Abstract
In response to a range of problems associated with the direct link between international education and migration, which came to public attention in 2010, the Australian government has sought to address these flaws through various policies, including revisions to post-study work rights. This article explores how the education–migration nexus has evolved. No longer a direct link, it has transformed into an education–work–migration pathway, highlighting the growing importance of work within this nexus. Drawing on a study that includes a survey and 50 interviews with key stakeholders, including international graduates on temporary graduate visas, the article uses spacetime as a theoretical framework to analyse graduates’ post-study journeys and the different spatial-temporal intermediaries they encounter. The findings underscore how the traditional view of the education–migration nexus is now outdated and emphasise the central role of work in shaping the emerging education–work–migration pathway.
Keywords
Introduction
Over the past three decades, in the race for both international students to generate revenues and global talent to fill out skills shortages, major destination countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and the US have introduced different international education, post-study work rights and skilled migration policies. These governments have traditionally positioned the international education and skilled migration pathway as a win-win policy to support both the commercialisation of international education and the need to meet the skills demands that can benefit the host countries.
Within the nexus of international education and skilled migration, international students are located at the intersection of skills production and skills attraction (Mosneaga, 2014). On the one hand, they are students who cross borders to pursue international education to enrich their skills, knowledge and experience. On the other hand, within nation states’ policy framework, this group is regarded as a pool of highly qualified and skilled workers who can potentially contribute to boosting the economy of host countries (Trevena, 2019). International students possess different motivations for overseas study and can potentially offer different kinds of labour in the host country. The education–migration pathway has been refined and is subject to frequent modifications shaped by political and economic agendas of the host country. These revisions result from changes in the host countries’ areas of skills demands; their social, economic, demographic and political circumstances; and the unintended consequences of the international education–migration nexus. Major study destinations such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US have modified their immigration policies as a reflection of changing governments and political agendas and downturns in local economies, which now sees the convergence of policy offering post-study work rights (Berquist et al., 2019).
The rights and opportunities to work in the host country post-graduation are integral to international students’ expectations regarding return on investment in overseas studies, employment goals, and life and migration aspirations. At the national level, this issue of post-study work arrangements is therefore critical to the competitiveness of the education export sector and has significant implications for the nation's migration and talent acquisition agenda. At the institutional level, data and knowledge about international students’ post-study employment outcomes and work arrangements inform their positioning in the international education market and their policies to enhance employability for this cohort.
In Australia, international education is increasingly subject to political agendas. The international education and migration relationship is also compounded because policies around this nexus are not only politically charged but often uncertain, constantly changing and contradictory. For example, the Migration Strategy released in December 2023 explicitly stated that the majority of international students are expected to go home after graduation (Australian Government, 2023). However, the newly released draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework aligns international education more closely to the skills demands of Australia, which is currently the most feasible pathway to skilled migration (Australian Government, 2024a). Furthermore, international students are scapegoated in election campaigns by both sides of the government and blamed for the nation's housing crisis in Australia even though they account for only 6.8% to 7.2% of the rental market and are victims of a long-term housing problem and a lack of suitable housing options (Evershed & Nicholas, 2024; Forbes-Mewett & Wickes, 2018). International students are therefore seen as political objects and are often othered and discriminated against for political purposes such as winning votes through cutting net overseas migration.
This article is derived from a research project that includes a survey and 50 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, such as international graduates on temporary graduate visas, agents and representatives from government bodies and education institutions. It uses social spacetime as a theoretical framework to unpack international graduates’ post-study journeys. Social spacetime refers to the connections between historicity (the relationship of the past, present and future) and social constitutions of space such as living rooms, homes or nation states (Weidenhaus, 2023). The article sheds light on how different spatial-temporal forms as intermediaries prolong and convert the direct education–migration link into a multidirectional education–migration pathway. It provides fresh insights into the transformation from the education–migration nexus to education–work–migration nexus for international students. Our study elucidates the ways in which the element of work has emerged to become an integral component in the education–migration relationship and the dynamic but complex interplay among these core elements: education, work and migration. This article provides a framework for policymakers, practitioners and researchers in the international education and migration fields to conceptualise the fundamental role of work in contemporary international education and skilled migration and to understand international student experiences and pathways.
