Brokers of international student mobility: The roles and processes of education agents in China

Abstract

The study on which this article reports explored the role of education agents in international student mobility, developing a better understanding of how they operate, behave and think when dealing with the admissions processes of universities overseas. The behaviours and reasoning, the modus operandi, and positioning of education agents are analysed using agency theory; specifically, the information-asymmetric relations that they have with the principals they serve. The context analysed was characterised by two types of admissions practices: (a) direct admissions to the university without the need for any preparatory courses and (b) dual admissions involving enrolment in the host universities' preparatory language centres before university enrolment proper. Students and their families are principals in both types of admissions processes, whereas universities overseas serve as a principal in the dual admissions process. The findings demonstrate a mix of transparent practices and those that border to unethical practices in international university admissions services, as well as student dependence on service providing agents who operate free from accountability. Agents are identified as a cog in the machine of international higher education, which increasingly works as a mechanism of socioeconomic reproduction.