The answer has come quickly and from all parts of the world as institutions and organisations throughout our sector have responded to the crisis.

Students in Ukraine

International students have figured prominently in the war in Ukraine. First and foremost, in the tens of thousands of foreign students in Ukraine, many from Africa and South Asia, that have struggled to find shelter or to evacuate since the Russian invasion began on 24 February. And most tragically in the deaths of at least two visiting students in the early days of the conflict.

As the war enters its third week, there are growing reports of students who are now being cut off from evacuation routes, and who are making desperate appeals for assistance. reported late last week that an estimated 1,200–1,500 international students were stranded in Sumy, a Ukrainian town near the Russian border.

Today they dropped the vacuum bomb in Sumy Region. Everyone from our hostel saw… It was a mushroom shaped explosion with a circular flash. Please evacuate us immediately from here.. more than 1000 Indians are waiting…

— Aashiq Hussain Sarkar (@AshiqHussainSar)

Some foreign governments have been scrambling to assist their students in evacuating. After criticism over its initially slow response, for example, the Chinese government arranged late last week to get Chinese students out of Ukraine and back to China.

Students in Russia

American and European universities, meanwhile, have been abruptly suspending or cancelling exchange programmes in Russia, and advising their students to leave the country as soon as possible. In a stark warning on 5 March, the advised American citizens: “Do not travel to Russia due to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine, the potential for harassment against US citizens by Russian government security officials, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist US citizens in Russia, COVID-19 and related entry restrictions, terrorism, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law. US citizens should depart Russia immediately.”

Those students, however, make up a relatively small proportion of the foreign students in Russia, most of which come from China, India, and from the former Soviet Republics, notably Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine.

Ukrainian and Russian students abroad

Any Ukrainian or Russian students currently studying abroad are also being profoundly affected by the war, and fresh financial concerns now loom over their continuing studies. With the collapse of the Russian rouble – which has so far lost half of its value –– and new limits on access to foreign exchange and international banking systems, many students will struggle to access funds and pay their school fees and living expenses.

Communities around the world are rallying to raise funds in relief of any affected students, and special relief measures are being putting in place in many institutions.

Other industry bodies have weighted in as well, including the US-based Institute of International Education (IIE), which has mobilised its existing relief funds in support of students in crisis. IIE has also established a special Ukraine-stream within its “to provide financial support to Ukrainian students studying at US colleges and universities.”

Shutting down academic ties

In a rather head-turning moment this week, the Russian Union of Rectors, a group representing more than 700 higher education executives, offered its endorsement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In a letter with nearly 180 signatories, representing some of the country’s top universities, the rectors said, “This is Russia’s decision to finally end the eight-year confrontation between Ukraine and Donbas, achieve the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine, and thereby protect itself from growing military threats…It is very important in these days to support our country, our army, which defends our security, to support our president, who, perhaps, made the most difficult, hard-won but necessary decision in his life.”

On 7 March, wrote to the Russian Union of Rectors (RUR) in response, and to sever ties with the group by suspending “a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between our respective organisations. This decision was taken in light of the RUR’s recent support for the invasion of Ukraine. In suspending the MOU, we outlined that we unequivocally condemn the invasion, and that following the RUR’s statement, we cannot maintain our links with the RUR at this time.”

The move follows a March 4 decision by the to suspend cooperation with Russian institutions and organisations in research, science, and innovation.

Opening doors to Ukrainian students and refugees

Meanwhile, a number of governments around the world, including the UK, Canada, and Ireland have all eased visa requirements for Ukrainians, allowing them to more easily acquire or extend visas or to change visa classes.

In a related development, the European Commission also activated its on 4 March. As the official announcement explains, “Temporary protection is an emergency mechanism which can be applied in cases of mass influx of persons and which aims to provide an immediate and collective (i.e. without the need for the examination of individual applications) protection to displaced persons who are not in a position to return to their country of origin. The objective is to alleviate pressure on national asylum systems and to allow displaced persons to enjoy harmonised rights across the EU. These rights include residence, access to the labour market and housing, medical assistance, and access to education for children.”

