A Comparison between Domestic and International Graduate Students on their Work Readiness at a Research University

Abstract

One critical issue in educational programs involves the extent to which graduates are ready to begin employment at program completion. Additionally, most research universities make deliberate efforts to enroll students from other countries.

An important question regarding the effectiveness of the programs in these universities is whether the international students have comparable preparation and “Work-Readiness” as the domestic students.

This study revealed that on several of the measures associated with “Work-Readiness“ international students had lower levels of “Readiness” than domestic students. Also, other differences were found in the groups on issues such as internship experiences and involvement in scholarly activities