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The recruitment of undergraduate students within English universities is of vital importance to both the academic success and the financial stability of the organisation. Despite the primacy of the task, there has been a dearth of research looking at related performance and how to ensure that the process is optimised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of variation both within a university and between different universities. The reliance that individual programmes and/or universities place on the Clearing process is key; given its uncertainty, resource demands and timing shortly before students take up their places.

The Nomogramma di Gandy diagrammatical approach utilises readily available data to analyse universities’ performance in recruiting students to different programmes, and the degree to which they each rely of the Clearing process. Inter-university performance was investigated on a whole-student intake basis for a sample of English universities, representative of type and region.

The study found that there were disparate patterns for the many programmes within the pilot university and also disparate patterns between different types of universities across England. Accordingly, universities should internally benchmark their programmes to inform both strategic and tactical decision-making. Similarly, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service benchmarking inter-university patterns could inform the overall sector.

The approach and findings provide lessons for analysing student recruitment which could be critical to universities’ academic and financial health, in an increasingly competitive environment.

This study investigated the usefulness of various communication means for providing university study information with prospective students before and during the pandemic for three consecutive academic years.

Students who had recently taken undergraduate program admission indicated how useful communication channels were in providing the information about university studying. Seven communication channels were examined: open/information day, admission talk, campus visit, education fair, admission website, social media and summer activities. The students were asked to complete an online survey at the beginning of an academic year. In the survey, they were asked to indicate the usefulness of each of the communication channels using a five-point Likert scale with the descriptors: 1 = not useful, 2 = slightly useful, 3 = somewhat useful, 4 = useful, 5 = very useful. If students did not have any usage experience with a communication channel, they were asked to choose “no experience.” There were 1798, 1735 and 1961 students at a university in Hong Kong participating in the study in academic years 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively.

The pandemic has transformed the landscape of the university's ways of marketing channels to communicate with prospective students. The top useful channel of information for students during the pandemic was admission website, followed by social media and then open/information day. Before the pandemic, open/information day was the most useful channel of information for students and then admission website; the least useful one was social media channel. Significant differences were revealed in the usefulness rating on open/information day and social media channel among the three academic years.

The findings facilitate educational managers to determine the appropriate marketing and recruitment strategies for connecting with prospective students under dynamic context in the era of new normal. They helped identify where to focus the marketing efforts to achieve the most impact in particular under budget constraints.

The purpose of this study was to investigate attractiveness of internship advertisements to the prospective applicants through the lens of employer branding. By giving attention to internship attractiveness, universities and companies expand current collaborations around internship provision to enhance student internship experiences, satisfaction and employment prospects and to foster long-term sustainability of internship programs.

The study used a mixed-methods design employing a concurrent triangulation strategy. The authors conducted a content analysis of 94 internship listings published in the largest Russian job portal, HeadHunter, and collected surveys from 274 prospective interns.

The study shows a mismatch between employer branding strategies and prospective interns' perceptions of employer attractiveness. Companies emphasize economic value and visual identity as well as functional attributes, while prospective interns prioritize development value and symbolic attributes. The findings suggest internship advertisements do not appeal to potential applicants.

The results are limited to business students from specific universities in Russia, so further research is needed to include students with different majors and from other countries. The study is also limited to advertisements available via a large online job portal. A comparative analysis of effectiveness of various communication channels for internship promotion could yield useful results.

Career center advisors, academic program directors and internship coordinators should work with company leaders, human resources and marketing decision-makers, and recruitment specialists to better understand interns' drivers of attraction and audit the internship advertisements. Employers could use the study results to strengthen recruiting messages and, hence, attractiveness of the employer brand to potential interns.

The study contributes by applying the employer branding theory to an understudied population of interns, hence providing new insights into internships as collaboration between universities and companies. By focusing on internship positions, which differ from full-time permanent positions across many aspects, including the positions' duration, pay, supervision and purpose, the study assists in understanding the distinct drivers of attraction of interns, which are missing from published research on the topic.

Analyses how the departments and schools of library and information studies (LIS) in the UK might contribute to continuing professional development (CPD). Looks at the diversity of the profession, outlines the changing natures of LIS professional education, and considers some areas for future professional training and development. Using the School of Information Studies, UCE, Birmingham, as a model, suggests that existing taught modules might be offered as part of a structured CPD programme.

Higher education environments have become increasingly competitive and institutions have to compete for students in the recruitment markets. With the introduction of student fees, it is hypothesised that potential applicants to HE will increasingly become consumerist. The research upon which this paper was based was aimed at finding out the factors students consider important in their decision making related to choice of university and courses of study.

Five sixth form schools and colleges in the Southampton University Partnership Scheme participated in the study. Three hundred and eighty seven students (186 male and 201 female) voluntarily participated. The study involved a survey questionnaire based on a 10 point Likert scale and included 35 university choice factors which students were to rank accordingly. It also included 10 items similarly ranked to identify factors influencing university subject or course choice. Simple descriptive statistics were used to identify the factors students consider most important in their choice and decision making.

Two key signals have been identified. First is that, students seem to be adopting a consumerist approach to their HE decision making. The importance attached to labour market motives in terms of employment and career prospects significantly outweigh those related to pursuing HE on the basis of subject interest and a love for the subject. Second is that as a result of this, students consider programme and price related issues as more important than other elements of universities marketing mix.

There are no claims for generalisability of findings from this research on account of the small sample of participants and the use of convenience sampling employed in the study. However, the findings generally support what is already known about factors influencing university choice and go beyond to show signals of change within the undergraduate recruitment market.