Student visa regimes and changes in Australia
Pathways for international students to remain in Australia were not always available as they were previously required to leave Australia after completing their studies. However, reforms implemented in 1999 encouraged international students to apply for permanent residency (PR) after their studies. Soon after, the Commonwealth Government reversed its policy which required international students to return to their home country for a minimum of two years before applying for PR. Bonus points were also allocated to applicants with an Australian qualification, which made it easier for students who favoured a move (Hugo, 2002). In addition, the requirement for applicants to have three years of work experience was waived for students, further easing the application process. The growth of international students in Australia was largely attributed to shifts in immigration policy which provided pathways to PR (B. Birrell & Perry, 2009). However, the requirements for qualifying for PR have become increasingly stringent.
A number of changes in 2007 which stemmed from a 2006 independent evaluation of General Skilled Migration (GSM) categories (R. Birrell et al., 2006) led to a significant impact on the PR aspirations of international students. Some of these changes required international student graduates applying for PR to demonstrate higher levels of English-language proficiency and, more notably, some skilled experience which they were previously exempt from possessing. The most significant change in 2007 was the introduction of the Skilled Graduate Temporary visa (subclass 485), which allowed international students graduating from Australian universities the opportunity to live and work in Australia for up to 18 months before applying for PR (B. Birrell & Perry, 2009, p. 69). After having fulfilled relevant Australian employment requirements, holders of the 485 visas were awarded points in their application for a PR visa (Jackling, 2007). This resulted in an increase in the number of international students remaining in Australia.
In 2009, community outcry about poor education offerings, with some private vocational colleges’ marketing of Australian education as a pathway to migration rather than an educational opportunity (Tran & Nyland, 2011) and a backlash by international students who felt that they were not welcome and not treated well in Australia led to the tightening of visa controls. This also included the curtailment of international students’ capacity to work after study (B. Birrell & Perry, 2009). This occurred in a period (2009 and 2010) when a number of reforms took place which led to stronger integrity checks for student visa applications, and the increase in the financial resources demonstrable by students for each year of their study impacted international enrolment. In particular, the introduction of the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) in place of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) removed a key element for international students seeking PR in Australia, as graduating with qualifications associated with occupations listed on the latter was perceived as a straightforward route to PR.
Introduced in 2011, the Knight Review included 41 recommendations related to streamlining visa applications and introducing PSWR for international student graduates. This review focused on streamlining visa applications for the university sector and tweaked the 485 visa for international graduates (Berquist et al., 2019). The latter represented an attempt to decouple the link between international education and permanent migration. The Genuine Temporary Entrant test, a key determinant of visa approvals, was also introduced to assess whether a prospective international student had genuine intentions for a temporary stay in Australia. The Temporary Graduate 485 visa replaced the Skilled Graduate Temporary 485 visa. The introduction of the Temporary Graduate visa and promotion of post-study work rights have resulted in an increase in international student enrolments, especially in Masters by coursework programmes (Tran et al., 2020). Recently, the Migration Strategy stipulated some changes to the Temporary Graduate visa. Since 1 July 2024, the Graduate Work stream and the Post-Study Work stream within the Temporary Graduate visa have been renamed as the Post-Vocational Education Work stream and the Post-Higher Education Work stream respectively. The two-year extension of post-study work rights for graduates with degrees in select areas of verified skill shortage introduced on 1 July 2023 ceased on 1 July 2024. The maximum eligible age for the Temporary Graduate visa was reduced from 50 to 35 years of age or under at the time of application, except for research graduates and Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders (Australian Government, 2024b).
Reconceptualising the education–migration nexus
The education–migration nexus is traditionally defined by how international education facilitates the opportunity for international students to secure permanent migration in the host country after they complete their study. However, the education–migration nexus is not well conceptualised in the literature and inadequate attention is paid to the emergence of the work element in the broader international student migration literature.
