Key Points
- South Asian graduates experience inequity in gaining access to employability-related programmes, finds study.
- Universities and employers need to provide “culturally appropriate” careers support to international students, says Jasvir Kaur.
A conducted by Ms Singh and her peers found that South Asian graduates experienced unequal opportunities in accessing employability-related programmes as postgraduate international students in Australia.Speaking to SBS Punjabi about her research, Ms Singh said they spoke to many international graduates, particularly from South Asian countries, to get an insight into the kind of challenges they encountered while looking out for jobs in the Australian market.
“It was surprising to learn that many Australian employers prefer domestic students over international students when offering jobs,” she said.
Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh conducted a survey on challenges faced by the South Asian students. Credit: Jasvir Kaur
Ms Singh said one of the common issues that were identified was that international graduates often stuck to their domestic style of the application process when seeking jobs in Australia.
The job-finding process in Australia is quite different from their countries of origin.
“Of course, Australian universities invite employers to their campuses to interview students and offer them jobs, but their terms mostly suit domestic students only,” she said.Ms Singh said language constraints also pose a hindrance.
“We, therefore, advise Australian universities and employers to address this problem on a multi-pronged basis, including offering internships, volunteer work and creating jobs specifically tailored for international students,” she shared.
International students returning to Australia in record numbers
Australia’s economy is heavily dependent on the study and research carried out by international students.Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian economy received approximately $40.3 billion in revenue from overseas students, which declined to $25.5 billion in 2022. But with a strong return of international students to the Australian campus, there is hope for its resurgence.According to figures from December 2022, China and India continued to be the top two sources of international students to Australia.Miss Singh said that most of the international students from South Asia are keen to find employment and then eventually settle down in Australia after completing their degrees.She is also conducting seminars as part of her “Career Development Analysis Workshop” at various universities to generate awareness among students from South Asian countries on how to secure jobs in the Australian market.
Click on the audio player above to learn more about this initiative.