The findings have implications for university positioning in a diversifying recruitment market, and for a reconsideration of marketing and recruitment strategy at institutional levels.

The paper identifies signals of a changing undergraduate recruitment market and notes the implication this has on recruitment and marketing activities for institutions intending to position or reposition themselves in the highly competitive markets.

There is little research into small higher education institutions and international students’ choice in selecting these institutions. The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that influence international student choices in selecting a small institution. In particular, this study compares the differences between Chinese students and other international students in selecting an institution, specifically based on sources of information used, usefulness of the information, pull motivations, and reference groups/items.

This research study examined undergraduate international students at a small-sized Canadian higher education institution. “International students” were surveyed – as the total population included all students who are studying at the institution on a study permit or a temporary resident (visitor) visa. All full-time and part-time international students attending the institution were eligible to participate in the survey regardless of their faculty or major. For the sampling process, international students at the institution were intercepted on campus using convenient sampling and personal interview method to participate in the survey. In addition, students were invited within the classroom to volunteer to complete the survey. They were able to complete either a paper-based survey or an online survey by following a hyperlink.

Results indicate that international students considered “the university’s website” as the most used information source but perceived “direct communication from the institution” as the highest ranked usefulness of the information when selecting a small institution. Further, findings indicate that international student cohorts perceived “environmental cues and educational facilities” as the most important pull motivational factor and the institution itself as the reference that has the most significant influence on student decision making.

This study was conducted on students who were surveyed following their enrolment and attendance at the institution. Students were surveyed at various stages of their undergraduate studies. As a result, some of these responses may be several years from the actual decision of selecting an institution and student recall may not be accurately reflected. In addition, examining student decision making prior to, during, and immediately following their choice of institution would most likely create better information as student attitudes and perceptions would be recorded closer to the actual decision. In addition, given that these students are attending the institution their actual experience on-campus may have impacted their responses either positively or negatively.

This study provides insight into international student choice in choosing smaller institutions. These findings can support recruitment policy and strategy for international students and may assist in enhancing institutional performance.

The study reinforces the need for policy makers, institutional leaders and recruiters to understand motivations to pursue overseas studies and to ensure push, pull, and structural factors are aligned for successful student recruitment outcomes. While there is commonality among international student cohorts, there are also significant differences that need to be addressed by institutions and destinations for international students. These findings are presented from one small higher education institution in Canada.

This study created new knowledge regarding international student decision making in choosing to study at a small higher education institution. The study compared the key factors that influenced decision making and identified differences among Chinese students and other international students. There is little research into the international student decision making and small institutions. This study provides unique insight into international student choice and influences on their decision making.

Formal opportunities for psychology undergraduates to carry out research training are starting to emerge. In spite of the fact that such training programmes would have a high authentic learning component little is known of undergraduate expectations and attitudes towards such programmes. This paper aims to focus on the issues.

In total, 108 undergraduate participants were surveyed in two experiments that recorded both the prospective and retrospective attitudes towards research training participation. Questionnaires and focus groups were employed and the data were triangulated together to converge on an understanding of student expectations towards authentic learning programmes.

While psychology undergraduates expect to be trained in contemporary research techniques it is the sense of community development that is the prime motivator for participation.

The paper places these findings within the context of increasing the employability profile of the undergraduate cohort.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the findings from an exploratory research project investigating perspectives on the recruitment of work placement students among a diverse sample of employers in order to disentangle what constitutes student “employability” in the eyes of these employers.

The paper draws on data collected in 30 detailed qualitative interviews with managers responsible for the recruitment and selection of work placement students in a wide range of organisational settings.

The paper identifies multiple facets of employability that are the explicit or implicit focus of student recruitment and highlights the often subjective, unknowable and shifting criteria used to select among similar candidates for employment.

Despite the richness of the data, the restricted sample of managers interviewed limits the degree to which the findings can be generalised. It provides, however, a strong rationale for a greater focus in research and practice on the demand-side of the employability equation.

This paper presents a strong argument for a more nuanced understanding of how employers select among applicants to enable more effective student preparation for the labour market.

This paper contributes to the literature seeking to elucidate the range of factors that shape employment outcomes and, in doing so, adds to the political and academic discourse on employability, skills and the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in preparing students and graduates for the labour market.

A “critical case” approach is used to examine whether the recruitment practices and procedures advocated by social scientists within the personnel field are realised in practice. The “critical case” selected is the graduate recruitment known as the “milkround”, where “scientific techniques” in theory stand the best chance of being used. In practice a major discrepancy between theory and practice was found, which is explained in terms of the preoccupation with material and symbolic security that conditions the actions of personnel managers in competitively co‐ordinated employment establishments.

Aims to determine the nature of the criteria used in the selection of students for undergraduate courses and to establish the extent to which the academic and non‐academic qualities employed reflect and/or embrace those regarded as important by students’ subsequent employers. Considers findings from 25 in‐depth interviews with hotel and catering management UK undergraduate selectors representing 16 institutions, which provided sets of descriptors and an indication of the relative importances of the qualities sought. Concludes that there is little concordance between university admission officers’ and industrial employers’ selection criteria. Primarily, the former seek applicants whom they judge to be likely to complete the course successfully using academic measures, in contrast to the latter, who show a great interest in appropriate work experience and non‐academic qualities. Recommends that there should be better communication between undergraduate and industrial recruitment personnel concerning the “qualities that matter” in prospective students and industrial trainees and that, ideally, industrial representatives should have direct involvement in the recruitment of students to undergraduate courses.