International Student Recruitment and Support in Indonesia: A Systematic Review of Literature from 2012–2022

Abstract

The Republic of Indonesia has been a significant source country of international students worldwide yet data is scarce about local international students. Increasing international student numbers is in line with the country's strategic development goals yet growth has been limited over the last two decades despite government funding of both long/short-term mobility programs and changing global/regional student mobility trends. This review systematically analyzes 28 papers from 2012–2022 investigating international students in Indonesian higher education regarding recruitment and support via an inductive thematic analysis. Six themes emerged showing that research has focused on the overall scope, rationale, and high-level organizational challenges of internationalization with scholarship only occasionally investigating Indonesia's destination attractiveness or student-centric issues. Research on international students, in Indonesian or English, is nascent and policy/practice suggestions and avenues of future research are discussed.