For additional background, please see:

• “Ukraine crisis: The struggle to evacuate international students“
• “A special statement about the war in Ukraine“

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With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family.

We convey our deepest condolences to the family.

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia)

India trying to get students to safety

India is by far the largest sender of international students to Ukraine; close to 20,000 Indians were studying there in 2019. The Indian embassy in Hungary has sent a team to the border post in Zohanyi to coordinate the evacuation of Indians from the country, working with the government of Hungary. In addition, reports the Business Standard, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv is “advising Indian students on how to reach the country’s western borders to reach Poland, Romania, or Hungary from where they can board Air India flights specially operated by the Indian government to reach India.”

As of 1 March, 1,396 Indian nationals have been flown back from Ukraine to India in six evacuation flights. However, a government source told that an Indian team “positioned in Belgorod, a Russian city about 70 kilometres (45 miles) away from the Ukrainian border … has been unable to evacuate citizens because of the fighting.”

Many Moroccan students still stranded

The families of Moroccan students have also pressed their government to help in evacuation efforts. There are 8,000 Moroccan students enrolled with Ukrainian universities, making them the second largest group of international students in the country after Indians.

The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced by the afternoon of 28 February, more than 1,500 Moroccan citizens had been evacuated from Ukraine: 720 made it Poland, 384 to Romania, 300 to Slovakia, and 130 to Hungary. Morocco’s foreign ministry says it “has dispatched twenty consular staff, including four former consul-generals, to support and assist the Moroccan embassies on the ground in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.”

Middle Eastern and North African students from countries other than Morocco (e.g., from Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq) are also in Ukraine, and the is reporting that some say that they cannot afford flights back home and so feel forced to stay.

Reports of racism

In distressing news, there are reports of African students facing racial discrimination as they try to cross the border into countries such as Poland; some border officials seem to be prioritising evacuees of European descent. African students are using the hashtag #AfricansinUkraine to describe the intolerable treatment they have been facing.

‘They said if you’re black, you should walk’

Nigerian student Jessica has kept in touch with us about her journey out of Ukraine. She is among the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the country, and one of many who have described facing racism at borders.

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica)

The African Union has issued a statement on these reports of racism, reminding governments that “all people have the right to cross borders during international conflict … “notwithstanding their nationality or racial identity.” The full statement can be read in the screen shot below.

Many international students in eastern Ukraine

Unfortunately, as points out, many of Ukraine’s best universities (including VN Karazin Kharkiv National University and the Kharkiv National Medical University) – host a substantial proportion of all international students in the country and these institutions are located in eastern Ukraine, where the most intense fighting is happening at the moment. Vishnu Mohan, an Indian student trapped in Kharkiv told Al Jazeera that, “The possibility of dying in college is the last thing on your mind when you apply to a university.”

US NGO working to evacuate students

Some organisations are working non-stop to help international students to get out of the country. For example, US-based NGO is already working to help over 4,000 students who have registered with their helpline, and they have another 400 students who are next in line. The NGO is organising the transportation of students to the closest border checkpoint, as well as providing food and other supplies for the journey. There is a monetary component to the work as well: Sewa has earmarked USD$10,000 to fund the relief effort and has launched a Facebook fundraising campaign.

Meanwhile, Sewa Europe, an independent partner organisation to Sewa in the US, and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) are joining forces on the ground now in ten Ukrainian cities to evacuate terrified people. On 26 February, the joint effort managed to move 150 students from Vinnitsa – a key target because it houses the headquarters for the Ukrainian Air Force – to Chernivsty in western Ukraine.

Ukraine’s economy will suffer greatly

On top of the horrendous human suffering that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing, it is also wreaking havoc on the Ukrainian economy, whose health in normal times is significantly buoyed by international students. Al Jazeera reports that international students’ spending makes up a bigger proportion of GDP in the Ukraine than in the US:

“Foreign students bring US$542 million in revenue to the country – which has a GDP of US$155 billion – or more than $3 of every $1,000. By comparison, international students contributed US$28.4 billion to the US economy of US$21 trillion in 2020-2021 – or less than $1.5 of every $1,000.”

