Jenna Mittelmeier

I am a Senior Lecturer in International Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, where my research focuses broadly on the internationalization of higher education. I am particularly interested in practices with international students and their treatment within their universities and host societies. Within that, my work looks at how higher education curricula and pedagogies are shaped by internationalization and through teaching international students. My research takes a critical perspective against pervasive deficit narratives of international students, reflecting on issues of power, privilege, and ethics in intercultural classrooms.

Much of my recent work focuses on developing better research practices within the subfield of research with international students (i.e. research which includes international students as participants or co-researchers). I am the co-founder and lead organizer for the Research with International Students (RIS) network for scholars in this subfield. I was also the lead co-editor for our recently published book Research with International Students: Critical Conceptual and Methodological Considerations (available open access), alongside co-editors Sylvie Lomer and Kalyani Unkule. Our Research with International Students website is a regularly updated methodological resource for research practice. 

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 impacts of internationalization broadly on higher education
• Experiences and treatment of international students in higher education 
• Interculturally inclusive pedagogies and curricula in university classrooms
• Structural inequalities in practices with international students and other migrant groups
• Internationalization at a distance via online and distance technologies 
• 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 the MA International Education program, where I am the pathway lead for program's the Curriculum and Pedagogy pathway. I am course leader for the EDUC70732 unit: Internationalising the Curriculum.

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 my 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 who wish to begin a PhD program in autumn 2025 or later.

I supervise projects related to the internationalization of higher education and 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"