A degree for a job? : understanding the value of a UK masters degree for the international student.

This thesis examines the educational experiences of international students from
Russia and Palestine who studied for Masters degrees in the UK. I investigate how
these students value their UK Masters degrees and how this valuing is reflected in
their shifting identities.
I identify an entrepreneurial discourse of international education in the UK and
in the national brand for UK education marketing overseas, Education UK, and I
suggest that this discourse constructs students as entrepreneurial beings and frames
students' value judgments and identities during their educational trajectories. My
theoretical framework draws from theories of discourse and identity to establish this
entrepreneurial identity and to analyse how students' value judgments and identities
shift and become more multi-faceted during their educational trajectories.
The empirical work for this study consisted of interviews with 28 graduates of
taught Masters degrees from UK higher education institutions several years after these
individuals had returned home to Russia and Palestine. My analysis of students'
value judgments and identities is based on their recollections of the three stages of
their educational trajectories: their experiences pre-study, in-study and post-study.
My research findings suggest that these students embark on their international
education with highly entrepreneurial motives that reflect the discourse of
international education. However, as their educational trajectories proceed, and
students narrated their in-study and post-study experiences, there are subtle shifts in
their va1ue judgments and identities as they go beyond this discourse and as personal
and trans formative aspects of this international experience become more significant.
In conclusion, I argue that the emphasis on the economic benefits of
international education on the part of policy makers and marketers of international
education risks ignoring the more complex outcomes and value of international
education and could potentially impact the UK's long-term success in the
international education market.