Since the turn of the century, international education has been regarded not only as a valuable export commodity but also as a conduit to provide potential skilled migrants that many host countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK can tap into, to augment their labour needs (Choudaha, 2017; Joshi & Ziguras, 2024; Tran & Nguyen, 2022; Tran et al., 2023). Whether the permanent migration intention of many international students is realised hinges on the policies set by the respective governments of their host countries. It is also reliant on the willingness of countries to facilitate international graduate retention by reconfiguring the social and political relationship framing the education–migration nexus through the potential of citizenship in a host country as a mechanism to attract skilled migrants (Shachar, 2006, p. 155).
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the revenue stream of universities due to the sharp decrease in the volume of international students. This has also interrupted the pipeline of future skilled workers (Arthur, 2022) and led to sharp labour shortages across Australia's wider economy, particularly in sectors such as hospitality and aged care, where international students form a critical part of their workforce (Askola et al., 2021). This dependency on international students to meet labour demands draws attention to the nature and role of work in the international education and migration nexus and in the convergence of policies about international students, skills shortages and migration.
The previously demarcated boundaries between temporary and permanent migration in relation to international student migration have become increasingly blurred, shifting and complex. Borrowing from Johnson-Hanks (2002), the traditional viewpoint of the stay-return paradigm in international education no longer holds, with multiple trajectories stemming from the vital conjecture of completing one's study (see Tan & Hugo, 2017). An emerging body of literature has drawn attention to expanding this paradigm to also consider staggered migration pathways that highlight shifting mobility patterns that are ‘contingent, multi-directional and multi-stage’ (Robertson, 2019, p. 170). Another critical phenomenon is ‘permanent temporariness’ which links to the long-term temporary stays of international students and graduates in the host country without prospects of securing permanent residency (Australian Government, 2023).
The stretching of time where those on the 485 visa embark on a long-drawn-out migration journey as temporary migrants sees international students navigating through barriers and challenges to employment. They employ a complex range of tactics and manoeuvres (Robertson, 2013) to secure a longer stay as they navigate shifting migration policies in their quest for PR. International students and graduates (i.e. 485 visa holders) are considered ‘modern labour nomads’ (Bauböck, 1998, p. 334) who often experience skills underutilisation working in grey economies in low-skilled jobs that are incommensurate with their education (Tran, 2017; Tran et al., 2022). The concept of work in the post-study lives of international students is often focused on work per se – the type of job they have, whether their job is relevant to their field of study and their skill level, how much they earn, the hours they work and whether they experience discrimination or exploitation.
Rung's (2017) concept of ‘mobility-work’ and ‘resettlement-work’ draws on Smith's (2005, pp. 151–152) notion of work to encompass anything that ‘takes time and effort … that is done under definite conditions and with whatever means and tools, and that they may have to think about’. Through this lens, Rung elucidates migrant experiences to identify the material labour and affective labour to illuminate and respectively describe the ‘physical and emotional labour that they do to pass through these institutionalised gates of belonging’ (Rung, 2017, p. 184) in their migration and resettlement journeys. In this regard, material labour not only involves performing basic and important functions necessary for earning an income to pay daily bills or to pay off the debt incurred to finance their overseas study, but also plays a significant role in meeting requirements to secure PR down the road. The right type of work in this instance refers to working in a job listed on the SOL and chalking up the required points through a range of actions to meet the eligibility requirements for PR (see Robertson, 2013). Such deliberate actions contain elements of both material and affective labour. The latter also encapsulates migrants bearing unfair, poor, exploitative working conditions to avoid jeopardising relationships with employers whose sponsorship holds the key to their migration objective (Li & Whitworth, 2016). Hence, living through these experiences and circumstances in a foreign country can have a compounding impact on international student graduates’ mental and physical health and wellbeing. Working in such jobs and persisting through these challenges with the ultimate goal of securing PR demonstrates the ‘mobility-work’ and ‘resettlement-work’ of 485 visa holders. This requires significant sacrifice and some level of mental and physical fortitude and resilience to endure a migration trajectory that resembles a gruelling endurance race more than the ‘intricate obstacle race’ depicted by Mezzadra and Neilson (2012, p. 70).
