I can think of only 1 reason to go for Int is when it is a high throughput system, where you are dealing with hundred thousand records daily which is rare is most cases and you want to save some memory and do faster comparion. I'd say to go for Strings. Strings are more readable and easier to deal with IMO.

Cons of INT

• not readable
• requires mental map of enums to int, suppose you working with 15 states of enum you need to know what 13 means when you debug/code
• requires parsing to string if it is exposed via API

Cons of String

• takes more space than INT