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Higher education has been positively linked with increased opportunity for women, including enhanced employability, increased migration, enriched cultural capital, and improved language skills. With the number of international students rising, understanding postdegree intentions is increasingly important for institutions, policy makers, and administrators. This qualitative study explored the postdegree intentions of female international undergraduate students at the Malaysian campus of an Australian university. In-depth interviews were conducted with students from a range of degree programs and data was studied using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that postdegree intentions were substantially influenced by other people and policies; a common aspiration was to balance career and family; postdegree intentions were not solely career-focused; and the students anticipated discrimination and inequality but were determined to successfully navigate these.

Increasingly, universities in developed countries are engaging in transnational education. Responsibilities and opportunities to exercise management and leadership in the provision of transnational education depend on the organisational model adopted and whether the academics involved are on home or international campuses. Models range from neocolonial control to transnational partnerships. In the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching study that informs this paper, good practice in allocation and exercise of management and leadership responsibilities was identified and recommendations developed. A balance was struck between the home institution's quality assurance obligations, which imply a high level of home-based control, and the value of a degree of local control to the commitment of local academics involved, to their career opportunities, and to the educational experiences of their students.