Podcast Summary

Overview of the Episode

In this episode of the New Books Network (New Books in Korean Studies), host Leslie Hickman interviews Dr. Stephanie K. Kim about her award-winning book, "Constructing Student Mobility: How Universities Recruit Students and Shape Pathways between Berkeley and Seoul" (MIT Press, 2023). Dr. Kim, an Associate Professor and Faculty Director at Georgetown University, shares her insights on how universities shape international student flows—particularly between UC Berkeley and Yonsei University in Seoul—through recruitment practices, institutional policies, and the creation of global education markets. Together, they address the nuanced realities behind international student mobility, the myths of the “wealthy globetrotter,” and the complex networks underpinning global higher education.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dr. Kim’s Background and Motivation

• Immersive Fieldwork Experience
  Dr. Kim explains that her research stems from over a decade of involvement with higher education institutions, ranging from her doctoral research at UCLA and fieldwork at Yonsei University as a Fulbright Scholar to administrative and research roles at UC Berkeley.
  “It really is... a journey of basically studying, working within and just being immersed in the day to day life of these different campuses that I have profiled in the book.” (02:16, Dr. Kim)

• Choice of Universities: UC Berkeley and Yonsei University
  UC Berkeley was chosen not only for practical reasons (Dr. Kim’s employment and access) but also due to its prominence as a top destination for international students and the tensions surrounding access, equity, and perceptions of international students among the public and the university itself. “At the time... there are all these tensions around who gets in... International students were supposedly taking seats from California students. And so I was very interested in understanding the international student experience at a campus... that experienced this very rapid influx of international students.” (03:26, Dr. Kim)

  Yonsei University was chosen as a comparative case because it positioned itself as South Korea’s most “global” university through the creation of the Underwood International College, targeting both inbound international students and retention of Korean students tempted by overseas study.
  “Yonsei started this international college, presumably to recruit more international students... South Korea historically has been a major sending country of international students. But this endeavor tried to do something a bit different by bringing in international students.” (03:26, Dr. Kim)

Growth and Change in International Student Populations

• Rising International Undergraduate Enrollment in California
  The episode discusses how, after the 2008-09 recession, California universities lost significant funding, leading the UC system to aggressively recruit international undergraduates as a revenue source.
  “The UC system... lost over $800 million of funding in a single year... So with that extreme and very abrupt budget cut, the UC system started to turn to international students, not necessarily as sources of talent, but as sources of revenue.” (08:57, Dr. Kim)

  An example: International students as a share of UCLA’s incoming class rose from 3% in 2009 to 18% by 2012. (08:57, Dr. Kim)

• Quota Systems and Backlash
  Tensions from local communities led to caps on international (non-California) student enrollments at UC campuses. “A lot of these caps were implemented in response to this public backlash against international students supposedly taking seats away from California students.” (11:34, Dr. Kim)

• South Korea’s Demographic Crisis and University Reforms
  South Korean universities, facing a shrinkage in domestic college-age populations (“birth dearth”), relaxed quotas, increased programs in English, recruited international faculty, and offered more scholarships to attract international students. Simultaneously, these “internationalization” efforts helped retain Korean students who might have otherwise studied abroad. “There’s birth dearth in South Korea, lowest fertility rate in the world... So beginning in the mid-2000s, the South Korean government established a number of different policies that would ultimately attract international students.” (12:38, Dr. Kim)

The Realities Behind International Student Choices

• Contesting the “Wealthy Globetrotter” Narrative
  Through empathetic storytelling, Dr. Kim shows that Korean students’ decisions are often responses to constrained opportunity structures, not pure privilege. Key examples:

  • Jihoon: Had initial advantages but stumbled in the rigid Korean system. U.S. study became a “form of redemption.”
    “When you look at a case like Jihoon... study abroad as this form of redemption. He was pushed out of these very rigid South Korean educational tracks... and he found this second chance in California.” (16:04, Dr. Kim)

  • Tae Ho: First-generation college student, limited English skills, learned of U.S. community college pathways during military service, worked persistently to achieve educational success. “For someone like Tae Ho, really, I see study abroad as a way of pursuing this promising educational opportunity that he didn't necessarily have in South Korea.” (16:04, Dr. Kim)

  “Both these examples really puncture the stereotype of those rich international students as these wealthy globetrotters...” (16:04, Dr. Kim)

• Impact of Stereotypes on Student Experiences Students are affected by assumptions about their wealth and intentions; both Leslie and Dr. Kim acknowledge the reality and impact of such stereotypes. “I think it can certainly degrade the students... it sort of makes the students seem like they're not... that they didn't work as hard to be here. They're just playing around.” (24:20, Leslie Hickman)

The Global Student Supply Chain

• Marketization of Student Recruitment
  Dr. Kim details an experimental chapter mapping the “global student supply chain”: a web of actors (agents, consultants, schools, recruiters, government bodies) mediating student mobility across borders.

