ACTOR INTERACTION IN POLICY NETWORK THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

Abstract

— A total of 4.3 million students went outside of their country of origin for higher education in 2011. The increased international student mobility highlights the role of national higher education systems in hosting the international student population and ensuring their well – being throughout their study. This paper presents a network analysis of actor interaction in policy networks concerning international student management across four countries i.e. Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia. The extent of interaction between actors within each policy network informs on the locality to which pertinent intervention strategies should be implemented, consequently facilitating design of policies on international student management that could be implemented in support of the students’ academic, social and living experiences. Policies from the identified countries were coded and imported into Gephi in order to generate network maps which visualises the formally instituted interaction between actors in each policy. It was found that the universities, with various terms used in each document to represent them, are key actors responsable for providing optimal higher education experience to the international students. Each network map highlights the range of actors responsible and the range of interaction which exists among actors managing the international student population. It also shows the impact that one actor has on other actors within the network. Among all network maps analysed, the network map from New Zealand’s Code of Practice for Pastoral Care of International Students has the most number of actors responsible for with dynamic interactions between the actors. The network analysis is a novel approach in policy analysis which enables analysts to use a relational perspective to explain interactions independent of actors’ will, belief systems and values within a policy environment.