NZ leads global conversations on graduate employability

As the UK prepares to reinstate post-study work rights for international students, the university sector there looks to learn from the New Zealand experience.

Our country is known for putting graduate employability and student experience at the centre of internationalisation efforts, and for having some of the best post-study work rights in the world.

Brett Berquist, Director International at the University of Auckland, gave a keynote speech by videolink to the International Graduate Employability Conference in London on January 28.

Organised by Universities UK International, the event brought together university leaders, industry employers and international students to talk about the employability outcomes of international graduates.

According to Berquist, “The old concept of brain drain has been replaced by brain circulation. In New Zealand, we have high labour mobility rates for our graduates, domestic and international.”

A recent book chapter by Berquist and Ainslie Moore, 'Internationalisation and employment: The case of the Kiwi overseas experience (OE)', published in Internationalization and Employability in Higher Education*, provides a more fulsome analysis of the various factors influencing the New Zealand graduate mobility experience, including the impact of the 'Big OE' and strong post-study work rights on both international and domestic graduate mobility.

The UK will reinstate a two-year post-study work rights visa for international university graduates in 2020, while the New Zealand government introduced a generous three-year open work visa in 2018.

The changes in New Zealand were welcomed by the international education sector and established our nation as a world leader in post-study work rights. The UK is keen to follow our example and benefit from the positive social outcomes international students bring.

Higher education today seems to be less about the love of knowledge for its own sake and more about how the financial investment will pay off in the long run. Return on investment is the core driver for most families looking at higher education, for domestic and international students.

In a recent survey** of nearly 11,000 international alumni, eight out of ten said the top reason for studying for a degree in another country was to improve their career prospects.

Berquist highlighted, “At the University of Auckland, we run a workplace insights programme to help international students learn from alumni how important it is to build a Kiwi story from their first year, so that they can relate to a Kiwi employer at the job interview. Students find it invaluable to learn some of the cultural nuances in a safe situation.”

As the competition for global talent intensifies, the educational systems that are able to work together with their communities, governments and employers are rising to the forefront of the competition. This requires partnership to understand the barriers to employability for international students, and mutual investment in strategies and resources to address the same.

*Berquist, B. & Moore, A. (2019). Internationalisation and Employability – the case of the Kiwi Overseas Experience (OE). In R. Coelen & C. Gribble (Eds.), Internationalization and Employability in Higher Education. London: Routledge.

**Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019