Transnational migration and educational opportunities: A case study of migration from Brazil to Germany

Abstract

Based on a case study, this article discusses connections between educational inequality in Brazil, transnational migration and educational upward mobility. It analyses a young woman's migration from a favela in Brazil to Germany with a focus on the educational aspirations that motivated it, that is, as a case of educational migration . It describes the social trajectories of this young woman and her family and interprets them in the context of recent socio-economic developments in Brazil, thus showing how educational inequality can drive migration. The significance of networks, as well as of migration and educational regimes that shape this trajectory, are taken into account. The analysis aims to show how migrants from disadvantaged social backgrounds actively take part in the transnationalization of education.

Collecting migrants' Facebook posts: Accounting for ethical measures in a text-as-data approach

“…Finally, Brazilian migrants' fondness for social media groups is not new, as it has been reported already over a decade ago (Oosterbaan, 2010 ; Schrooten, 2012 ), nevertheless its uses for educational projects have not been studied. The paid VET programmes in Germany have the potential to attract migrants who are excluded from tertiary education in their countries of origin, as is the case of some Brazilians (Carnicer, 2019 ; Fürstenau, 2019 )—hence the choice to focus our research on Germany as a country of destination. As to the decision to focus on Brazilians, the best-described case of migrants from low-income backgrounds pursuing tertiary education in a European country seems to be that of Brazilians.…”

“…Transnational education (TNE) is more often approached in research about higher education; nevertheless, migrants from families with low income and low educational attainment are also actors in TNE. Fürstenau ( 2019 ) and Carnicer ( 2019 ) have described how Brazilian women from such backgrounds migrate to Germany first as Au Pairs, then complete VET (which is usually remunerated in Germany), and thereby secure both employment and stable residence status.…”

Migration and education on social media: what migrants discuss about education in Facebook groups

“…In 2017, only 31% of university graduates were Black or Brown, while 66% were white (Dias Silva, 2020 , p. 23). Some of the students who cannot enter or conclude university degrees in Brazil see migration as a way to both access tertiary education and have an opportunity for upward mobility (Carnicer, 2019 ; Fürstenau, 2019 ).…”

“…For aspiring nurses, the starting VET salary is around 1,166 Euros and, for an IT specialist in data and process analysis, the starting VET salary is 1,011 Euros (AUBI-plus, 2023 ). This salary is one of the conditions that enable young migrants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who are excluded from the educational system in Brazil to pursue VET in Germany (Carnicer, 2019 ; Fürstenau, 2019 ). As of 2022, around 4.2 thousand Brazilians were enrolled in German universities (Destatis, 2022 ).…”

Prospects for the Development of Educational Migration in the Russian Federation

“…According to the English scientist Carnicer J.A. (2019) in his work "transnational migration and educational opportunities: an example of migration from Brazil to Germany", the author shows how "migrants from disadvantaged social groups are actively involved in the transnationalization of education" [4].…”