Research on temporary graduate workers highlights how working with a suitable employer willing to provide sponsorship for an extended stay in Australia or PR can be part of international students’ migration strategy (Robertson & Runganaikaloo, 2014). The authors highlight this entanglement with space by touching on the enactment of a spatial strategy by 485 visa holders temporarily relocating to regional defined zones for a specified period to acquire PR, before moving back to major capital cities. Such spatial strategies can be played out right from the start, when students deliberately undertake their studies in regional areas that offer better opportunities for PR before onward migrating to major capital cities (Tran et al., 2019). Here, internal onwards mobility is fed by the mobility work of moving interstate and resettlement work of living and working elsewhere, in a regional defined location where they might not want to be or settle, in the long term, and, for some, this might also involve working in jobs in unfair conditions. This further contributes to the development of the education–work–migration nexus on how the work dimension in this nexus is extended to migration in Australia towards regional migration zones.
Spacetimes as a theoretical framework
In social science research, time has been measured and analysed across different scales as a continuum spreading from billions of years on one extreme to the microseconds of nanotechnology on another extreme (Griffiths et al., 2013). In the context of international migration, these timescales can spread across the past, present and future in such a fashion that the activities, practices and relationships in the past and the imagined future shape the migrant's now-times (Tedeschi & Gadd, 2021). Time should not be conceptualised as linear, beginning from the past and moving from the present to the future, as ‘a number of heterogeneous elements thrive together and constitute a multiplicity of relations that give rise to the moments of becoming that we perceive as the present’ (Blazek et al., 2019, p. 66). These three dimensions of time (past, present and future), as argued by Tedeschi and Gadd (2021, p. 129), are different but the same: ‘they overlap and merge in the multiple relationships, practices, and activities that construct a space’.
Time and space should not be investigated in separation (Domingues, 1995; Giddens, 1979; Massey, 1999). They must be viewed as relative concepts because ‘they are determined by the nature and behaviour of the entities that “inhabit” them’ (Raper & Livingstone, 1995, p. 363). In the same vein, Massey (1999) posits that space is an open and dynamic system that could be imagined as the sphere of the existence of multiplicity and the possibility of the existence of difference. Such a space is a sphere in which distinct stories coexist, meet up, affect each other, come into conflict or cooperate. It is not a closed system; it is constantly, as spacetime, being made.
The future as a dimension of spacetime is not empty, as it is not simply that human beings are ‘made’ by their pasts, but that ‘humans as cultural and social beings are future-oriented’ (Adam, 2004 as cited in Griffiths et al., 2013). The way people live and produce their futures varies significantly. Migrants tend to view the present (their temporal and uncertain now-time) relative to their future use value, which helps make unpleasant and difficult situations bearable (Griffiths et al., 2013). Therefore, spacetime events of migrants often involve uncertain living conditions, labour market regulations, their survival strategies, social networks and their practices of agency (Tedeschi & Gadd, 2021). Spacetime entails multiple dimensions that bring together the experiences and memories in the past and the expectations and hopes for the future that together transform the now-time of the individuals (Hägerstrand, 2009).
This article uses the space and time framework to analyse the education–work–migration nexus of international student migrants by examining their past, present and future spacetimes as a multidirectional process affected by individuals’ multiple and shifting motivations. It also investigates how migration policies shape international students’ reactions and responses to the fast-paced change to regulations, and what constitutes the temporariness of their present and expected future permanence.
Research design
This article emerges from a three-year study on the impact of the post-study work rights policy in Australia. The research involved both in-depth interviews and a survey with 1156 international graduates on temporary graduate visas. Fifty in-depth interviews were conducted with 32 temporary graduate visa holders and 18 key stakeholders, including university staff, employers, education and migration agents, government representatives and key industry groups. A combined recruitment schedule, including advertisements in magazines related to international education and a snowball approach, was adopted to recruit participants for this study. A semi-structured interview approach was used to allow the participants the opportunity to articulate their perceptions of how skilled migration and post-study work rights policy affected their decision to study in Australia and their post-study work experiences. Each interview lasted for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The interviewees’ identities and organisations were kept anonymous.
