International Education
Work barriers block international students
The government, providers and companies need to create work experience opportunities for graduates or the multi-billion industry will suffer, new research reveals.
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Yes, international students would be greatly attracted to a higher education program that incorporated work experience, either concurrently with or after studying. However, there are very good reasons why institutions rely on students to organise their own work experience: it is difficult to find and expensive to organise.
Employers complain about graduates’ lack of employment skills and that graduates aren’t ‘job ready’ but decline to offer opportunities for students’ work experience.
Universities could provide many more work placements within their own organisations. Hopefully this research project included a few students on work experience, but it would be unusual if it did.