Page 55 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

introduCtion
The international student experience is a heavily researched topic in higher education, and for good reason: the most recent OECD statistics report 5.6 million internationally mobile students, more than twice the number in 2005 (OECD, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated many of the transitions already taking place in international higher education, perhaps triggering a 'fourth wave' in international student mobility (Choudaha, 2017; 2021). Understanding what shapes the international student experience is imperative to help institutions develop data-driven approaches to navigate through the tumult brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and recover quickly when a ‘new normal’ emerges.
This study defines international students as “those who received their prior education in another country and are not residents of their current country of study” (OECD, 2019). Early signs signal major shifts in international student flows in the 2020-21 academic year, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research by Universities UK International (UUKi) and IDP Connect on the attitudes and behaviors of international students in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed 45% of students would consider switching study destinations if it would allow them to start face-to-face learning sooner (Duffin, 2020). A report from the European Migration Network on the impact of COVID-19 on EU and OECD member states concludes that the host country and university’s response to COVID-19 and support for international students has become a major new pull factor for study abroad destinations (European Commission, 2020). While evidence suggests that international student mobility has declined on the whole in 2020, there may be a rebound in 2021, as some students who postponed higher education plans during the COVID-19 pandemic take them up again. Research from EY Parthenon predicts this may result in an increase of up 1.85 million new enrolments in foreign countries (Lundy & Duncan, 2020).
This research focuses on the United Kingdom to examine the international student experience, in part since the nation hosts the
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Factors Impacting Satisfaction
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