In the face of those losses, the rest of the world is committing unprecedented funds to helping Ukrainians millions will go towards rebuilding economic infrastructure. It will be a long time, however, before Ukraine will be able to host international students within the country again, which is incredibly unfortunate given the success over the past few years that Ukrainian educators have had internationalising their campuses.

For additional background please see:

• “A special statement about the war in Ukraine”

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We send our thoughts and support to international students, educators, and agents in Ukraine. We wish strength to students’ parents, siblings, and friends all over the world who are so worried for them. More broadly, we pray for all Ukrainians, and we feel deep respect for the bravery of Russians protesting against the war despite the real possibility of arrest.

International education has played an important role in Ukraine, and in building links between Ukrainians and people around the world. As we speak, there are nearly 80,000 international students in Ukraine pursuing higher education degrees. They come from all over the world, especially from India, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Nigeria. They chose Ukraine for various reasons – affordability, quality of education, and yes, safety – safety that seemed a virtual guarantee until very recently. Their numbers have grown substantially over the past five years, as illustrated in the chart below.

As a result of the invasion, most of those international students are sheltering in basements, tunnels, parking lots, and underground subway systems – instead of classrooms among peers and educators equally committed to education and progress.

We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and we admire their incredible bravery.

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“The young people surveyed for this report will provide the engine for Ukraine’s prosperity and stability and are the cohort from which the future influencers and leaders of Ukraine will be drawn…the ‘next generation’ is increasingly becoming the ‘now generation’,” says the British Council. The cohort in view in the survey results is made up of Ukrainians aged 16 to 35. They responded to an online survey in late-2014, which was subsequently documented in a 2015 British Council report: .

The survey report reflects some of the same points we have observed in our recent coverage of Ukraine, including the clear international orientation of young Ukrainians and the continuing strong demand for study abroad.

While the country’s higher education capacity is not in doubt – with 800+ universities, colleges, and institutes, Ukraine has a “surfeit of supply” – the quality of programmes on offer is in question. Ambitious reforms are underway, as reflected in a major reform package brought forward by the government in July 2014, and they aim to bring Ukrainian universities into alignment with the Bologna Process (that is, with common European standards for higher education) and to also better address the recognition of foreign degrees. In the meantime, the British Council observes, “Younger generations see the sector as being rife with corruption.”

Questions about education at home and the desire to pursue opportunities abroad have helped fuel a steady increase in outbound Ukrainian students over the past decade. “Ukraine’s main resource is its people,” adds the report. “It continues to have a well-educated workforce, particularly with strengths in STEM subjects. It also has considerable drive and ambition amongst its young people who are very eager to learn and to improve their education level especially in the times of the crisis.”

UNESCO estimates that just under 40,000 Ukrainians were enrolled abroad in 2013, with most, at that point, heading for Russia, Poland, and Germany. As we noted last year, however, those preferences have naturally shifted since 2014. Poland and Germany reportedly remain very attractive to Ukrainian students, but interest has grown in the Czech Republic and, among English-speaking destinations, Canada now has a greater profile as well along with the traditional favourites of the US and UK.

Nearly six in ten survey respondents (56%) said that they want to study abroad, with most indicating that their motivation was to improve their English skills and to access a higher standard of education.

Motivations for Ukrainian students to study abroad. Source: British Council

Most respondents indicated the UK, USA, Germany, Poland, and Canada as their preferred study destinations. In terms of obstacles that prevent students from pursuing this interest: “Lack of money, not surprisingly, is the main obstacle to more people seeking to study overseas. Lack of English…is also a high barrier to studying abroad.”

Just over 40% of survey respondents rated their English skills as being at the pre-intermediate or intermediate level, with only 7% considering themselves to have advanced English skills. The British Council points out that this suggests a broad need for English skills upgrading among young professionals in Ukraine, and notes as well that Ukrainians are driven both by personal as well as professional interests in learning English, “A surprisingly high number, at 70%, wanted to improve their English for personal or social reasons (reading books, watching films, communicating), almost double the number who wanted to do so for employment prospects.”

