One of the most profound recent changes to Canadian higher education seems to have gone little noticed: namely, the increasing number of graduate students on campus whose first language is neither English nor French.
Provincial governments, acting in cooperation with the universities and trading on the hard-won reputation of Canadian higher education, are aggressively recruiting students from all corners of the globe. Most universities now have departments dedicated to the recruitment and retention of “international” students (the preferred euphemism for students from abroad) and are avidly and competitively pursuing new markets. The University of British Columbia, for example, has over 4,000 foreign students from 120 different countries. According to a recent Postmedia News report, “Canada is already one of the top destinations for foreign students. …. some 239,000 students in 2010 contributed $8 billion to the economy, making them a lucrative source for colleges and universities.” There is currently a world-wide sales campaign underway to bring students to BC, “the most beautiful place on earth,” (and of course, to Canada’s other provinces as well). Clearly, much money is at stake. Foreign students on average pay more than three times the tuition of Canadian students.
Many of these students have been actively recruited specifically for graduate and professional programs. This is being driven in large part by a cash-starved administration who view the higher fees paid by international students as a source of ready income. It is perhaps unsurprising that entrance requirements for many graduate programs are being “adjusted” to accommodate this trend.
Governments and senior administration in universities have been successful in persuading Canadians that “internationalizing” the campus is a positive development for all concerned. Indeed, at least in one sense they are right: no one involved in higher education can be opposed to internationalization per se. The university is an inherently international institution. Its ideals are premised on an international community of scholars dedicated to the open exchange of ideas and critique.
However, there is a worrying side to the international marketing of Canadian universities. It is felt most acutely at the graduate level, in the teaching of the humanities and critical studies. There is no sugar-coated way to say this: many international graduate students are simply unprepared for the rigours of graduate school. This may be because they lack fluency in the language of instruction, or because they lack the requisite disciplinary background, or both.
Of course, issues concerning entrance requirements for graduate programs are not limited to foreign students. However, if a student lacks fluency in the language of instruction this obviously erodes the quality of classroom discourse, as anyone who understands the give and take of the graduate seminar room will attest. How is it, that someone who is struggling with basic, conversational English, should now be expected to read, write about, and speak substantially to the advanced texts used in graduate courses? The presence of such students fundamentally changes teaching and learning, to the detriment of all involved, including the international students themselves. No one enjoys being thrust into circumstances for which one is ill-prepared.
When a significant portion of a graduate class consists of students who are struggling with the language of instruction, then layers of common cultural and historical understandings that serve as a foundation for graduate discussion disappear. You teach to the needs of your class, and when three-quarters of the class is struggling with reading comprehension, grammar and basic vocabulary, then academic discourse becomes weighed down and stunted. Instead of engaging students in disentangling the nuances and subtleties of a passage from the assigned readings, valuable classroom time is sacrificed for lessons in basic English.
Professors are expected to address and balance the needs of such students along with the educational needs of fluent speakers. But professors are neither ESL instructors nor intercultural mediators: they are subject-matter experts. And, while universities provide writing centres and other institutionalized assistance for undergraduates, there is rarely comparable assistance for graduate students. The infrastructure for addressing the writing needs of these graduate students range from inadequate to non-existent. The non-too-subtle message from senior administration is that faculty must learn to “adapt” to this new reality, and to “adjust” their expectations in order to accommodate struggling students. Put plainly, professors are pressured to lower their standards.
Conversation and dialogue – what the Greeks called the dialectic – is the foundation of the graduate school experience in the humanities. It should challenge, inspire and stimulate students. Capable students can hardly be blamed if they slouch in their seats and study their laptops, as the professor digresses from the course content in order to clarify the meaning or pronunciation of rudimentary vocabulary. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to engage students in any meaningful and rigorous exchange of ideas.
It is a given that properly prepared international graduate students both contribute to, and benefit from Canadian universities. However, it is short-sighted to recruit students who are academically or linguistically unprepared to participate in the educational conversation. Their presence in the graduate classroom and, in some cases, their receipt of Canadian credentials, occurs to the detriment of Canadian students and institutions. It is a form of intellectual and professional duplicity. We shouldn’t pretend otherwise.
Canadian universities need to think carefully when recruiting international graduate students. The acceptance of these students is driven in large part by fiscal necessities. The receipt of these higher fees without the provision of the requisite support these students need for their success, has extracted a price from all concerned. It is a rare thing in this world that one gets something for nothing. We need to openly acknowledge the ethical and professional difficulties presented by this recent trend in Canadian higher education, and work towards a solution for all involved.
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This article develops an argument made in University Affairs, the publication of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.
