The Motivation Behind Our Research into Graduate Programs and Immigration

When Dr. Aparna Vashisht-Rota first established August Network 5 years ago, she did so from a strong background in graduate program research. Her passion for innovation and desire to improve the experiences of her clients led her to establish August Education Group, an independent institute where academia and praxis find connection, relevancy, and accountability. Through August Network's active role as a consulting group in the higher education field, we have been able to listen to firsthand international student experiences. It is from this place of listening to our clients that we notice patterns which then guide our research design into more focused questions.

 

Our most recent survey, about international student experiences with graduate programs and visa processes, stems from the common criticism that traditional graduate school curriculum, such as those modeled by top-tier MBA programs are too theoretical and don't have enough practical experience (Rubin & Dierdorff, 2013). We propose that normalizing the addition of work study options to these programs would serve as a viable solution, especially favorable to international students who's overall interest US-based MBA programs has been declining in recent years (GMAC, 2019). Dr. Rota's own thesis focused on the impact of reputation and other institutional resources on graduate program portfolio.

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In order to gather data on the potential efficacy of this proposed model, we have designed a survey which focuses on international students that have completed their graduate programs, are on OPT, and have not yet received an H-1B visa. We are interested in documenting international student experiences with CPT at the graduate level, either as first-time master's students or double master's students. We desire to compare and contrast these experiences with those of international students who chose to complete master's programs without CPT. Eligible participants will fall into one of these three categories and must have completed their studies at a US-based institution.

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If you have any questions about your participation eligibility, please contact us by filling out the form at the very bottom of the screen!