There are some other recent indications of high demand for English study among young Ukrainians. For example, one of the most widely used language learning apps in the world, , has been especially widely adopted in Ukraine. noted recently that the number of people using Duolingo in Ukraine is roughly equivalent to the population of foreign language learners in the country’s schools and universities.

Partly on the strength of its survey findings, the British Council has recommended to both higher education institutions and language training providers that they expand their recruitment efforts in the Ukraine, and explore as well further opportunities for delivering online learning or transnational education programmes in the country.

For additional background, please see “From the field: Agent perspectives on the changing Ukrainian market” and “Ukraine: Education reforms and demand for study abroad continuing to take shape.”

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Our most recent update on Ukraine focused on an ambitious package of higher education reforms as well as how the country’s education system is operating under the current political and military crisis. Today, we add another perspective via video excerpts from two recent interviews with agents with long experience in the market.

Our first video segment below is with Oksana Almanova, the Director of Bell Group. As Ms Almanova points out, with the onset of what is essentially an undeclared military conflict with Russia in early 2014, the study abroad market in Ukraine shifted abruptly. In particular, students began to demonstrate a distinct preference for more affordable destinations, especially those in Europe. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic have emerged as more popular destinations, partly for reasons of price but also because of the relative ease with which Ukrainian students can acquire study visas.

“Parents want their kids to get a better future,” she says, but that future becomes more uncertain under the current political situation. Therefore, “the numbers [of students] are increasing, but the destinations, they change.”

Ms Almanova’s points are echoed in our second video segment below, this time with the Director of , Mariya Lunyak. Alekom-tour is more focused on the youth market, and on summer programmes in particular. “We still send lots of groups to the UK, the US, and Canada,” she says. “This year, we had more inquiries for summer schools that will have opportunity to show clients universities…colleges…to show them opportunities to study further abroad. Parents are more focused on that because the situation in the Ukraine is very unstable and parents are not sure what will be tomorrow.”

Ms Lunyak describes as well as general increase in interest for study abroad at all levels, including boarding schools and higher education. And she notes an increase in inquiries for some destinations, such as Canada, that offer stronger prospects for post-study work or even migration after graduation.

At the end of the day, Ms Lunyak sees this as a moment for educators to step up their recruiting efforts in the Ukraine. The demand is there first and foremost, she notes, and the market is open to new marketing strategies and especially for those institutions that are able to handle inquiries and student files quickly and efficiently.

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These are some of the key findings of a recent report from the European University Association (EUA). Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities is the latest in a series of survey reports from the EUA, and the first since 2010.

It gathers responses from 451 institutions representing 46 countries and with a combined student body of roughly 10 million. This, notes the report, represents “more than half of the 17 million students studying at EUA member institutions, or about a quarter of the student body enrolled in the institutions of the European Higher Education Area. However, this percentage rises to 38% of the student population if Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation are excluded from the sample due to their low response rates (the institutions that responded represented about 10% of the students in each of these countries).”

Student numbers on the up

Trends 2015 highlights the European Union’s commitment to educate at least 40% of 30-34 year-olds at degree level by 2020 – alongside an earlier research finding that 12 EU members had reached that level of higher education participation as of 2012 (relative to an EU average of 36% by that year). “Many countries in Europe,” the report adds, “have been interested in broadening participation and access to higher education.”

Perhaps it is therefore not surprising that 62% of survey respondents reported an increase in enrolment over the past five years with 42% reporting growth of more than 10% since 2010. In contrast, only 19% reported a decrease in student numbers with 9% indicating a decline of 10% or more.

“The largest enrolment gains are found in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey; smaller but still significant growth is expected in Austria, France, Germany, the Russian Federation and Ukraine,” adds the report. “The largest decreases are found in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia.”

This summary reflects a broader pattern of migration fueled in part by the prolonged economic crisis in Europe. The percentage of Europeans residing in another member state has been steadily increasing since 2010, resulting in two particularly notable flows of migrants from the south to the north, and, to an even greater extent, from the east to the west.

This reflects that economies in southern and eastern Europe have been more profoundly affected by the downturn, and this is indicated in the survey responses as well in that institutions in both regions reported greater impacts of economics and demographics on their current and future enrolment prospects.

