Traditionally, major international student receiver countries like the US have enrolled international students by the tens of thousands. Many of these mobile students have opted to stay on in their host countries, contributing to national stocks of highly skilled professionals, driving innovation and sustaining economic growth. The general arc of this phenomenon, and its scale in numbers, has been well documented for decades. However, the stories of the individuals living through these experiences – what they have lost and gained through academic mobility and skilled migration and what this means to the societies in which they live and work – have been much less apparent.
In this episode, Rajika Bhandari, an international higher education expert and specialist on international student mobility as well as a former international student and skilled migrant to the United States, reflects with us on her experiences of living through these complex dynamics and what she has learned about the power and relevance of storytelling in our field today.
About Rajika Bhandari
Rajika Bhandari is a scholar-practitioner in international higher education, expert on international student issues and global talent and skilled mobility. Through Rajika Bhandari Advisors, she offers strategic guidance to nonprofits, multilateral organizations, and higher education institutions globally. She previously led the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) research, evaluation and thought leadership portfolio, including the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Her new book, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility was published earlier this year.
Further reading
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ Rajika Bhandari’s website
→ Rewriting the narrative of the international student experience by Kara Golembeski