31 / 21 / International students in Norway 2016 – Perceptions of Norway as a study destination 06/2016 Norwegian is a small language. English Interestingly, the most frequently There should not be different lectures for utdanning av internasjonalisering senter for 06/2016 study programmes should therefore cited reasons for choosing Norway are inter national and Norwegian students. be considered a precondition for specified qualities of the educational It would also be nice to do group work international student mobility to Norway. institutions. together and not only in teams of inter­ national students, or students from the same country. 20 / Report series students inNorway students Perceptions of Norway as Norway of Perceptions International International a study destination study 2016 Contents Photo: Paul S. Amundsen Paul Photo: Photo: Peter Klasson Peter Photo: Photo: Ingvild Festervoll Melien Festervoll Ingvild Photo: Preface ................................................................................................................. 4 5. More satisfied with the study environment ............... 25 Executive summary .................................................................................. 5 5.1 Teaching and supervision .................................................... 26 5.2 Experiences with the workload 1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 7 and formal requirements ..................................................... 27 2. International students of great value to Norway 9 5.3 What is most challenging 2.1 National reputation and for international students in Norway? ...................... 28 international student policy ............................................... 9 6. An underused resource in Norwegian education 31 2.2 International students and the reputation 6.1 Leisure time ..................................................................................... 32 of Norwegian higher education ....................................... 9 6.2 International students’ 2.3 Survey and method ................................................................... 11 overall experience and suggestions ........................... 34 3. International students in Norway 2016 ........................ 13 7. Should I stay or should I go? ..................................................... 37 3.1 Country, response rate, Produced by the Norwegian centre for social background and gender ........................................ 13 8. Concluding remarks ......................................................................... 39 international cooperation in education 3.2 Student status, academic List of figures and tables ...................................................................... 40 Excecutive Editor / Ragnhild Tungesvik subjects and educational levels ..................................... 14 Appendix 1: Methodology and data gathering process 41 Editors / Hege Toje, Trude Holme 3.3 Sources of funding ..................................................................... 16 .......................................................................... and Margunn Instefjord 3.4 The prevalence of internship ............................................. 16 Appendix 2: Tables..................................................................................... 42 References 43 Copies / 500 ........................................................................................................ 4. A good reputation of teaching ................................................ 19 Photo / Ingvild Festervoll Melien 4.1 Qualities of higher education in Norway ISBN 978-82-93017-57-8 (Press) are important sources of motivation ......................... 20 ISBN 978-82-93017-58-5 (Web) 4.2 Sources of information .......................................................... 21 4.3 The choice of educational institution 22 The report can be downloaded ......................... at www.siu.no. E JØM RKE IL T M Nordic Ecolabel 241 699 - BODONI 2 4 9 Miljømerket trykksak 241 699 SIU 06/1 2016 SIU 06/2016 9 International students in Norway INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN NORWAY 2 6 3 Trykksak / / Photo: Paul S. Amundsen Paul Photo: Preface Executive summary Since 2008, the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education This report explores the reputation of Norwegian higher education through the (SIU) has been responsible for a survey among international students gathering experiences of international students in Norway. It investigates the HEIs capacity information about their motivations, expectations and experiences from their to receive, integrate and educate international students in Norway. studies in Norway. This is an important source of knowledge in order to improve the profiling of Norwegian higher education abroad, the recruitment of inter- Three out of four of the international students who participated in the survey national students to Norway and the integration of international students at the had Norway as their first choice. The most important motivating factor is Eng- Norwegian higher education institutions (HEIs). lish taught degree programmes and courses followed by Norwegian nature and un-spoilt countryside/environmental focus. However, an analysis of the students’ This is SIU’s fifth report on international students’ perception of Norway as a study individual answers to an open-ended question shows that the educational quali- destination. The findings of this study are based on voluntary participation in a ties of the Norwegian HEIs are more frequently cited as motivating factors than survey distributed by SIU with assistance from the HEIs. In this year’s report we national qualities such as ‘Norwegian nature’ and ‘un-spoilt countryside’. have focused particularly on institutional factors and the international learning environment at the HEIs in Norway. The results from the survey show an overall high level of satisfaction with the education that the international students receive in Norway: 71 per cent are satis- SIU is Norway’s official agency for international programmes and initiatives related to fied with the teaching, and as much as 84 per cent are satisfied with the teachers’ education at all levels. SIU is a government agency reporting to the Norwegian Ministry of ability to teach in English. 69 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with the Education and Research (KD). As a centre of expertise, one of SIU’s most important tasks is study environment. The satisfaction with feedback on the student’s work and to broaden and strengthen the knowledge base for further internationalisation of Norwegian individual student counselling is lower (52 per cent). This is, nonetheless, similar education through reporting and analysis. to findings among Norwegian students. The survey results show that international students are coping well with their studies in Norway. Yet, the survey results also suggest that there is room for improvement. The re- port looks at the degree to which international students interact with Norwegian students, co-nationals and international students. Our findings show that only one out of four international students say they interact daily with Norwegian students, and 29 per cent report that they rarely or never interact with Norwegian students. In fact ‘getting to know Norwegians’ is ranked as the greatest challenge among international students along with ‘high cost of living’. International stu- dents interact most frequently with other international students: Almost three out of five interact with other international students on a daily basis. Those who interact frequently with Norwegian students at the educational institutions, also have more contact with Norwegians during their leisure time. Other key figures \ 64 per cent of the students have their first international residence in Norway. \ 66 per cent are satisfied with the teacher’s ability to make teaching stimulating. \ 12 per cent have internship as part of the education in Norway. The vast majority of internships take place in the research and education sector. \ 62 per cent of the degree students consider staying on in Norway after graduation. 4 SIU 06/ 2016 / International students in Norway INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN NORWAY / SIU 06/2016 5 1. Introduction Global student mobility has increased rapidly In this report, we devote special attention to the since the early years of the millennium. More educational institutions, particularly concerning than 4 million students in higher education processes termed internationalisation at home: ‘The travel led beyond the borders of their native purposeful integration of international and inter- countries to study abroad in 2013.1 Norway is cultural dimensions into the formal and infor- a small country, but the increase in global stu- mal curriculum for all students, within domestic dent mobility is also noticeable here. The share learning environments’.3 We look at the degree to of foreign students in Norway has tripled since which international students academically and the year 2000.2 socially interact with Norwegian students, co-na- tionals and other inter national students. This is a How do international students experience Nor- particularly impor tant topic since it is commonly wegian higher education? What impressions do assumed that inter national students contribute they form of Norway, and to what extent are they to exposing Norwegian students to international integrated in the academic and social environ-