New research has challenged perceptions of poor career outcomes among international students who settle in Australia.

An analysis of census data has found that overseas graduates¡¯ career trajectories have improved Down Under, with more foreign students moving into professional and skilled technical roles, while fewer end up as labourers, administrative staff or sales workers.

Around three-quarters of health graduates who remain in Australia move into professional roles, overwhelmingly in health fields, with another one-sixth working in community or personal care. Education graduates have similar outcomes, with some 60 per cent progressing into professional positions ¨C again, mostly as educators ¨C and about 20 per cent in community or personal care jobs.

Information technology produces less impressive results, with about one-third of international graduates ending up in professional posts and one-sixth in technical roles. But overall, career outcomes for foreign students compare favourably?with those of economically disadvantaged domestic undergraduates, with a similar proportion ending up as professionals and fewer as unskilled workers.

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Analyst Jon Chew concluded that international students achieved career trajectories ¡°not that different¡± from Australians or New Zealanders.

A recent Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) report found that too many overseas graduates were trapped in low-paid jobs in fields they had not trained for, partly because the disciplines they had studied were in low demand locally.

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Chew, chief insights officer at Navitas, said similar observations could be made of many locals. ¡°What exactly are we expecting the international graduates to achieve? Surely we can¡¯t expect every university graduate to end up in a professional job.¡±

His analysis was presented at the Australian International Education Conference in Canberra. It drew from the Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset, which links census statistics with figures on temporary visa holders.

It found that the number of foreigners on graduate visas had ballooned from 37,000 on 2016 census night to 89,000 in the 2021 count. Notwithstanding this growth, temporary graduates had achieved a more skilled profile, with a higher proportion of professionals and almost double the share of technicians.

The study has emerged amid a debate over whether Australia¡¯s skill needs should influence offerings to overseas students. One view is that international students should be able to study whatever interests them because most eventually go home.

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Some take the opposite view, particularly after JSA found that up to 40 per cent of overseas students achieved permanent residency ¨C far more than the oft-quoted figure of 16 per cent. ¡°Forty per cent is a very large percentage when you¡¯re talking about a very large number,¡± immigration expert Abul Rizvi observed.

JSA wants eligibility for post-study work rights linked more closely to Australia¡¯s skill needs. Proposed legislation would empower the education and skills ministers to cancel courses for international students on various grounds, including if they ¡°provide limited value to Australia¡¯s skills¡±.

Chew said it made ¡°sense¡± to consider international students and graduates through a prism of Australian skills needs, but not by restricting their options ¨C banning foreigners from Australian business courses, for example.

¡°People doing business degrees end up in all sorts of places,¡± he said. ¡°They contribute in different areas.¡± One example was project management, an area of persistent skill shortage in Australia.

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Many careers are not linear or predictable, Chew observed. ¡°There is no such thing as a perfect pathway to a perfect job.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com