“The weak economic outlook has been accompanied by an increase in youth unemployment in many parts of Europe,” adds Trends 2015. “It peaked at 50% in Spain and 60% in Greece in 2014 and was estimated to have reached five million across the European Union in August 2014.

This has prompted many governments, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD) to emphasise the need for closer links between universities and industry, to stress innovation policies and graduate employability.”

It has also, it would appear, contributed to an increasing demand for professional qualifications among European students. Nearly four in ten survey respondents (38%) reported increased demand over the last five years for studies leading to a professional degree in fields such as business, engineering, or law.

Internationalising the student body

Nearly all respondents indicated they have an internationalisation strategy in place: 50% have a specialised international strategy already, 8% intend to develop one, and 35% have incorporated internationalisation as an element of a broader institutional strategy.

Not surprisingly, most European universities cite the EU as the primary geographic target of their international activities, including exchange programmes, international recruitment, joint programmes, and other cross-border links. After the EU, Asia and the Americas are the next most-reported geographic targets.

The following chart provides a little more nuance for the earlier finding of increased enrolment for a majority of responding institutions. It highlights that 69% of European universities reported an increase in non-EU enrolment since 2010. Riding along with this, 64% also indicated an increase in enrolment by EU students. “The growth of international students, both EU and non-EU, is the most frequent change that has occurred,” adds the report, “notably in Austria, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey.”

The changing composition of the student body of European universities, 2010 to 2015. Source: European University Association

When asked what they felt most contributed to any increase in enrolment since 2010, respondents cited “stronger emphasis on widening access and participation” (41%), “international recruitment” (39%), and “changes in admissions policies” (28%) as the top factors.

Main reasons for increased enrolment since 2010. Source: European University Association

The report highlights a related research finding that expanded international recruitment has become an increasingly common response to the economic crisis for European universities, both as a means to increase revenue and diversify funding sources.

Trends 2015 acknowledges that expanded international recruitment may be linked to the possibility of recovering higher fees from non-EU students but notes as well that recruitment activity is on the rise even in countries without such fee differentials.

“The new economic reality – the economic crisis, youth unemployment, the requirements of the knowledge society, globalisation – has led to renewed and additional emphasis on increasing student participation,” concludes the report.

“The composition of the student body is changing as a result of institutional strategies, particularly due to the major efforts being undertaken to recruit international students from both EU and non-EU countries…Where drops in enrolments occur, they are attributed to demographic change and the students’ financial situation, especially in eastern and southern Europe.”

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The reforms are wide-ranging and include provisions that will bring Ukrainian universities into alignment with – that is, with common European standards for higher education – and also for the recognition of foreign degrees and faculty.

The new law is a distinct break from what has been a highly centralised system of higher education in the Ukraine. It provides for a simpler, more decentralised bureaucracy, and greater administrative and financial autonomy for higher education institutions. The reforms will also see that will enforce ministry-approved standards for higher education and have authority to approve the opening of all new degree programmes.

In one of the more dramatic (and immediate) signs of reform, in the year since the new legislation was passed, the Ukraine has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of universities operating within the country. The total number of universities has fallen from 802 to 317, with some having been closed and others converted to vocational education colleges. Still more are expected to close over the course of 2015, particularly as the government withdraws the operating licences of low-quality institutions.

Further reports late last year indicate that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science has developed a draft strategy to further reform the content and focus of higher education in the country. The draft plan, “A Strategy for the Reform of Higher Education to 2020”, calls for a reduction in the number of disciplines or specialisations taught at Ukrainian institutions, from roughly 150 today to between 60 and 80 by 2020.

This appears to be an attempt on the part of the ministry to achieve some efficiencies across the system and to bring academic programmes into better alignment with labour market requirements.

In a further reflection of the strong current of internationalisation running through many of the government’s reforms, the draft plan also calls for at least one foreign faculty member in every university department by 2020.

Education in conflict

Ukraine’s planned reforms are ambitious indeed. However, as University World News recently, “Ultimately, the reforms (including those in the fields of education and science) are being carried out in a climate of undeclared war between Russia and Ukraine – and at a time of economic recession and falling gross domestic product, or GDP.”

