(Un)Wanted: Social Constructions of International Students in New Zealand

Abstract

International students are critical to tertiary education and skilled migration in New Zealand. In 2017, up to 19.6% of tertiary students in New Zealand were international students (OECD, 2019b). 45% of international students gain a post-study work visa, and 28% progress to residency within five years of finishing their studies (Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, 2018r). Given these considerations, this thesis seeks to investigate how public policy understands international students as a target group in New Zealand, and how this informs the current policy context. There is an extensive literature about international students in policy in other countries, but less so about New Zealand. This thesis seeks to fill this gap by analysing policy pertaining to international students in New Zealand from 2017 to 2019. It is underpinned by Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram’s social construction and policy design theory, which postulates that social constructions of target groups embedded in policy design predict how burdens and benefits are delivered to said groups (Schneider & Ingram, 1993; Schneider et al., 2014). Several coexisting and contradictory constructions of international students emerge. The power of international students is tied to their economic contributions to New Zealand, while positive or negative depictions of them are contingent on their ability to advance New Zealand’s interests. International students in New Zealand are positively constructed as soft power resources and as powerful consumers that New Zealand needs, but there is awareness of their vulnerability as young migrants. Students in degree programmes are deemed worthy migrants, while international students in below-degree programmes are constructed as undeserving backdoor migrants. Certain types of international students are preferred over others, and these hierarchies stem from policy objectives and the unintended consequences of previous policies. Overall, social constructions of international students in New Zealand are linked to the marketisation of tertiary education and the rise of skilled migration.