[EDLING:1549] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Overseas graduates targeted by employers

[fmhult at DOLPHIN.UPENN.EDU]

Francis Hult spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and thought you should see it.

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Note from Francis Hult:

Overseas graduates targeted by employers
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To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk

Overseas graduates targeted by employers
Press Association
Monday May 08 2006
The Guardian


Many of Britain's top firms want to hire staff from an emerging "elite" of foreign graduates educated at UK universities, according to a new study. 

Some leading companies are already targeting overseas students because they are seen to have more initiative and good language skills, the report from the Council for Industry and Higher Education said. 

And multinational firms would recruit more high quality graduates if universities could attract them to study in this country, the report said. 

Some businesses find that overseas students who come to the UK show "more initiative, self-motivation and drive as well as language skills", the report said. 

"They wonder if such students through their very mobility are a self-identifying elite with senior management potential. 

"Some say they struggle to find graduates with equivalent drive and capabilities in their home countries (particularly in some EU countries)." 

The study was based on interviews with senior figures at more than 40 leading firms, including Shell, BP, Nissan and HSBC. 

The higher education minister, Bill Rammell, told The Times that foreign students were critical to the survival of some university courses. 

"It is a very competitive global environment," he said. 

"If we are not providing these opportunities for overseas students, then other countries would be doing it."


Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited