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This paper discusses the type of professional learning that international academic mobility makes possible during a PhD program. The conceptual approach used Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, which allows analyzing PhD students as 'newcomer' members who bet on mobility under the idea of "illusio." The methodology used was qualitative. The information was obtained through semi-structured interviews with twenty-four new researchers who studied in four prestigious PhD programs in education and history in Mexico. The findings demonstrate that mobility fosters relationships with peers abroad, makes it easier to learn to do research, favors the reconversion of capital within the scientific field, and offers practical knowledge related to the need to publish results in order to achieve international recognition.

The mobility of international students is a crucial tool for the European Union's goal of creating a unified European Higher Education Area. Despite the initial assumption that all European universities and students can benefit equally from cross-university study experiences, certain European regions have become disproportionately favored over time. This has resulted in specific geographical patterns, challenging the principles of equality and openness in the EU's higher education policy. To better understand these spatial effects and enhance the EU's mobility policy effectiveness, this research analyzes the network properties of Erasmus+, comparing it with traditional degree-seeking activities. Utilizing a modularity measure with data from the EU and UNESCO, the study reveals significant sub-regional variations in the Erasmus+ geographical network, posing challenges for policy implementation and limiting mobility alternatives.

This paper explored students' experiences in an international virtual student mobility (VSM) program at a Japanese national university implemented in collaboration with partner universities in the Asia Pacific region and Europe. Through students' narratives, the study discerned how students perceive "mobility" and the concept of "international students" after participating in a virtual student mobility program. Findings revealed a tension between students' understanding of "mobility," official narratives, and students' actual experiences. While VSM programs facilitate communication and knowledge exchange across borders and develop cross-cultural communications, prevailing binary definitions in student mobility, such as "inbound" vs. "outbound," "domestic" vs. "international," or "study abroad" vs. "internationalization at home," limit VSM potential to be fully realized. This misalignment of the traditional understanding of student mobility that emphasizes place and borders challenges the official narrative of student mobility and urges educators to re-align and re-frame how we understand "international students."

This paper offers a comparative analysis of internationalization policy between two distinct nations entrenched in unique sociopolitical and economic cultures, namely Japan and the United States of America (U.S.A.). How do different policymaking processes impact internationalization policy in practice? While Japan's internationalization policy is clearly articulated at the national level, the U.S. does not have a national higher education internationalization policy that emanates from the federal government. Therefore, in this study we analyzed macro-level data from three distinct policymaking sectors to identify U.S. national policy. Our analysis identifies the policy-making process in each nation and elucidates how internationalization policy unfolded in both cases. Second, we compare the development of higher education internationalization policy efforts in the two countries, sequencing events, factors, and rationales that impacted national policy. This approach allowed us to compare the implications of having a centralized versus a pluralistic internationalization policy-making process in the 2000s. Our research shows that, in practical terms, there is more variation in higher education internationalization policy in the U.S. than in Japan. In both countries, policy dynamics were influenced by social and economic factors, and political factors influenced policy in the U.S. An academic and humanitarian rationale for internationalization policy was not central to the essence of the policy in either country.

Using the pull-and-push model as a main theoretical framework, this qualitative interview-based study explores the changes in STEM students' intentions to pursue international mobility in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war and the factors related to students' mobility decisions in the context of geopolitical tensions. The findings suggest that in situations with military conflict, STEM students are 'pulled' and 'pushed' to make decisions under the influence of the factors located both on the receiving and domestic sides, and the decisions of whether to pursue international mobility were primarily driven by safety, financial, and social tension concerns. The study's findings offer some theoretical and practical implications of the changes in student mobility in the context of war conflict for higher education institutions internationally.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has significantly impacted the outbound student mobility of Russian students. This paper highlights and explains the positive role virtual student mobility can play in shaping and sustaining the international education aspirations of Russian students amidst the entangled geopolitical and financial crises. Drawing upon the Aspirations-Capabilities framework of migration, the notion of mobility capital, and different states of (im)mobility, the study analyses 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with Russian students who participated in various forms of virtual mobility in 2020-2023. The findings reveal that virtual mobility can bolster Russian students' capacity to aspire to international studies despite the mobility-suppressing climate by acting as a 'rite of passage' en route to international education, increasing language confidence, and challenging media portrayals of hostility towards Russian students. The richness of the virtual mobility experience in terms of communication with foreign teachers and students plays a key role in activating this affordance.

This article is a content analysis of peer-reviewed research publications from the years 2001 to 2022 to find the extent to which frequent relocation may affect the academic performance of military-connected students. There are many articles with a focus on civilian students that experience frequent residential and school mobility. However, to what extent has the extant literature focused on the military-connected student that also experiences frequent residential and school mobility? This article pays special attention to the current literature surrounding elementary-aged military-connected students. This article also examines areas of future research surrounding this group of students.

In the last three decades, there has been a rush towards internationalizing higher education. The international double/joint degree programs are one of the drivers of internationalisation activities. Many African universities have evolved to offer their students these opportunities for academic mobility. This study is a phenomenological understanding of the experiences of African students in Canada on exchange partnerships for international double/joint degree programs (IDDP), using Bourdieu's toolbox. The result shows a gap between the ideal expectations and the instrumental aspects of the programs. Students seem satisfied, despite the challenges faced by participating in these programs.

Research has widely documented the high stress levels posed to college students by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the role of social support in mitigating the mental health impacts of stressors like residential instability among college students is less well-researched. Using data from a multi-campus online survey of college students' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 2,486), this study examines the role of social support in the association between residential move during COVID-19 pandemic and college students' reports of depressive symptoms and anxiety. We tested whether perceived social support was more significantly related to depressive symptoms among students who moved in response to COVID-19. The results show significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and higher prevalence rates of severe anxiety among college students with COVID-19-related move relative to those who did not move during the pandemic. Irrespective of their residential status, college students who received less support than needed during the pandemic had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and higher odds of severe anxiety. The findings add to the existing studies showing how the COVID-19 pandemic compounds the problems of depression and anxiety among college students, particularly those experiencing residential instability and with limited social support.

The global imaginary contributes to the perpetuation of neo-colonial and neoliberal mentalities, which reinforce the political, cultural, and social dominance over international students. Through an exploration guided by interrelated theories of agency and transnational social fields, this study employs a narrative inquiry methodology with a constructivist research approach to comprehend and investigate the agency of international graduate students of Color amidst transnational mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic within a four-year public research institution in the United States. The research findings demonstrate that specific contexts and spaces shape the agency of international graduate students and (trans)form their present and future. This article reveals four distinct forms of agency: agency as negotiation in uncertainties, agency as resistance to forms of (neo)racism, agency for personal growth and (trans)formation, and agency within transnational futures.

How did the highly skilled Italians who chose to live abroad benefit from participation in the Erasmus program? How did they define and describe their experience with Erasmus, especially advantages and disadvantages? After conducting 51 semistructured and in-depth online interviews with highly skilled, spatially mobile, emigrant Italians, we used Atlas.ti to analyze each phrase, word, and context in which "Erasmus" appeared. More than two thirds of the interviewees had experienced the program, a substantial number of whom wanted to work in international environments and achieved their goals. A few returned to the city or country of their first Erasmus mobility experience. We argue that the mobility component of the Erasmus program provided the confidence required to be independent and the insight needed to make international comparisons. It also perpetuates the desire to travel abroad (to become spatially mobile) as participants sought additional international environments after the first Erasmus mobility experience, gaining additional self-confidence as a result.

This article explores the possibilities for decolonizing approaches to intercultural learning for international students in Canada. In this article the authors present the findings from a series of photovoice workshops conducted as a part of a larger mixed-methods project that explores how informal and everyday pedagogies shape international students' mobility decisions in the Atlantic Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Participants' collaborative analysis of their own photographs reveal how everyday citizenship learning emerges from international students' affective relationships to place in such a way that obscures how international education is implicated in processes of settler colonialism. However, evidence suggests that participants' sense of belonging is deeply implicated in their connections to place, highlighting potential opportunities for integrating international students in current initiatives to "decolonize" higher education in the Canadian context.

