Internationalisation of higher education: Proposed framework on international students' satisfaction

Abstract

There are many dimensions in the internationalisation of higher education. One of the dimensions is international students. This dimension has been given great emphasis by many institutions for diverse reasons such as economy, while others are reputation and ranking of the university. Universities around the globe undergo tremendous pressure due to stiff competition both in terms of student enrolment and securing fund. All these have posed a great challenge to universities to re-look into improving services and quality to attract international students. Hence, universities need to carefully analyse key factors contributing to international students' satisfaction by developing strategies accordingly. Institutions need to provide quality service and environment for international students to ensure that they are satisfied with the services received while pursing their studies. Students who are satisfied will help to attract more potential students to the institutions through increased student loyalty, positive word of mouth (WOM) communication and image of the higher education institutions (Arambewela, 2003; Arambewela & Hall, 2006). Based on the literature review, this paper aims to present various factors contributing to international students' satisfaction. These factors are translated into variables to measure international students' satisfaction, which can be used as a guideline by higher education institutions. © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.