international air travel over the first four months of 2020 has rendered millions of international students unable to travel to their destination country to commence or resume studies. Those students who were already in their destination country before the travel shutdown has been subject to widespread lockdowns, campus closures, and social distancing requirements, preventing them from engaging with their studies in the way they had anticipated and prepared for. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) conducted two separate pieces of market research to quantify the impact of the pandemic on international student mobility and the expected impact on higher education institutions: a survey of prospective international students, and one of international education professionals at universities from around the world. The results of these surveys indicate that the pandemic has had an acute impact on the future study intentions of prospective students, many of whom say their plans have been affected, and express fear and uncertainty about what the future holds for their education. Most universities are expecting a drop in international applications in the coming intakes and have implemented measures to maintain learning during the period where on-campus instruction is not possible, although they too share uncertainty about what the coming months hold, and how best to respond.