The data used in this article are from both the semi-structured interviews and responses to the open-ended questions of the survey. NVivo version 10 was used for data coding and categorisation of the key themes. NVivo facilitated open-ended thematic categorisation of the interview data through a constant comparison approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) which was used to interpret and analyse the interview data in accordance with the conceptual notion of spacetimes, as described above. In this regard, the main themes addressed in this article were identified through a constant comparison of empirical data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and relevant theoretical notions. This is a thorough mutual process of engagement with the interview and survey excerpts, relevant theory of spacetimes and literature, and readings of the quotes to analyse how they align with, differ from or extend the key points and conceptual tools emerging from the literature.
Findings
The findings of this study showed that there is a possible education and migration nexus in the Australian context, but this is not an easy and linear pathway. Instead, it is a complex pathway constructed by a myriad of mobility work and social practices that give rise to multidirectional and multiple spatio-temporal events. The quotes from the respondents cited in the analysis below illuminate the key motivations underpinning this mobility-work practice in undertaking a new study programme:
Undertaking a new programme of study to create a temporal spacetime in the host country
Research on international students has documented multiple motivations for their decision to conduct cross-border studies, including lacking opportunities in their home country, a desire to have new experiences and cultural enrichment, personal growth and development, better education, improved future career, and immigration prospects (Qi, 2014). These study motivations constructed a time and space transition from home and host countries and marked the individual's first status of becoming an international student. However, after graduating from the enrolled course overseas, some of the interviewees went on to enrol in a new course to create a new temporal spacetime in Australia for different purposes, including professional development and waiting for PR opportunities. The following quotes from the graduate respondents illuminate the key motivations underpinning this mobility-work practice in undertaking a new study programme: ‘I wanted to stay in Australia a little longer’; ‘To earn migration points and obtain work experience through the course internship’; and ‘To have the chance to go to an internship.’ These excerpts show the variance of spatio-temporal elements that affect the present-time of international graduates. The event belonging to spaces in the past (leaving their home country for study overseas) and the imagined hope for a permanent future of getting PR as an education–migrant nexus drove the students’ cross-border movement. However, this education–migrant nexus is not linear. It is a back-and-forth movement involving multiple temporal events that are constantly changed by different but overlapping spacetimes in different temporal forms. These temporal events included the individuals becoming an international student who moved overseas to study, a subsequent graduation from this study, a move on to becoming a temporary visa holder, and then a transition back to an international student visa by enrolling in a new programme to create a new temporal spacetime in Australia. For example, international graduates shared that they studied a new course and moved back to the student visa after their 485 visa because ‘I am unable to find a job in my field of study’ (graduate, Masters, accounting/business, male, Indian) or ‘I want to keep a visa in Australia and find a way to achieve PR’ (graduate, Bachelor of Science, accounting/business, male, Vietnamese).
Whether the individuals use this temporal spacetime to stay in Australia longer, to undertake an internship, find a way to secure PR or to earn migration points, the ultimate future space they expected to have is to either create a permanence spacetime (to stay permanently Australia through getting a PR) or to create another temporal spacetime (go on an internship, or participate in the labour market). This finding builds on Collins and Shubin's (2017) proposition that migration is the process of becoming through different mobility-work activities that individuals embark on to achieve an expected future. In addition, the element of migration here is also shown as being not straightforward as the individuals’ cross-border journey is often associated with tensions, uncertainty, precarity and anxiety underpinned by different spatial-temporal forms. These spatial-temporal forms are marked with intermediaries situated in between, prolonging and diverging this two-step migration into a multidirectional education–migration nexus in which the element of work plays a key role.
