Suggested topics for 2023

The Program Committee is particularly interested in receiving proposals on the following topics below. These are considered ‘hot topics in international education’ for 2023. Please note this list is not exhaustive, and should be used as a guide.

To see a more comprehensive list, we encourage you to read the descriptions of all AIEC key interest areas, which includes a broader range of topics that are relevant to international education.

Broad appeal / Business development and strategy 

  • Competitiveness of Australia in the global market​
  • Key value propositions for partners and future students​
  • Inclusion, intercultural competence and cultural safety
  • AI and technology across multiple aspects of international education
  • New and emerging modes of delivery and non-traditional qualifications
  • Recruiting and retaining staff ​
  • The future of China and the rise of India​
  • Importance of international education to Australia's foreign policy aspirations​
  • Changing policy and economic landscape and implications for international education​
  • Sustainability and climate change​ in the context of international education​
  • First nations and international education​
  • Research across multiple areas of international education – what is the data showing?
  • Harnessing the power of big data in international education
  • Future of international education – mega trends, mobility patterns, emerging areas of demand​
  • Market updates – challenges and opportunities in key source markets
  • Developing a social licence for international education
  • International student retention and poaching
  • Impact of the cost of living both in host and source countries for international students

Admissions and compliance

  • Regulatory environment and compliance updates and future directions

Employability

  • Pathways and barriers to employment for international student graduates
  • Post Study Work Rights (PSWR) as a pipeline for skilled workers in Australia
  • Career paths in demand areas (e.g., nursing, engineering) for international student graduates in Australia
  • TNE graduate outcomes
  • Preparing work-ready graduates
  • Alignment of policy and practice to bridge the gap between Australia’s skill shortage and PSWR
  • Making career services more inclusive and responsive to the needs of international graduates​

Learning abroad

  • Embedding learning abroad into study programs and creating learning abroad champions
  • Reaching disadvantaged cohorts – expanding learning abroad to all​
  • Building learning abroad programs for a generation of environmentally and socially conscious students
  • Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) – innovations in hybrid, online and face to face programming
  • Managing risk in learning abroad
  • New Colombo Plan – future plans and directions under the new Australian Government

Marketing

  • Utilising alumni – successful case studies for marketing and recruitment​
  • Tools and strategies for multi-channel communication​
  • Agent aggregators – how to work effectively with them
  • Maximising the Martech stack - strategies to manage this within lean teams and/or complex organisations​

Scholarships and fellowships

  • Funding pressures for scholarship providers (fewer scholarships, stipends not keeping pace with inflation etc)​

TNE

  • Evolving trends in TNE​
  • New successful offshore models – innovations and approaches​

Students

  • Neurodivergence, disabilities/accessibility and international students​
  • Mental Health and well-being
  • How are institutions successfully preparing students to be interculturally competent?
  • Welfare for under 18s​
  • Addressing the shortage of safe, affordable, student accommodation​and implications for international students

Teaching and Learning

  • Online learning​– innovations, implications and insights
  • Benefits of regional work experience​
  • Academic integrity (including academic misconduct)​
  • The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)​
  • AI opportunities and implications in teaching and learning (e.g. Chat GTP)​

Schools / English Language

  • School and English Language sectors – post COVID recovery
  • Importance of the school sector as a pathway to higher ed​​ucation

VET

  • VET as a pathway for skilled migration
  • Vocational Education and Training International Engagement Strategy 2025 ​