This project focuses on the reception and retention in regions with low ethnocultural density of students who are called “international students.” Certain surveys carried out at ÉCOBES (Bikie Bi Nguema, Gallais, Gaudreault, Arbour & Murray, 2021; Galais, Bikie Bi Nguema, Parent, Turcotte & Roy, 2020; Blackburn, Bikie Bi Nguema, Gaudreault & Arbour, 2019) revealed that, for the international student population, having a better quality of life and finding a job after their studies is the main motivation that pushed students into a process of migration for studies. Indeed, finding a job would be one of the major elements pushing students in their decision to stay in a remote region with low ethnocultural density after their studies.
However, professionals upstream (director of studies, recruitment professionals) and downstream (reception and integration professionals) observe that international students have trouble finding employment. Some note that departments sometimes have difficulty placing international students for internships. Others say that employers seem reluctant to integrate international students, because they are not, among other things, sensitized or trained to accommodate these students.

The study conducted in 2019 by ÉCOBES in collaboration with Ville de Saguenay (Blackburn, Bikie Bi Nguema, Gaudreault and Arbour, 2019) highlights the need for strategies or practices to bring employers and students closer together by setting up, for example, various actions such as a mentoring program within the framework of exploratory stays in companies. The effectiveness of such measures cannot be guaranteed if they do not take into account the point of view of employers with regard to the integration and job retention of graduates from the international student population. Is it therefore necessary to ask how employers perceive international students within their company?

This project aims to meet the needs expressed by the Cégep de Matane and its partners in terms of retaining graduates in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region and more particularly in the La Matanie RCM. Two objectives are pursued as part of this project:
• Document the perceptions of employers in the territory towards young graduates who come from abroad
• Identify the difficulties and support needs encountered with regard to hiring, integration and retention of these youth from college.