The information below outlines the conference schedule for Day 4 of the RIS Online Conference 2025. The full conference runs between March 10 – 13 and details about the full conference can be found here.
Registration
Registration is required to receive links for all sessions:
Time zones
All times are listed in UK time zone (GMT). Please take a moment to double check all times through a time zone converter:
Thursday Schedule (March 13)
Session 20: 10:00 to 10:25 am GMT
Finding meaning in social justice research: The case of international students in the Philippines
Speaker: Sophia Deterala
Abstract: The discouraging findings from the recent body of research on international students, the dearth of data and the lack of established communities that support international students can make international student study seem a futile endeavour. The perception of purposelessness also relates to the historical neglect of this student population or the diminution of their identity. For this reason, there would be much purpose to bringing to the surface issues and concerns that have long been due their proper consideration.
For a researcher on international students who has seen the recent political climate towards international students in the Philippines, I find that continuing on a path towards a consideration of this community is crucial. If we were to accomplish a global understanding and ethical practice towards international students in communities, including those outside of Anglophone contexts, we could work against the truancy of purposelessness by helping other communities understand the interdisciplinary and multifaceted nature of our research.
The Philippines has recently implemented stringent measures on visa inspection and regulation of international student residency. Issuance of documentation, surveillance of students’ entry and stay, and inspection of student identification have been intensified in relation to recent political events where security issues were raised against universities admitting international students. Such events are important to consider, and as a scholar in internationalisation who has seen these developments, I am driven to bring to light such policies in view of the continuing prevalence of discriminatory practices in higher education.
Looking into injustices and systems that can foster inequality has been a well-established purpose of education research. Such an endeavour is relevant to the multiple meanings associated with ‘purpose’, whether as a scholarly ‘mission’ or some utility in pursuit. Research for social justice is a shared and (supposedly) meaningful pursuit that many scholars in various fields are committed to. Keeping such a vast community of scholars in mind can help international student scholars and other social justice scholars renew the meaning behind what might seem to be ‘pointless’ at various stages of their research journeys.
Session 21: 10:30 to 10:55 am GMT
Flipping the focus: Investigating employer-ability instead of employability in international graduate employment
Speaker: Sandra Slotte (Arcada University of Applied Sciences)
Abstract: The dominant narrative in international graduate employability often blames perceived deficits in graduates—such as language barriers or unfamiliar credentials—for their employment challenges. My presentation critiques this approach by shifting attention to employers, exploring their employer-ability, i.e. willingness and ability to employ international student graduates. I also explore the potential influence of higher education institutions, government and non-government organisations, associations, and labour market organisations on host country employers to hire international talents.
This work combines insights from education and management research with elements of migration studies to examine systemic issues shaping employment outcomes from the employer perspective. By exploring the pressures employers face to hire international students and graduates, and how they respond to these pressures, I move beyond individual-level explanations of employability attributes (or capitals) to instead interrogate the other side of the employment relationship at an organisational level.
This shift in focus gives me renewed purpose in research by reframing the conversation around equity and advocacy. By tackling structural issues, even without directly involving international graduates, the work aims to contribute meaningfully to dismantling broader political and social inequities that impact them and offering actionable insights for research, policy, and practice.
In the session, I intend to creatively engage the audience by including an interactive segment. After a brief presentation, I will ask participants to engage in a collective exercise to “flip the focus” on their own research or practice, identifying unconventional angles and structural barriers they might explore. This will allow attendees to connect with the theme of finding purpose by rethinking how their work might address entrenched narratives, inequalities, or viewpoints.
This presentation aims not only to share ideas but also to inspire purposeful, actionable shifts in the way we approach research with and for international students.
Session 22: 11:00 to 11:25 am GMT
Challenges of researching with international students in India
Speaker: Mousumi Mukherjee (O.P. Jindal Global University)
Abstract: As the established destinations in the Global North are increasingly closing their doors to international students wanting to study abroad for gaining global experience and intercultural understanding, new study abroad destinations in the Global South are opening their doors to students. One such country is India. The Indian government launched a “Study in India” mission prior to the pandemic. It was not very successful as international mobility of students halted around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even 5 years post-pandemic there has been little growth in numbers of inward mobility of students.
This presentation is based on a current nation-wide study of the motivations and experiences of international students funded by the Indian Council for Social Science Research in India. The study was designed purposefully in a decolonial community-based participatory approach. The plan was to design the survey instruments WITH international students, conduct the research data collection WITH international students and thereafter, to analyze the data for writing the report WITH international students. Needless to mention that the PI of the study and one of the CO-PIs also bring rich experiences of international higher education and study abroad into probing the main research questions.
However, several legal and financial barriers have been creating hurdles in adopting such a research methodology of working WITH international students. In this presentation, I will share some of these challenges drawing on data from fieldwork and discuss the implications of adopting decolonial participatory mode of research within the larger post? “colonial” context of the global South. The presentation will also share reflections on the difficult road ahead for emerging study abroad destinations of the Global South based on preliminary research findings.
