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This paper explores the professional development needs of leaders in response to emergent demands for leadership and competing pressures within the changing landscape of Australian international education. Framed within Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus, this study addresses five dimensions of professional development needs reported by leaders in international education: understanding of and skills to work across cultural differences, knowledge of and expertise to respond to policy changes and emergent trends, leadership and management skills targeted for internationalisation, networking and relationship management skills to work with increasingly diverse and ‘non-traditional’ stakeholders and research skills. However, the social field in which these leaders are functioning is causing tensions for their continuing professional development, including existing institutional governance and structures, financial constraints and the institutional culture that has not put internationalisation on the top of institutional development agenda. The study indicates a critical need for tackling obstacles and supporting sustainable situated professional learning for these leaders so as to enhance their capacities and impact as key players in international education. This study provides empirical and theoretical insights for institutions involved in international education to build effective policies and practices for enhancing professional development for the sustainable international education leadership.

Over the past three decades, the higher education landscape in many Asian countries has witnessed various changes, many of which have resulted from foreign influences and the interactions of local ...

This article reports a study that investigated prospective and current Vietnamese international students’ motivations to study abroad and their immigration intentions. Analyses of 55 intercept interviews and 313 responses to a survey revealed 12 push and pull factors that motivated students to pursue overseas studies and 18 sociocultural, economic, and political factors that influenced their immigration intentions. Independent samples t tests indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the influence of motivations on decisions to study overseas between groups of male and female students and prospective and current students. The analyses, furthermore, suggested that students’ immigration intentions depended on their personal attachment to the home country and (perceived) adaptability to the host country.

This article reports a qualitative case study that explored challenges that Vietnamese early childhood preservice teachers faced when undertaking the teaching internship in regional schools...

This article reports a study that explored how at-home international education, known as advanced programs, offered by Vietnamese universities contributes to students’ employability and career prospects. Data included 30 interviews with third- and fourth-year students, two institutional reports, and a national report on the progress of these programs after 10 years of implementation. The data were analyzed using a content-analysis approach. The results showed that advanced programs could help students develop human capital, expand their social network, enrich cultural understanding via mobility, enhance their career adaptability, and develop professional identity. However, despite quality learning outcomes, approximately one-third of graduates appeared not to successfully secure relevant employment within a year post-graduation. This article explains possible factors causing the gap between students’ employability and employment outcomes and suggests ways to fill the gap.

Complementing existing literature about graduate skills gaps from employers’ perspectives, this article reports a study that investigated the skills gaps of Vietnamese graduates and final-year stud...

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a feature of university courses, both in professional areas, where it is commonplace, but also across many different disciplines. Assessment of WIL can be complex as it involves parties and settings external to the university, and it can be problematic because of difficulties in aligning learning activities during placements with what is or can be assessed by the university. This paper explores the relationship between students’ placement experiences and accompanying assessments in contexts where activities are tightly coupled with the curriculum, and in those where it is not. It draws on a qualitative analysis of student interviews and drawings by the interviewees of their WIL experiences, supplemented with analysis of unit guides. Our findings highlight that students’ perceptions of authenticity of assessment were undermined by misalignments between the student, university and industry. Assessment authenticity was perceived by students as based on alignment between their current and future selves in the assessment process, involvement of industry supervisors and relevance of placement activities to assessment activities. The paper discusses the complexity of coordination of educational activities with external partners, especially when one party drives assessment. It then suggests a reframing of WIL assessment to promote alignment and authenticity.

Language and learning advisors (LLAs) play a vital role in supporting the academic development of a fast-growing population of international students. This paper tackles the professional de...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of Tourism and Hospitality interns in Vietnam to identify dimensions of internship-related learning outcomes and factors influencing these learning outcomes. Design/methodology/approach In total, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 interns to identify the dimensions of internship-related learning outcomes. Following the interview, an online survey, which was designed based on the results of content analysis of the interviews, was used to collect data from 319 interns from ten Vietnamese universities. Exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA tests were used to find answers to the research issues. Findings Qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that from the students’ perspective, internships helped them consolidate the existing knowledge and skills, further develop relevant professional skills, shape their career paths, and change their learning attitudes and behaviors. The analysis also indicated that student engagement and the extent to which they are involved in tasks during the internships could influence the learning outcomes they gained from the internships. Research limitations/implications This study completely relied on students’ perceptions and ratings. Practical implications The study findings indicate that universities need to pay greater attention to student engagement. By encouraging collaboration between interns and their mentors and organizing activities for interns to utilize their knowledge, universities will improve students’ learning experience during the internship. Originality/value This mixed-method study expands our understanding about internship-related learning outcomes and influential factors using the perspectives of interns in a developing country. It has important implications for higher education institutions and students to improve the effectiveness of internships.

External stakeholders have increasingly participated in instructional and training activities in higher education; however, their contribution has not yet been adequately documented, especially in ...

This article re-visits the relationship between teacher beliefs and teaching behaviours and analyses factors influencing the translation of teacher beliefs into teaching behaviours using the case of developing generic skills for university students. Through interviews with 16 teachers of skills subjects and 25 teachers of specialised subjects of the Business Administration programs in six different Vietnamese universities, it was shown that there was an indirect relationship between teacher beliefs and their teaching behaviours. The analysis showed that institutional leadership and teachers' personal motivation could strongly influence the translation of their beliefs into actual teaching behaviours.

Developing generic skills (GS) for students has become central in many higher education curricula lately. However, there is still a lack of studies regarding how these skills are developed for students, especially those in developing countries. Drawing from a PhD study, this article reports the contribution of extra-curricular activities in developing GS for students in Vietnamese universities and analyses factors influencing the effectiveness of developing GS for students via these activities. A content analysis of relevant documents and 69 interviews with university leaders, academics and organisers of the Youth union and its associates (YUA) showed that extra-curricular activities were involved as an integral component of a university’s strategy for training students in GS. This was due to a lack of curriculum autonomy, which restricted most Vietnamese universities from adding skills subjects into the curriculum, and the YUA also had a long-standing tradition of developing non-discipline-specific skills for students. The YUA were found to successfully develop GS for students via extra-curricular activities; however, their operation was influenced by university leadership, student participation, external stakeholders’ support, and the leadership of the YUA. The article argues that extra-curricular activities were conducive to developing GS for students; therefore, they should be included in student skills development programs in higher education.

This article reports a study that investigated prospective and current Vietnamese international students’ motivations to study abroad and their immigration intentions. Analyses of 55 intercept interviews and 313 responses to a survey revealed 12 push and pull factors that motivated students to pursue overseas studies and 18 sociocultural, economic, and political factors that influenced their immigration intentions. Independent samples t tests indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the influence of motivations on decisions to study overseas between groups of male and female students and prospective and current students. The analyses, furthermore, suggested that students’ immigration intentions depended on their personal attachment to the home country and (perceived) adaptability to the host country.

The number of students who enrol in Master’s programmes has significantly increased in recent years; however, their learning motivations have not been adequately investigated, especially those from...