Chasing after the PR points for an expected permanent spacetime
Situated within the space of a student visa and a permanent residency visa are the different types of temporary visas, including Temporary Graduate visa subclass 485 that supports international students’ education-to-work transition in Australia. The in-depth interviews show that a proportion of international students are under the illusion that the 485 visa equates with the PR pathway at the time they applied for the 485 visa, and they might not fully realise the magnitude and fast-changing criteria for PR eligibility. This cohort, especially those with this illusion and at the same time struggles to find jobs in Australia, often feels stressed and disappointed about their experience with the 485 visa.
For example, one graduate expressed his stress: The visa 485 is currently a useless pathway to permanent residence due to the high points required to obtain PR. Many international students have spent thousands of dollars and time to undertake [the] Professional Year program and sat for English and NAATI [National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters] exams. However, their hopes of obtaining PR were dashed as the points to acquire PR keeps increasing. (Graduate, Accounting/Business, male, Singaporean) Prior to 2015, a minimum of 65 points is required for an accountant graduate to receive an invitation to apply for PR. The required points have increased year on year with a minimum 80 points in 2018 for an invitation, and 95 points in 2020. It's an impossible pathway [to PR]. I therefore enrolled in a social work study as a new course that is in the migration list and the PR points score required is lower. (Graduate, Accounting, female) Because when calculating the points, there are different components including age, qualification, the duration they have studied in Australia, English proficiency, employment experience, community language skill between one language and English … It seems that they have to get the maximum points for every single skill to have a chance to be invited. (Agent, male)
The quotes reveal that the pathway between the 485 visa and the PR is not as simple as it sounds. This challenging process of transforming from a temporal to a permanent spacetime involves various mobility-work practices (undertaking a professional year, learning NATTI, practising English, enrolling in a course listed in the migration occupation list, and accumulating work experience) that results in a multiplicity of spatio-temporal events that do not necessarily promise certainty when it comes to PR outcomes. Although student migrants take agentic actions by grasping any opportunities to increase their PR points, it is the visa policies as a regulative frame that leaves them little space to act, resulting in their multiple temporal spacetimes situated within the broader temporal spacetime of the 485 visa duration of 18 months, 2 years or 3 years (depending on the graduate status). Scott (2008) posited that the regulative (or legal) framework most commonly takes the form of regulations that guide actors’ actions and perspectives by coercion or threat of legal sanctions. In this study, the visa system as a regulative force can enable or constrain student migrants to transform their temporal (visa 485) to permanent spacetime (PR). This finding enriches the current understanding of student migrants as temporal contingencies that involves ‘unexpected detours, new dependencies and circumstances, and reimagined aspirations and desires’ (Robertson, 2019, p. 181) by highlighting the primary role of the regulative system in shaping the type of mobility-work that they engage in which in turn creates their now-time multiple temporality and uncertainty.
Temporary Graduate visa as a temporal spacetime for translocation
International migration is often referred to as a transnational process from the country of origin to the country of destination. In this study, apart from transnationalism (the individual becomes an international student who crosses borders for study), transregional movement and/or translocation is another form of mobility-work when the students struggle to secure a permanent spacetime in big cities such as Melbourne and Sydney as their initial study destinations, as reflected in the following quote: I am an accounting graduate in Victoria. I had been chasing behind the PR points by doing a professional year, taking an English test, and gaining a NATTI certificate. However, I could not keep pace with the increasing points [for PR]. Therefore, I decided to move to Tasmania where they have a more generous point scheme, and I finally got a PR. (Graduate, Accounting, female) Study accounting or study [to be a] chef or study [to be a] motor mechanic, in theory you still can get PR, but in reality it is almost impossible. Especially if you stay in [a] big city like Melbourne or Sydney where the policy is very tough and the condition is very high. (Agent, female) As it's getting harder to get PR, I’ve seen graduates move to regional areas such as Hobart (Tasmania), Darwin (Northern Territory), Adelaide (South Australia) and Canberra (ACT). Those who do not want to move off Victoria but still want to enjoy the regional scheme moved to Geelong or some suburbs that end the trainlines such as Pakenham. (Agent, female)
This circular movement trend was also observed by an education agent: Quite a lot of them [international graduates] have moved back to Sydney or Melbourne for job after getting PR. Some do stay in Tasmania if they can find a job, but in general, I think that job opportunities in regional areas are still limited except Adelaide, not to mention that these young people want to enjoy a busy and dynamic life. Thus, there is also a moving back trend to where they left. (Agent, male)
