Education: International students 'not trusted' in Welsh jobs

International students are turned away from Welsh jobs because they are "not trusted," according to one graduate.

Sherifat Abubakar, 33, spent her life savings to come to Wales for a Masters degree, but has failed to get a full-time job in healthcare.

BAME Mental Health (BMHS) said this was a common experience, resulting in a "brain drain" of talent.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said Wales still has "challenges and some bias".

In an annual survey by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), 50% of UK students who graduated from Welsh universities were in full time jobs 15 months after finishing their undergraduate degree.

But for international students, it was just 34%.

The gap does narrow for post-graduate students, but these latest figures come from students who graduated before the pandemic - the class of 2018-19 - and there are fears Covid could have made things worse.

Ms Abubakar left her five-year-old daughter in Nigeria in 2021 and paid £18,000 for her MSc in public health and health promotion at Swansea University.

She thought the degree would open the door to jobs in Wales but now she feels it "doesn't count" after being rejected from numerous jobs.

Like so many other international students, she is on a student visa which is dependant on getting a job.

She said she should have qualified for a Band 7 NHS job after her degree - starting from about £40,000 a year - but has even been turned away from Band 2 carer jobs, despite the demand.

It has left her wondering whether she will have to return to Nigeria without a job.

"The labour market is not very trusting of non-Welsh or non-UK experience, but I just want a chance to do something, to contribute," she said.

"I expected that if they need staff and I'm willing I should be able to get the job, but then I get turned down for no obvious reason and that's surprising and disappointing."

"Sometimes I have this thought 'what if it doesn't work out positively":[]}