Working Paper #2020-031
International student mobility decision-making in a European context
This paper contributes to existing theoretical and empirical
understandings of international student mobility (ISM) decision-making.
Drawing on interview and focus group data from 115 current and former
'student migrants' in the EU (from both EU and non-EU countries of
origin), it provides an in-depth, international comparative analysis of
ISM decision-making. It addresses three questions: 1) What motivates the
decision to study abroad in the EU, and how do these motivations vary
across different countries of origin?; 2) How does the decision to study
abroad relate to the student's initial aspirations (i.e. formed prior to
starting their foreign study programme) regarding their post-study
(im)mobility?; and 3) How are post-study (im)mobility aspirations
(re)shaped over the course of the student's foreign study programme? The
relevance of existing theorisations of ISM decision-making is tested in
relation to student inflows from different countries of origin. The
results highlight the ways in which individual decisions to study abroad
do not necessarily align with a single decision-making model but are
rather often determined by multiple and interacting considerations. The
findings further existing knowledge on: 1) the ways in which
international student decision-making relate to the social, cultural,
economic and political environments in which these decisions are made;
and 2) how international student decision-making relates to the
student's broader and evolving life aspirations.
- Keywords
-
- Higher education
- migrant decision-making
- student mobility
- EU mobility
- JEL codes
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- F22
- I23
- 126
- J15
- J24
- J61
- O15
Cite this as
APA 7th ed.Dubow, T., Marchand, K., & Siegel, M. (2020). International student mobility decision-making in a European context (UNU-MERIT Working Paper No. 2020-031). UNU-MERIT. https://unu-merit.nl/publications/working-papers/abstract/?id=8542