These excerpts again denote the complexity of student migrant temporality, uncertainty and unpredicted future trajectories. The traditional nexus between education and migration is loosened and fragmented by the many sub-spatio-temporal elements that feature transregional movement and translocation between different states, regions and locations after their initial cross-border journey. With this back-and-forth movement, the students connect different local and regional spaces and constantly create their own new spacetimes in chasing for a PR. This finding of routing and re-routing as an ongoing and spatio-temporal movement viewed by Collins and Shubin (2017, p. 21) as ‘disjunctures rather than sequentially ordered trajectories’ echoes the proposition that young Asian migration to Australia is not just a single departure by border crossing; instead, it varies across time within and in and out Australia in different stages and statuses (Robertson, 2019). These movements are primarily driven by the government's regional visa programme launched in 2019, which encourages migrants to settle in the regions, solve congestion problems in big cities and support regional economies (Stayner, 2019). This form of mobility-work underscores the complexities of mobility per se which characterises the migration aspect of the traditional education–migration nexus.
Temporary Graduate visa as time shortage and space limitation for international graduates
Another group of international graduates was motivated by the dual goals of securing PR and acquiring work experience through Temporary Graduate visas. However, this dual intention is often regarded as a significant challenge given the two-year duration of the Temporary Graduate visa (for Bachelors or Masters by coursework graduates), perceived by the majority of participants as being relatively short: You need to have a proper plan towards your professional employment and PR pathway when your visa 485 is just granted, otherwise you will lose your opportunity since time flies fast and the policy regarding PR can change anytime. (Graduate, Bachelor of Science, female, Vietnamese) Sometimes it takes a year to secure a job and if students aren’t able to get PR, they’ve to leave the country with no other option. Students will suffer from huge loan in their home country. (Graduate, Masters of Information Technology, female, Indian) I wish 485 visa is given 3 years regardless of regional area or not. Just because not every student can secure a job before receiving 485 visa or just after 485 visa or hoping to apply for PR … It takes time to settle down after graduation just because there are a lot of changes in life both personally and professionally … There are students out there who only wish to gain employment opportunities before going back home or going to other countries as well. (Graduate, Bachelor of Accounting/Business, Professional Year Program for Accounting, male, South Korean)
Adding to the time shortage of the 485 visa is the employers’ preference for recruiting PR holders that left international student graduates with limited space in the labour market. Some international graduates initially intended to use the 485 visa as a means to facilitate their access to the Australian labour market and gain some work experience. However, they came to understand that employers often prefer recruiting people with PR or citizenship or are concerned about the temporariness of the 485 visa. Consequently, many of those international graduates aim to use or switch to using the Temporary Graduate visa as a vehicle to acquire PR. One participant from this group revealed: The visa doesn’t imply any restrictions on working, but it is the employers who wouldn’t consider to offer a job role while you are on this visa. I have personally experienced where I had done really well at the job interviews but I couldn’t get through any of the roles because I was not a permanent resident. (Graduate, Masters of Architecture/Building, male, Indian) 485 visa helped as a pathway to the 189 visa and improve social skills while working odd jobs and hospitality. The 189 visa ultimately helped to enter the job market. I was only able to find odd jobs while on the 485 visa. (Graduate, Masters of Information Technology, male, Indian) For me, yes, I spent a lot of my savings to come here, so I definitely wanted to work for at least a year or two and get that money back and then go back to my country if that was plan or stay here. And it [the 485 visa] gives you that flexibility. (Graduate, Masters of Marketing Communication, female, Latin American)
The research shows that Temporary Graduate visas are not perceived as providing international graduates with a substantial competitive advantage in the Australian labour market. Instead, many graduates see the 485 visa as a pathway to PR, another example of mobility-work which helps them access the host labour market and enhance their employability. However, to qualify for PR, acquiring relevant employment in their field of study is a critical factor. Therefore, there appears to be a chicken-and-egg situation around the nexus between Temporary Graduate visas, work and permanent residency. This chicken-and-egg situation results from spatio-temporal interactions and tensions that create significant challenges for student migrants with uncertainty about how things come together as temporality and, therefore, are unable to construct, perform and negotiate their spacetimes as well as control and plan their lives according to predetermined pathways (Collins & Shubin, 2017).
