Should I Stay or Should I Go? An Analysis of the Determinants of Intra‐European Student Mobility

Abstract

In recent years, organised student mobility within the European space has increasingly caught the interest of scholarly researchers. As the focus of most research projects has been on the outcome of mobility programmes, studies into the determinants of credit student mobility remain rather focused on individual decisionmaking. However, in order to gain a more profound understanding of how students' motivations to participate in international mobility programmes are shaped, we have to go a step further. Therefore, in this paper, we present a study into the determinants of intraEuropean student mobility, conducted in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Poland, and UK, taking into account students' personal background and motivations. The results are based on an online survey (n = 5654) and in-depth interviews and focus groups with non-mobile as well as ex-mobile students (n = 71). The results show that mobility decisions are socially and biographically embedded. Moreover, we provide evidence that the decision to spend a study period abroad cannot be fully understood without taking into consideration the macroeconomic context.

The early career paths of UK-educated intra-European mobile graduates

“…Van Mol and Timmerman (2013) found that the prestige of foreign HEIs is rated less by UK students in comparison with their European counterparts.…”

UK policy discourses and international student mobility: the deterrence and subjectification of international students

“…ISM policies also operate within this frame, for example, through branding initiatives such as EduCanada (Geddie 2015) which seek to change perceptions of destinations, or through the provision of financial support (Van Mol and Timmerman 2014). However, the 'push-pull model' is a limiting analytical framework (Raghuram 2013) as it cannot account for the discursive effects of policy on students or how these discourses may be internalised (Marginson 2014a).…”

“…However, the 'push-pull model' is a limiting analytical framework (Raghuram 2013) as it cannot account for the discursive effects of policy on students or how these discourses may be internalised (Marginson 2014a). Fundamentally, the push-pull model is based on an understanding of international HE as a market and the student as a rational economic actor (Van Mol and Timmerman 2014). It depoliticises international education, placing agency in the student as consumer and eliding historical and geographical factors (Sidhu 2006).…”

Untitled

“…Student migration flows are directed towards not only large cities but also university centers that are sometimes far from metropolitan areas [Cooke, Boyle, 2011]; this is how migration of youth differs from migration of other age groups [Dustmann, Glitz, 2011;Van Mol, Timmerman, 2014]. The quality and reputation of a university plays the critical role in the complex process of shaping high school graduate migration flows [Abbott, Schmid, 1975;Agasisti, Dal Bianco, 2007;Ciriaci, 2014].…”