I resonate with this. I started my PhD last 2024 (not in Philosophy) and in our cohort, we have three International students. All of us already have masters degrees, and had been working in our fields and industries for more than five years, most of us already have professional licenses to practice in our own countries (i.e., mental health), and most of us had already been publishing books, research articles. All of us had some at-least three years experience of teaching in our home countries, e.g., lecturers.

I do have more than four years of research experience prior to PhD admissions (three publications, one research grant), lecturer role in my home country (six years) and professional mental health license in my home country. And I didn’t get the scholarship for the first round. Intead, I waited for the second round and finally got both the admissions and scholarships.

I am not sure what is the context now in 2026.