Social activity: 11:35 am to 12:15 pm GMT
This session will use Zoom breakout rooms for key areas of topical interest for small group discussions around: Where can research on this subtopic go next?
The discussion session intends to be a catalyst for identifying global scholars who are also working in your interest area.
Session 23: 12:30 to 12:55 pm GMT
Becoming international: A critical autoethnography on researching with other
Speaker: Milad Mohebali (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Abstract: In this critical autoethnographic paper, I weave personal narratives and psychoanalysis (Adams & Holman Jones, 2014) to explore the limits and possibilities of research with international students. Previous scholarship contrasts research with international students against research on or about them, which is often extractive, colonizing, and hegemonic (Mittelmeier et al., 2024). Building on this work, I interrogate the meaning of ‘with’ through a dialectical analysis of research with and without international students, exemplified through personal narratives. Specifically, I examine these dialectics using the concept of ‘push and pull’ in student mobility literature (Ahmad & Buchanan, 2017; Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002).
First, I explore how research on, about, or without international students derives meaning from the subject’s perceived lack or their positioning as the Other. Existing research often focuses on institutional, state, and market outcomes tied to international students. For instance, the push-pull framework reflects modernist, rational, and colonial understandings of mobility. This approach frames international students as desired Others or as deficient.
Second, I argue that research with international students reveals the limitations of research on, about, or without them. Even when seeking meaningful insights researching with international students, knowledge production often remains bound by structures that marginalize students’ voices, or the machinery of research on or about international students. I provide a biographical picture of push and pull that both aligns with existing literature and is not translatable into it toward policy or practice.
Finally, I draw from Deleuze and Guattari (1978) to envision research with international students as a process centered on the desire for new relationalities and becoming.
Session 24: 1:00 to 1:25 pm GMT
Decolonizing international education: Finding purpose in research with disadvantaged international students
Speakers: Jing Zhang (University of Cambridge)
Abstract: This presentation critically examines structural inequities in international higher education by exploring the lived experiences of socioeconomically disadvantaged international students from the Global South. While much research on international student mobility (ISM) focuses on elite reproduction, this study shifts attention to those with limited financial and social capital, contributing to a broader conversation on inequities in global higher education. By situating their experiences within Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital (1986), the study highlights how economic, cultural, and social resources—or their absence—shape students’ trajectories in ways that reinforce systemic barriers. Using collaborative autoethnography, the research engages deeply with personal narratives, including that of the presenter, to illustrate the precarity faced by students who struggle with financial burdens, cultural alienation, and restricted access to institutional networks. For instance, financial constraints often push these students into precarious part-time work, diverting focus from academic pursuits (Liu, 2021), while cultural dissonance with Eurocentric academic norms results in symbolic violence (Bourdieu, 1990). The lack of robust social capital further limits post-graduation opportunities (Boliver, 2013). By integrating decolonial critiques, this presentation moves beyond deficit narratives that homogenize international students and obscure their diverse realities (Maldonado-Torres, 2007; Santos, 2014). Instead, it advocates for equity-driven research approaches, such as reflexive storytelling, to amplify marginalized voices and challenge epistemic hierarchies. Overall, the study emphasizes research as an act of resistance and solidarity. It calls for critical engagement with how higher education systems can better support underrepresented students, fostering more inclusive global academic environments.
Session 25: 1:30 to 1:55 pm GMT
Language ideologies and institutional whiteness: Chinese international students’ racial experiences at a British university
Speakers: Shuang Gao (University of Liverpool)
Abstract: In this talk, I suggest that attending to language is pivotal for documenting the racial experiences of international students and thus challenging their invisibility in discussions of racism in UK higher education (Madriaga and McCaig 2022). International students often study in a language environment different from that of their home country. In the UK, a large proportion of international students—64%—come from non-English-speaking backgrounds (ONS, 2023), and many also self-identify as non-white. Focusing on Chinese international students, the largest group of international students whose racial experience is under-examined (Lim et al. 2022), I discuss how language intersects with race in shaping their educational experience.
The discussion is informed by qualitative data, including interviews with Chinese students at a public research university in England and their written diaries over one year in 2021-22. I present several cases illustrative of the co-production of language and white supremacy. Through the lenses of racial microaggression (Sue 2005; Huber and Solorzano 2015), critical race theory (Ladson-Billings 1998), and raciolinguistic ideologies (Rosa and Flores 2017), I show that students experience racism from university staff and fellow students. Their varied racial experiences are underpinned by several raciolinguistic ideologies that construct Chinese students as the inferior and unwelcome Other: ideology of English only, ideology of incompetence, and ideology of exclusion. These ideologies are reinforced at the institutional level through curriculum design that excludes international students, alongside the invalidation of their racial experiences. However, experiences of racism may not lead to active resistance against it. I show that these ideologies are sometimes internalised by students, leading to what I term ‘racialised linguistic subjectivity’—a form of negative self-perception shaped by both race and language. This study demonstrates that language plays a critical role in maintaining universities as ‘white spaces’— normalising white English and marginalising non-native English and their speakers. The findings have implications for understanding the role of language in the racial experience of international students of colour in higher education.