The demand for global student talent: Capitalizing on the value of university-industry collaboration

Abstract

The university sector in Europe has invested money and effort into the
\ninternationalization of higher education. The benefits of internationalizing higher
\neducation are fuelled by changing global values, choices and practices. However,
\narguments that serve the internationalization of higher education tend to stress either
\nlocal organizational or individual interests; seldom do they emphasize the societal
\nbenefits. This dissertation investigates how collaboration between university and
\nindustry facilitates a shift in thinking about attracting and retaining global student talent,
\nin terms of co-creating solutions to benefit the development of our knowledge society.
\nThe macro-structures of the higher education sector have the tendency to overemphasize
\nquantitative goals to improve performance verifiability. Recruitment of international
\nstudent talent is thereby turned into a mere supply issue. A mind shift is needed to
\nrethink the efficacy of the higher education sector with regard to retaining foreign
\nstudent talent as a means of contributing to society’s stock of knowledge and through
\nthat to economic growth. This thesis argues that academic as well as industrial
\nunderstanding of the value of university-industry collaboration might then move beyond
\nthe current narrow expectations and perceptions of the university’s contribution to
\nsociety’s innovation systems. This mind shift is needed to encourage and generate
\ncreative opportunities for university-industry partnerships to develop sustainable
\nsolutions for successful recruitment of foreign student talent, and thereby to maximize
\nthe wealth-creating potential of global student talent recruitment.
\nThis thesis demonstrates through the use of interpretive and participatory methods, how
\nit is possible to reveal new and important insights into university-industry partnering for
\nenhancing attraction and retention of global student talent. It accomplishes this by
\nexpressly pointing out the central role of human collaborative experiencing and
\nlearning. The narratives presented take the reader into a Finnish and Dutch universityindustry
\npartnering environment to reflect on the relationship between the local
\nuniversities of technology and their operational surroundings, a relationship that is set in
\na context of local and global entanglements and challenges.