Both have placed obvious pressures on the government’s reform agenda, in terms of political focus and budget resources. They have also forced the Ukrainian government – to say nothing of individual institutions, , and families – to quickly adapt to a situation where part of the country is effectively under foreign control.

In early 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops to Crimea and to the Donbas region of Ukraine. On 18 March 2014, Russia formally annexed Crimea following a secession referendum, arguing that this was a rightful return of previously Russian territory to Russia. In spite of a series of cease-fire agreements, fighting continues to this day in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

The crisis has led the Ukrainian government to move or close a number of higher education institutions in the occupied or annexed regions. As of March 2015, roughly 26 academic institutions, including 16 universities, had been evacuated from combat-affected areas.

Following annexation, Crimean secondary education now falls under the purview of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. Senior students are permitted to take the Russian Unified State Examination for admission to Russian higher education institutions, and a new university, Crimea Federal University, has been established in the region following the 2014 merger of seven formerly separate institutions and research centres. The new university is recognised by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science.

For its part, Ukraine refuses to recognise the Russian Certificate for Complete General Secondary Education awarded to students in Crimea, although the same credential is recognised for students applying from other Russian territories.

Similarly, the Ukrainian government does not recognise the secondary school credentials from the separatist-controlled Donbas region. Students from the region who wish to apply for university admission in Ukraine must travel outside the Donbas and sit the Certificate of Complete General Secondary Education exams at a government-approved secondary school. Most higher education institutions, particularly those in separatist-controlled cities in the region (notably Donetsk and Luhansk), have now either been closed or moved. Those that continue to operate do so without any formal recognition from the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science.

This schism in the formerly unified higher education system within Ukraine has led to some additional student movement from the Crimea. University World News reports that 600 Crimean high school graduates took advantage of a special provision last year that allowed them to apply to Ukrainian universities , the EIT (External Independent Testing). Another 1,700 students transferred last year from Crimean institutions to universities elsewhere in the Ukraine.

Ukrainians studying abroad

We last reported on the Ukrainian study abroad market in 2013. UNESCO indicates that as many as 39,670 students from Ukraine studied abroad in 2012, the majority in Russia, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and the US. Aside from the obvious impact that the current Russian-Ukraine conflict will have had on bilateral mobility, it appears that student demand may also have shifted in other respects over the last two years.

The Ukrainian Association of International Education and Exchanges Agencies (AIEEA) reports that from 2012 to 2014 student demand was on the increase for higher education abroad, marking a notable change from the traditional emphasis on shorter-term camp, study tour, and exchange programmes for Ukrainian students.

The AIEEA notes as well that, in terms of referrals by its 15 member agencies, the current leading destinations for Ukrainian students are Poland, Canada, the UK, and the US – with association members reporting greater interest as well in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and France. Key areas of demand include business, computing science, and tourism.

With these emerging trends with respect to study abroad, and profound changes in higher education at home, the Ukrainian market is clearly on the edge of further, significant change. Its education system is becoming more open and aligned with international standards and perspectives, and this growing internationalisation will no doubt contribute further to student and faculty mobility in and out of the country in the years ahead.

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These are some of the findings of the Pew Research Center’s . The study updates a similar effort from 2013, which highlighted the strong levels of web usage and engagement for social and mobile users. The findings for the 2014 edition are drawn from in-person interviews with 36,619 people across 32 emerging and developing countries conducted from March 17 to June 5, 2014. The results for those 32 countries – including significant education markets such as China, India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, and Mexico – have been benchmarked against a related Pew Center telephone survey of 1,002 Americans, also conducted in 2014.

The study’s high-level findings provide a compact overview of Internet access in developing and emerging economies, along with important insights as to how people access and use the Internet in each country.

For example, the following graphic illustrates the percentage of the population in each country who access the Internet at least occasionally or own a smartphone (as smartphone users, practically speaking, are also Internet users).

Those who access the Internet at least occasionally or own a smartphone within the 32 countries in the 2014 Global Attitudes study. Source: Pew Research Center

Do some of those numbers look lower than you would expect? If so, it is probably because you spend a lot of time talking to students. The Pew study points out that Internet usage is highly concentrated within younger demographics in developing and emerging economies, particularly among those with a high school education or higher and particularly among those who can speak or read English.

