Jenna Mittelmeier

I am a Senior Lecturer in International Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, where I am the lead co-convenor of the Higher Education Research Group.

My research focuses broadly on the internationalization of higher education. I am particularly interested in practices with international students and their treatment across a broad range of structures: within universities, by host societies, through immigration policies and structures, and in the scholarly literature about them. I am also curious about the lifelong impact of international study and how institutions, classrooms, and societies are shaped through student mobilities. My research takes a critical perspective against pervasive deficit narratives of international students, reflecting on issues of power, privilege, and ethics in international higher education. 

I am the co-founder and lead organizer of Research with International Students (RIS), a scholarly organization for researchers who include international students as participants or co-researchers in their work. The organization seeks to deconstruct existing research practices and encourage more critical and ethical scholarly practices, building from our recently published book Research with International Students: Critical Conceptual and Methodological Considerations (available open access). Learn more at: www.researchintlstudents.com

I am also one of the founding Co-Editors of the Journal of Global Higher Education, an open access, independent, and scholarly-owned academic journal: www.jghe.org

My research interests focus broadly on the internationalization of higher education and the treatment of international students. However, my specific projects are varied and I approach my work through an interdisciplinary lens, as an education scholar who has previously studied or worked in disciplines such as sociology and human geography. 

My overarching research interests include:

• The roles and assumptions of internationalization and global engagement in higher education
• Ethical treatments of international students in higher education 
• Intercultural pedagogies and curricula in university classrooms
• Structural inequalities in practices with international students and other migrant groups
• The structural barriers of visas and other migration systems on higher education practices and experiences 
• Internationalization at a distance and educational immobilities via online and distance technologies 
• The intersections of internationalization and spatialities within university campuses

My research is informed through practice, as I started my career in an international student services office. I also identify as a migrant scholar and former international student, which shapes my lens towards this topic. 

I contribute to our MA International Education program, where I am the pathway lead for the Curriculum and Pedagogy pathway. I am also the course leader for the EDUC70732 (Internationalising the Curriculum) and EDUC60011 (Engaging with Education Research).

I am strongly interested in staff development for working in international and intercultural teaching contexts. I co-lead with Sylvie Lomer the EDUC63241 course unit (Internationalisation of Higher Education) on the PGCert in Higher Education program. I also regularly work with departments around the UK and internationally to develop bespoke training for their staff about working ethically with international students. 

I recently completed a tenure as Associate Director for PhD Training in the School of Environment, Education, and Development (SEED), where I led researcher development training for PhD researchers across our school's five departments. I continue to have a keen interest in PhD support and training. 

Inquiries from prospective PhD researchers:
I am happy to read research proposals from prospective PhD researchers within my research interest areas. I supervise projects related to the internationalization of higher education and/or international students. I encourage potential PhD researchers to review our Research with International Students website and recently published book when developing their proposals. Please note that I only supervise projects which are critical in scope and purposefully seek to reject deficit narratives of international students. 

I currently supervise the following PhD colleagues:

• Luman Zhou: "Chinese international postgraduate students' conceptualisations of critical thinking through dissertation writing"
• Daian Huang: "Internationalisation abroad and at a distance: Comparing the transition experiences of international students studying at UK higher education institutions"
• Yilan Guo: "The social practice of silence in international students' multicultural group work experiences in the UK"
• Xiaolin Ma: "Class background and international students' international communities of practice in the UK"
• Luisa Lovering: "Assessing the intersectionality of internationalisation and diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education"

My completed supervisees include:

• Dr Bowen Zhang: "Making the best out of internationalisation: A case study of transnational higher education in China"
• Dr Ying Yang: "The role of education agents in the marketised international higher education sector"
• Dr Bukola Oyinloye: "Parents' perspectives and practices around the schooling of their children in rural Northern Nigeria"