Utilising the International Student Barometer to improve student feedback and accessible funding
International students are a vital part of a university's community, bringing cultural diversity and new perspectives in student bodies. However, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity among these students requires targeted initiatives, alongside the funding to provide the improvements that international teams wish to implement. At the University of Reading, Corinne Brookes, the International Student Experience Manager, has spearheaded efforts to enhance international students’ experience, focusing on inclusion, community-building, and addressing other gaps highlighted by the International Student Barometer (ISB).
The ISB provides comparative data that helps universities identify areas for improvement. In the 2022 ISB, the University of Reading performed well in key areas of importance, such as students making friends from the UK. However, one notable gap was their international students’ ability to connect with peers from their own country, which was 6% below the UK benchmark. This insight prompted Corinne and her team to develop specific, data-driven initiatives to address this challenge – and in doing so, found the evidence and incentives they needed to secure crucial funding for their work.
Identifying issues away from home
For students from smaller national cohorts, such as those from Chile or Libya, the likelihood of meeting someone from the same background was found in the survey to be particularly low. This highlighted the need for structured opportunities to address this gap, as Corinne noted:
“Our marks for students being able to make friends from the UK were really high, which I took as super positive because that has been one of my main focuses: bridging that gap between international and home students because it's such a challenge. For more international communities, we also noticed that unless you’re from a more densely populated student body, it is pretty difficult to meet friends from your own country sometimes. It's another thing to focus on – getting students to mingle and integrate and have diverse communities isn’t enough.”
Inconsistency in student bodies’ abilities to create the grounds for better student interactions highlighted the need for a staff-led, systematic approach to building fresh, active student networks. In order to accomplish this, as with any new incentive – funding needed to be secured, and the ISB was able to provide the data to back up these growing plans’ cases.
Securing support for future efforts
Using the ISB results as evidence, Corinne was able to create a proposal to create region-specific social events, aimed at helping students connect with peers from their home countries. She secured appropriate funding from the university to run these events. This allocation was particularly significant given the finite resources available for additional international student support.
“I wrote up a proposal and used the ISB as the evidence for my idea. It [the sessions and our funding] definitely wouldn't have happened without the ISB.”
Fostering regional conversation and friendship through social events
In October and November, the university will launch a series of nine region-specific social events. These are invite-only gatherings tailored for students from specific regions, such as the Middle East, North Africa, South East Asia, and the Americas. Larger groups, such as students from India and China, were given dedicated events due to their size.
“Other regions had spent all of their money on the recruitment side rather than the welcome side for students. So I suggested we make that more of a set thing instead of some regional managers doing it and some not; why don’t we do regional socials for every single region?”
Key subjects covered at some of these social events included topics that would garner interest from wide ranges of people:
- Authentic Regional Cuisine: Although provided by the university’s catering team, efforts were made to replicate authentic dishes to make students feel at home.
- Interactive Activities: Events included activities such as "human bingo," encouraging students to identify and connect with peers from their own country.
- Inclusivity: While the events focused on specific regions, they maintained an open and welcoming atmosphere to ensure students felt comfortable, including sessions for LGBTQ+ students to feel represented and included.
By creating structured opportunities for students to meet others from their home countries, the events directly addressed the gap identified in the ISB to begin building these communities.
Broader Initiatives
The regional socials complemented other ongoing initiatives aimed at fostering inclusivity and community. In January 2024, Corinne introduced Conversation Cafés, bi-weekly informal sessions where international and UK students, along with staff, came together to discuss various topics.
“We’ve used these as a bit of a platform for inclusivity and settling in too. I feel like those started right after the 2022 ISB, and then in the 2024 ISB, the inclusivity rating was higher and meeting friends from the UK was higher and meeting friends from other cultures was higher as well. These students – and those in ‘older’ communities - also tend to be ones that are really enthusiastic to complete surveys.”
The social cafés provided a platform for:
- Discussing cultural topics, including sensitive issues like LGBTQ+ rights, which encouraged respectful dialogue between students of differing views.
- Creating a safe space where students felt comfortable raising concerns, such as experiencing discrimination.
- A place of ‘belonging’ for diverse student bodies outside of traditional student union activities.
These cafés contributed to higher inclusivity ratings in the 2024 ISB, as well as improvements in students’ ability to make friends from other cultures and the UK. Corrine noticed that:
“It was good to see some of our results had really improved from the previous survey, like in our results on inclusion and students being able to make friends. Social support and maybe language too, but quite a few things had improved.”
Lessons and Challenges
- Data-Driven Decision Making: The ISB provided actionable insights that informed the design of initiatives. Using evidence-based proposals helped secure funding for targeted programmes.
- Staff-Led Efforts: While student-led cultural societies are valuable, they can be inconsistent. Staff-led initiatives ensure continuity and provide a safety net for students from underrepresented groups.
- Resource Constraints: With limited budgets and resources, prioritisation is critical. Corinne’s focus on student belonging and well-being ensured maximum impact with available funds.
- Inclusivity Across Demographics: Initiatives like Conversation Cafés helped address the needs of older students and postgraduates, who often feel excluded from traditional student union activities.
Looking Ahead
The university is able to move forward with new plans to measure the impact of the regional socials and other initiatives, using data provided in the 2024 ISB to guide future decision-making.
“It [the ISB] will have a really profound impact on student well-being and that's what I'm really interested in; that's what I look for in the ISB. The main thing that I really care about at the university: whether the students feel sense of belonging, and that they feel like we want them there.”
The efforts of the team at the University of Reading demonstrate the importance of using data to guide efforts to enhance the international student experience. By addressing specific gaps, the university is creating a more inclusive and supportive environment, for all their student populations. These initiatives not only improve student well-being but also contribute to retention and academic success—key factors for any institution aiming to attract and retain international students in an increasingly competitive global market.
