International attractiveness of undergraduate and postgraduate studies: is scientific production a determining factor?

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to identify the influence of the scientific production of universities on their international demand. Specifically, we study whether the level of international demand, and the origin of this demand, is conditioned by the volume and quality of the scientific publications produced by Universities. In order to identify the influence of the volume of scientific production of the universities on their international demand, we have carried out various analyses of variance, using as a dependent variable the international demand and as an independent variable the volume of publications per professor and also the impact of these publications. According to the results obtained, some international demand variables present significant differences depending on the number of scientific publications per university professor. Furthermore, these results show that there are no significant differences in the international attractiveness of postgraduate studies according to the impact of the scientific output of the universities. Given these results, we cannot conclude that the quality of scientific production of the Universities is a determining factor in attracting students from other countries. This first study points to a necessary reorientation of the requirements on university teaching staff if the international attractiveness of Spanish universities needs to be increased.