The following table summarises the variances in Internet usage for these factors, and, as you will see, they are quite striking in some cases. (Please note that some table cells are left empty for some countries due to insufficient sample size for the characteristic in question.)

Internet usage by age, education, and English ability among the 32 countries in the 2014 Global Attitudes study. Source: Pew Research Center

These findings make intuitive sense in that the 18-to-34-year-old demographic came of age during a period of dramatic technological change, including the emergence of the Internet and the widespread adoption of mobile devices. In addition to these factors, and, as was the case in last year’s global survey, the 2014 study also finds a close correlation between Internet usage and income. Simply put, “Richer countries in terms of gross domestic product per capita have more Internet users among the adult population compared with poorer nations.”

Also echoing last year’s study, Pew finds that Internet users in developing and emerging economies are highly engaged socially. Staying in touch with friends and family and engagement with social media remain the leading ways in which they like to use the Internet.

This point reinforces an important aspect of communicating with secondary school and college-age Internet users: they are highly engaged socially and those social channels in turn are an important source of information and product or service recommendations. A recent post from NewBrand Analytics makes the point concisely:

“A study of millennials [that is, those born between 1980 and 2000] states that 95% of respondents say friends are their most credible source for information when making a purchase. Additionally, 98% are more likely to engage with posts by friends about a brand versus a post by the brand itself. Therefore, an effective method to get millennials loyal to your brand is to get other millennials talking online.”

Following on from the importance of this highly socialised exchange, Pew also finds that searching for more practical news and information is the next major category of Internet usage in developing and emerging economies. “For Internet users in emerging and developing nations, social relationships are a fundamental aspect of their interaction with the virtual world,” says the study. “Getting various types of information, such as political news, health information and government services, is the next tier of Internet use.”

What’s in your pocket?

The Pew report also has some important observations in terms of how users in developing and emerging economies access the Internet. It tracks usage and ownership of desktop computers from country to country but also smartphone and cell phone penetration as well.

The report notes, “Overall, a median of 38% across the 32 nations surveyed say they have a working computer in their household. In 11 countries, half or more own computers, including 78% in Russia – comparable to the 80% of Americans who say they have a computer in their household. Computer ownership is relatively high in a number of Latin American nations. Majorities in Chile (72%), Venezuela (61%), Argentina (58%) and Brazil (55%) have computers in their homes. Computer ownership rates are lowest in sub-Saharan African nations.”

The extent to which users in each country have reliable access to computers outside the home (e.g., at school or at work) is less clear. Leaving this aspect aside for a moment, we can see that computer ownership broadly correlates to national income levels and explains at least part of the relationship between Internet usage and income that we noted earlier.

Along that same line, cell phone ownership is much more common in the emerging and developing countries in the Pew survey. A median of 84% (across all 32 countries) own a cell phone of some kind. This compares to the US benchmark of 90% for cell phone ownership, and the survey finds a marked difference still between the penetration of more basic cell phones as opposed to smartphones. “Smartphones – and the mobile access to the Internet that they make possible in some locations – are not nearly as common as conventional cell phones. A median of only 24% say they own a cell phone that can access the Internet and applications.”

Percentage of 2014 Global Attitude respondents who own a smartphone or cell phone. Source: Pew Research Center

However, phone ownership again underscores the relationship between age and Internet usage. As with the broader correlation the study observes between these factors, smartphone ownership is also highly concentrated among younger users. “Young people (those under 35) are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to own an iPhone, BlackBerry, Android or other Internet-capable mobile phone,” says Pew.

Overall, the study makes an important point that broader statistics of Internet penetration and usage in developing and emerging economies have to be interpreted via some important filters, including age, education, English ability, and income. In an international education context, the high school and college-age prospects that educators and agents are mainly trying to reach are among the heaviest users of web and mobile technologies. In this sense, the findings of the 2014 Pew study will only reinforce the importance of the Internet, and the social and mobile web in particular, as a key channel for reaching and engaging prospective students.

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