Show Notes

https://bordersless.com/business/edtech-cturtle-international-students/

Key Episode Themes:

•Lack of university engagement & support for international students.

•Poor employment outcomes abroad and at home as an international student.

•The lack of understanding of Asia by Australian businesses & academic leaders.

•The potential impacts of COVID-19.

•Vietnam as a destination for founders & startups.

About Cturtle

Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Shane Dillon founded Cturtle, an edtech data company and employment network for international graduates in 2016. It is a talent community for companies looking to connect with local candidates who are bi-lingual, cross cultural and educated at top universities in Australia, UK, USA, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.

With a network of over 1.3 million international alumni who have returned to ASEAN, Greater China and South Asia, Cturtle works with innovative universities to connect their international graduates with over 12,000 hiring managers across Asia. To find out more, please visit https://cturtle.co/ or feel free to add Shane on LinkedIn.

Episode Quote

"There's a lot of marketing and messaging around how studying in Australia would help your career, but very little support in actually delivering that promise. So we were overwhelmed by the demand from students and graduates."

Time Stamps

0:37 - Introduction to Cturtle & Shane Dillon

1:11 - Inspiration for starting Cturtle

2:17 - Why did you base yourself in Vietnam?

3:00 - Lack of support from Australian universities in regard to international alumni.

4:40 - Why have the universities been so poor in regards to this?

6:30 - International student's opinions of Australia as a destination for study.

7:40 - How does Australia compare to alternative education markets?

8:30 - What are the major employment barriers for students staying in Australia or returning home?

10:35 - How much data do you collect? What data do you collect?

12:05 - Potential Impact of COVID-19.

14:00 - Thoughts on the over-reliance of international students by Australian universities.

15:00 - Thoughts on the treatment of these students. Are they treated like cash cows?

16:15 - What can Australia universities do better?

18:05 - Lack of Asia understanding by Australians.

20:45 - Next economic opportunities for Australia: ASEAN.

21:50 - Australian brain drain, lack of long term planning.

23:05 - How does Australia rank compared to other markets?

24:30 - Why do international students get paid less than their counterparts that stayed at home?

26:00 - If that's the case, why do these students study abroad?

27:10 - Thoughts on Aussies studying and living abroad.

28:35 - Thoughts on entrepreneurship in Vietnam and SE Asia.

34:00 - Current status of Cturtle & UniAdvisor.

35:15 - What do international students typically study?

35:50 - Interesting statistics

37:15 - Thoughts on international student agents / recruiters.

40:30 - Increased competition from other universities.

41:20 - Australia should see students as assets rather than cash cows.

41:50 - How to contact Shane or find out more about Cturtle, final thoughts.