Emerging Talents? International Students Before and After Their Career Start in Denmark

Abstract

International students are seen as prospective skilled workers in the globalising competition for talent. However, little is known about the connections between international students' decisions to study abroad and their perspectives on continuing their career in the host country after graduation or subsequently settling there for a longer term. This paper addresses this research gap by examining international students' and graduates' perspectives on the study‐to‐work transition in Denmark. The analysis is based on interviews with international students enrolled in postgraduate science and technology programmes at universities in the Copenhagen metropolitan region and with recent international graduates who stayed on in Denmark as foreign workers after their studies. The paper considers how variegated combinations of personal factors and contextual circumstances have an impact on the ways in which individuals from diverse national backgrounds navigate through the study‐to‐work transition process. Denmark is a relatively new entrant into the global competition for talent. This makes it an interesting case of an evolving host‐country context where international students' status transition represents a challenging process, both for policy‐making and from the perspective of the individuals concerned. The results draw attention to the diversity of constraints and opportunities that shape individual student migrants' perspectives and trajectories. In conclusion, the paper contributes to a better understanding of the link between talent and student mobility by interweaving insights from compartmentalised bodies of literature, and by enriching empirical knowledge on the connection between factors that attract and retain international students in the host country. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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