The University's Website as a Communication Channel for Attracting International Students from Central Asian Countries in the Context of the Soft Power Theory

The internationalization of education is closely related to the political, cultural, economic, and other activities of the country. In addition to other important factors, the soft power of the state can have an impact on foreign students. On the other hand, the system of higher education, along with other components, is itself an important element of the state's soft power. Students from Central Asian countries are the largest group of foreign students in Russia. Nevertheless, Russia has a number of competitors in the region; the competing countries also actively use the soft power tools. According to research works, one of the most effective channels of communication in the international promotion of a university is its website, which makes the analysis of this communication channel highly important, including in terms of the ability to spread the soft power of the state through its higher education system. The aim of the article is to compare the use of university websites as a channel of the “soft power” impact on foreign students from Central Asian countries. The authors of the article conducted a comparative analysis of the websites of universities in Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Turkey, South Korea, and Japan (N=30) with highest positions in international rankings and, accordingly, with the largest number of foreign students. The potential of the university website as a communication channel for attracting foreign students from Central Asia was assessed in terms of soft power. The presentation of information of both academic and non-academic nature was analyzed. Conclusions were drawn on the availability of information on the international environment; on the communication technologies used for spreading the soft power of the state through the higher education system; on the development of sections of the websites which are most important for attracting foreign students in general and from Central Asia in particular; on the quality of information of academic and non-academic nature; on the intention of universities to influence the target group of students from Central Asia through the website; on the quality of the information of academic and non-academic nature in a comparative context.

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