Social protection and study-work-life balance among international students: an Australian case study
Danny Ong and Gaby Ramia
Monash University
Contact Email:   danny.ongadm.monash.edu.au

Recent research shows that, in choosing a host country for their studies, international students place high priority on a safe environment and the availability of suitable part-time employment. In addition, some studies find that academic progress is affected by students’ quality of life inside and outside of the university environment. The central objective of this paper is to analyse the study-work-life balance (SWLB) of international students, using a case study of an internationalised university in Australia. The study utilises a mixed design consisting of 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews with key university staff informants and more than 500 quantitative surveys of enrolled international students. The analysis suggests that protecting universities’ and the nation’s share of the international student market depends increasingly upon broad student quality of life factors and in particular SWLB. This is a considerably broader concept than the ‘student experience’ as adopted by universities and the Australian government. In addition, regulatory instruments - the Education Services for Overseas Students Act and the National Code of Practice governing educational institutions - fall short of SWLB aspirations. The primary social policy prescription is that international students should be viewed as subjects of social protection and social citizenship rather than ‘consumers’ of education services.

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