International Students and Scholars in the United States: Coming from Abroad

International Students and Scholars in the United States: Coming From Abroad Alberts, H. C., & Hazen, H. D. (Eds.) (2013). International students and scholars in the United States: Coming from abroad. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. 235 pp. ISBN: 978-1-137-02446-6International students and scholars in the United States: Coming from abroad is a well-written, well-researched, and well-timed monograph. In pursuit of higher education, international students have continued to attend colleges and universities in the United States of America in spite of the educational, emotional, and cultural issues. According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), 723, 277 international students and more than 115,000 international scholars matriculated in American colleges and universities in 2010/2011 (pp. 4-9). The editors, Heike Alberts and Helen Hazen, have not only provided readers with an opportunity to learn about international students and scholars from Asia, Africa, and Europe but have also addressed critical issues faced by the international students and scholars in the United States. What is more momentous about this volume is the contribution of different authors who were international students once and who represent various countries in the world.The first part of the book, which is appropriately titled, "Migration Patterns and Experiences," consists of four chapters along with the introduction. In chapter two, Russell King, Allan Findlay, Jill Ahrens, and Alistair Geddes look at what motivates British students to attend American institutions. What are their career goals? How would they rate their experiences in the United States? The findings illustrate that the main reasons British students pursue higher studies in the United States are because it is an adventure, it provides them with a "world-class education" and US degrees are considered valuable, which reinforces their career goals (p.29). Largely, the overwhelming majority of the participants reported to having positive experiences in the USA.In chapter three, Wan Yu explores the concepts of Brain Drain, Brain Gain and Brain Circulation in the context of China, the most sought after country in recruiting international students. Yu points out that after graduation, many Chinese international students are returning home. However, upon their return, finding appropriate job placement for these international migrants has not been an easy task. Yu argues that even though China is losing many of its students to the United States, it is gaining back its students as educated professionals. Thus, these occurrences are neither a Brain Drain nor a Brain Gain. In fact, it is Brain Circulation because both host country and home country benefit from this migration; the host country benefits financially, and the home country benefits educationally.In chapter four, Helen Hazen and Heike Alberts consider what factors influence international students to come to USA and to return to their home countries. How long do the students plan to stay in the United States? By using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, Hazen and Alberts learn that international students come to the USA because American institutions not only provide educational opportunities and quality education but also financially support their students. Although many of these participants thought they would return home upon graduation, they are now hesitant to return for various personal, economical, professional, political and cultural reasons.In chapter five, Heike Alberts studies German scholars' motivations and intentions to work and stay in the United States. Alberts conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 scholars via telephone. The author finds that what motivates German scholars to choose the United States over Germany are the opportunities provided by American institutions such as the tenure-track system, open and fair hiring procedures, good access to equipment and funding, and lastly a collegial, and nonhierarchical atmosphere. …