Nov. 19, 2015

Quick Chat: International Students Who Stay

Werklund’s Nancy Arthur discusses policy developments in attracting and keeping international students
Nancy Arthur

Nancy Arthur discusses policy developments in attracting and keeping international students.

There are some international students who come to Canada to study and have a plan to obtain their education and then return with the knowledge, experience and expertise attained in the Canadian post-secondary environment to their home country.

Then there the international students who hope to earn their degrees and stay on in Canada to work and live, either on a visa or in a more permanent capacity.  Once educated, these skilled workers are a benefit to Canada, where there is a need to bring people to the country from other parts of the world.

Now there’s a third group—a group Nancy Arthur says pursues a “global career” –these are students who come to Canada (or any other country other than their own) to study—and then move on to yet another country or countries for work.

Arthur, a professor in the Werklund School of Education, is undertaking a five-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded study to examine the transition from student to worker for the international student, and the reasons they choose to stay or move on.

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