Conclusion
The findings of this study underscore the major role of immigration policy in diverging student migrants from the traditional education–migration pathway during their temporal spacetime in Australia. This article argues that the migration system regulating international student pathways to PR involves government control of spacetimes (graduate qualification period of at least 2 years, graduate age, 485 visa duration of between 18 months and 3 years, depending on qualification). The findings therefore enrich our understanding of different migration types of control by the government (e.g. Griffiths, 2017).
The recruitment of international graduates in each field is a function of a complex set of factors related to context, stakeholders and individual graduates. It is important that universities and different government sectors become familiar with various aspects of international graduates’ lives and work. If provided with the opportunity to remain in the host country after graduating, a higher proportion of international students could be expected to contribute to the Australian labour market via a supply of locally trained international graduates. The visa provides international graduates in Australia with an opportunity to stay and seek employment but what determines whether they can achieve their study and professional goals is understudied. This study reveals that one of the key success factors among visa holders is how effectively they manage their time in Australia.
The migration journey of international students in their pre-, present- and post-study lives in Australia is wrapped in space, place and time. Based on this study, we posit that the dominant view presented by the education–migration nexus is flawed and outdated and we draw attention to the role of work in the contemporary education–work–migration nexus. Leaning on Collins’ (2021, p. 37) call that ‘scholars need a geographically and temporally extensive analytical lens and methodological orientation that is capable of incorporating the diverse starting, station and destination points of migratory journey while also linking aspirations across present circumstances, past experiences and future possibility’, we use spacetime as way to elucidate the education–work–migration nexus. By unpacking the concept of work in our education–work–migration nexus, we seek to better connect the dimensions of space and time in international student migration to expand on their intersections and show how the process of becoming of international students is one that is not linear and that aspirations can shift.
Our findings echo the literature that indicates that stepwise migration strategies could be seen in a range of different countries where international students as temporary migrants can embark on path dependency with migration agents, charting their migration trajectory across countries in an organised fashion (Collins, 2021). They can over time become increasingly attuned to migration, adapting their action in response to shifting desires, policies or regulatory protocols to achieve their migration aspirations. Encounters with barriers including uncertain policy are also learning and adjusting moments where they reconfigure migration aspiration, make sacrifices and tailor their strategies including accepting low-status jobs, relocating to regional areas, undertaking the professional year or moving back to study a new course. Migration involves attunement or discord, influenced by policy changes and changing ecology systems, as well as migrants’ experiences, skills and knowledge that they develop, and the people with whom they interact (Collins, 2021, p. 22; Tran & Nyland, 2011). This process illuminates the imbrication of ‘mobility-work’ and ‘resettlement-work’.
Our research teases out how the intricacy of work is laced throughout the education–migration nexus and helps elucidate the interplay and complex dynamics between the elements within the education–work–migration nexus. This provides not only a more comprehensive framework for understanding international student experiences and outcomes, but also valuable insights for policymakers, researchers and practitioners in this field to recognise the fundamental role of work in contemporary international education. Post-study work rights can influence international students’ decision-making processes. Hence, stability in policy and clear and simple visa guidelines for study and work are needed to support international students and will enhance a country's attractiveness to international students in the context of changing visa regimes around the world in response to the economic climate and increasing populist views on migration in the host country and governments. Comparative studies of major study destinations are recommended to enhance our knowledge on the emerging role of the work element in the education–work–migration nexus across different national contexts.