  “At the center of this much larger global higher education industry, you have... education agents... They help students with applications... They also provide services to colleges and universities.” (25:52, Dr. Kim)

  • Agents or consultants receive commissions from enrolling students, sometimes up to 15% of a student’s first year tuition.
  • High schools (feeder schools) bolster their own status by sending students to elite overseas universities, even without formal partnerships.

  “All of these different entities, they form this, what I call the global student supply chain, which ultimately sorts students in one direction or another based on market demands.” (32:22, Dr. Kim)

Consequences of Recruitment Practices

• How Universities Shape Student Sensibilities & Intra-Group Distinctions
  The very logic and rhetoric of recruitment—economic and prestige-based—shapes not only public perceptions but how students see themselves and one another.

  • At UC Berkeley, international students internalize the view that they are valued only for the tuition revenue they generate.
  • Intra-group distinctions emerge even within the Korean international student community, with students drawing lines between “rich internationals” and others based on backgrounds and admissions paths.
  • Similar dynamics play out at Yonsei: most of the so-called “international” students at Underwood International College are actually South Korean citizens with global experiences. Tensions arise around who is “legitimately” international.

  “How universities go about recruiting international students profoundly shapes their student experience on campus... this stereotype emerged all over, but particularly in the UC system that international students are ultimately valued for the dividends that they bring in... that also became internalized by the international students themselves.” (35:00, Dr. Kim)

Looking Forward: The Future of Student Mobility

• Diversifying Destinations and New Markets
  Dr. Kim notes the growing number of Korean students going to China (mostly for short-term study) and Canada/Europe, but U.S. degrees remain most attractive for degree-seekers.
  She predicts a shift in the definition of the “international student”—from young and mobile to older, working, and more settled populations, especially with the acceptance of online education since COVID-19.
  “I'm seeing more effort around capturing this older, more settled student population as, as newly formed international student markets... It's actually creating new student markets that didn't previously exist because they weren't previously recognized as such.” (43:06, Dr. Kim)

• Continued Expansion in South Korea
  Yonsei and other universities expand English-taught offerings and participate in government efforts to dramatically increase the number of international students (e.g., the new “300k” initiative).

  “Yonsei in particular has put in a lot of effort to... make a welcoming environment for these students. So increasing its proportion of courses taught in English... and I think it just shows the increasing popularity for, of Korean, for whatever reason, whether that's K pop or any, any other reason at all.” (46:35, Dr. Kim)

Final Takeaways

• Universities’ Flexibility and Responsibility
  Dr. Kim urges a reevaluation of who “international students” are, and calls for universities to take greater responsibility for supporting the students they actively recruit. “There should be a reconsideration of who international students are, that they're not these rich globetrotters who have unlimited opportunities and are only valued for their tuition dollars... if universities are indeed actively recruiting international students... they also have a responsibility to best serve their needs.” (49:31, Dr. Kim)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It really is... a journey of basically studying, working within and just being immersed in the day to day life of these different campuses that I have profiled in the book.”
  — Dr. Kim (02:16)

• “After the Great Recession... the UC system started to turn to international students, not necessarily as sources of talent, but as sources of revenue.”
  — Dr. Kim (08:57)

• “When you look at a case like Jihoon... study abroad as this form of redemption.”
  — Dr. Kim (16:04)

• “Both these examples really puncture the stereotype of those rich international students as these wealthy globetrotters...”
  — Dr. Kim (16:04)

• “All of these different entities... form this, what I call the global student supply chain, which ultimately sorts students in one direction or another based on market demands.”
  — Dr. Kim (32:22)

• “This stereotype... that international students are ultimately valued for the dividends that they bring in... also became internalized by the international students themselves.”
  — Dr. Kim (35:00)

• “There should be a reconsideration of who international students are... They are there because universities recruited them, and they have the same hopes and anxieties as any other student.”
  — Dr. Kim (49:31)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Dr. Kim’s background – 01:13–03:06
• Why Berkeley & Yonsei? – 03:06–08:26
• Growth of International Students in California – 08:26–12:22
• South Korea’s university reforms – 12:22–15:37
• Contradictions of choice for Korean students – 15:37–24:20
• The global student supply chain – 25:37–33:08
• Consequences of recruitment & student identities – 33:08–41:20
• Future of student mobility – 43:06–46:35
• Experience of incoming international students to Korea – 46:35–49:24
• Dr. Kim’s hoped takeaways – 49:24–51:08
• Closing remarks & upcoming projects – 51:08–52:51

Conclusion

This episode delivers a compelling look at the institutional logic, global markets, and lived realities that underlie international student mobility between South Korea and the United States. Dr. Kim’s research disrupts simplistic narratives, demonstrates the flexible—and often entrepreneurial—nature of universities, and pleads for a more nuanced, humane understanding of today’s international student.

Listeners will leave with a richer understanding of the invisible infrastructure of student mobility and a sense of how global education is being both shaped by and shaping the dreams and possibilities of students around the world.