AS WIL practitioners we face many conundrums when addressing
issues around placing International students. Although not all international
students have difficulties, anecdotal evidence suggests that for a variety of
reasons (be they structural, procedural or cultural) some students do not find
the process easy or straight forward or need extra help in developing the
necessary skills for working in the Australian environment. This has led to a
many universities, government agencies and professional bodies attempting to
find ways to assist such students.
Commonly this involves a targeted approach, with strategies
and initiatives devised for international students, possibly exclusively, or
held at times when local students are unlikely to find their way into them.
There can be advantages to this tactic, specific needs of
international students can be met, the students can develop support networks
and develop friendships with other international students, and sympathetic
partners can be supported as needed.
At the same time, there can be disadvantages: it may limit
the ability of international students to make Australian friends and network
effectively with their peers, and very short programs can be limited in their
effectiveness for students and partners.
Some also question how equitable these programs are and
point out that many local student do not have “social capital” either and could
do with extra help.
This begs the question then: What is the best way to assist
international students?
Theresa Winchester-Seeto
ACEN NSW/ACT Chapter Committee
Image source: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
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