What About the Workers? Academic staff opinions about working with non‐UK postgraduate students in higher education

Substantial research already exists on the nature of the international student experience in UK higher education, but little work has been carried out into how this increase in their numbers is affecting academic faculty in terms of the problems and benefits created by their presence. This article seeks to address this issue by exploring the experience of academic staff in new universities (NUs) and colleges of higher education (CofHEs) when dealing with non‐UK postgraduate students. The internationalisation of UK higher education is discussed, and the findings of a small exploratory survey into staff attitudes at NUs and CofHEs are evaluated. The results point to a more positive staff reaction to non‐UK postgraduates on the part of CofHEs and a number of possible explanations for this finding are put forward.