Thailand, the forgotten market for international student recruitment? A qualitative study into the strategies of regional Australian universities

Article

Chin, Daniel, van der Laan, Luke and Surachartkumtonkun, Jiraporn. 2024. "Thailand, the forgotten market for international student recruitment? A qualitative study into the strategies of regional Australian universities." Journal of International Education in Business. 17 (2), pp. 265-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-09-2023-0066
Article Title

Thailand, the forgotten market for international student recruitment? A qualitative study into the strategies of regional Australian universities

ERA Journal ID40300
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsChin, Daniel, van der Laan, Luke and Surachartkumtonkun, Jiraporn
Journal TitleJournal of International Education in Business
Journal Citation17 (2), pp. 265-282
Number of Pages18
Year2024
PublisherEmerald
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN1836-3261
2046-469X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-09-2023-0066
Web Address (URL)https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JIEB-09-2023-0066/full/html
Abstract

Purpose
This study aims to explore how student recruitment practitioners at regional Australian universities strategise student recruitment efforts in Thailand. There is scarce research addressing regional universities, with prior studies focusing on metropolitan universities. Similarly, most prior studies have focused on high-volume markets, with little research exploring emerging markets such as Thailand.

Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with student recruitment practitioners from regional universities that were responsible for recruiting Thai students. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key themes.

Findings
Regional universities lack strategic ambidexterity in their approach to recruiting international students. They viewed Thailand as requiring longer term investment and were unwilling to dedicate their limited resources towards developing this market at the expense of other markets that would yield enrolments to contribute towards short-term targets.

Practical implications
Implications are provided with relevance to the student recruitment practitioner, with strategic ambidexterity discussed.

Originality/value
The paper fills a gap in the research by exploring international student recruitment and contextualising both regional universities and Thailand as a recruitment market. This study provides useful considerations that may be relevant to other emerging markets.

KeywordsInternational students; regional Australia; universities ; Thailand; marketing; recruitment; strategic ambidexterity
Related Output
Is part ofMarketing and recruitment strategies used by regional Australian universities in Thailand: a mixed methods study investigating their influence on Thai students’ decision to enrol
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020350706. International business
Public Notes

File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author/creator.

This article is part of a UniSQ Thesis by publication. See Related Output.

Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Southern Queensland
Griffith University
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