International students and Ukrainian universities: dilemmas of agency and change

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the agency of international students in the context of university transformations in post-Soviet Ukraine. Conflict-driven political, social and economic changes in the country have laid the groundwork for the redesign of institutional policies related to the internationalization of Ukraine’s higher education. However, it is not clear to what extent local universities have managed to engage the creative power and agency of international students in these transformations. By examining how international students’ agency is constructed at 12 public universities, and triangulating comparative findings with data from the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and from publicly available sources including social media, this study delves into the complexities of student agency development in the postcolonial discourses at Ukrainian universities. On a theoretical level, this paper enriches the knowledge base on tensions between institutional and human agencies in international higher learning.

KEYWORDS:

• International students
• agency
• transforming systems of higher education
• post-Soviet Ukraine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. [GRF grant #17665816].

Notes on contributors

Anatoly V. Oleksiyenko

Anatoly V. Oleksiyenko is Associate Professor of Higher Education at the Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education, and Director of Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC), Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on dilemmas of governance and leadership in international higher education.

Ielyzaveta Shchepetylnykova

Ielyzaveta Shchepetylnykova is a PhD Candidate at the Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. She is doing research on intellectual leadership in the post-totalitarian contexts of higher education.