With more and more literature on international student mobility and migration (ISM), one area of focus has often been overlooked: the impacts of student visas and study permits. Examined through an institutionalist framework highlighting the influences of institutions on individuals and their agency, this study describes how visa and study permit policies pervades international students' lives in a variety of ways. Interview data collected from 40 international students who study in Australia, Canada, and the United States were analyzed to uncover themes from these host countries. Drawing on these interviews to outline the concept of ISM policy pervasion, the findings of this study show that visa policies affect international students in wide ranging ways. In addition to providing empirical evidence for ISM policy pervasion, this article also lays the groundwork for further studies that delve into the practical impacts of student visa and study permit policies around the world.

There is an increasing trend toward regionalization as higher education adapts to openness and globalization. In response, East African countries formed networks and partnerships that strengthened business, higher education, student and staff mobility, and research. This is because regionalization is embedded in East Africa's economy, politics, culture, and social norms. In addition, regionalization is influenced by internationalization and globalization. It promises development opportunities, although challenges are inevitable. This paper examines the contributions of regional student mobility to East Africa's development. We use neoliberal and world systems theories to illuminate the advantages and disadvantages of regionalizing higher education and explain how partner states can maximize opportunities and minimize challenges. Data was collected through convenience sampling of two hundred international students and two staff members in international students' offices. Data analysis revealed that the regionalization of East African higher education reflects historical power relations; it has benefits though founded on inequalities.

Background/purpose: While the existing literature explores the internalization of higher education, a significant gap remains in comprehending the motivations behind international students choosing Portuguese higher education. This study aims to address this gap by examining the motivations of a specific group within Portuguese universities: international students from Portuguese-speaking African countries. Materials/methods: The study was conducted with a qualitative approach using data obtained from biographical interviews with African Portuguese-speaking international students. The collected data were then analyzed according to content analysis. Results: The findings demonstrate that the students' motivations for studying at Portuguese higher education institutions varied. Their reasons include the international reputation of Portugal, the quality of its education, upon recommendation from family members, the Portuguese language, lower tuition fees compared to their home institutions, cultural proximity, scholarship opportunities, and the perception of Portugal as a safe country. Conclusion: Through an examination of the motivation of students from Portuguese-speaking African countries pursuing higher education in Portugal, this study provides fresh perspective on the existing literature concerning international student mobility. Opting to study in Portugal is seen as a chance for African students to access quality higher education and to obtain an academic degree with significant recognition in the country of origin, with anticipated positive impacts on the personal, social, and professional aspects of their lives.

To date, much of the research on international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) doctoral students has focused either on international academic mobility or on students' acculturation and adjustment challenges and coping mechanisms in foreign academic contexts. In comparison, very little attention has been paid to Asian doctoral students and their personal experiences from a life course perspective. Based on a qualitative literature review, this article sheds light on the experiences of Asian doctoral students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines within a life-course theoretical approach, paying particular attention to their agency, socialisation, and educational trajectories and transitions. The process of migration/mobility and transition between academic institutions requires a reassessment of cognitive patterns, behaviours, learning mechanisms, and the exercise of agency and response. The findings highlight how the complex dynamics between agency, socialisation, cultural norms and values, economic factors, academic performance, and institutional parameters influence the educational trajectories and transitions of Asian STEM doctoral students abroad. The result contributes to a synthesis of research findings that could inform doctoral education policy.

The expansion of student international mobility has been discussed increasingly with respect to concerns about social inequality. The outbreak of the COVID pandemic has exacerbated the risks of studying abroad. Due to the differences in the ability of students from different social backgrounds to cope with risks, the inequality of opportunities for studying abroad may further expand. Based on the survey of 1256 college graduates between January and March 2021, this study analyses the impact of family background on the choice of studying abroad under the background of the epidemic. The research shows that the inequality in transnational education participation has been intensified by the pandemic. Findings of mediation analysis suggested that family background has powerful influences on students' willingness to continue with their overseas study plan after the pandemic. It shapes students' decision on whether go abroad or not directly, via their mentality of the pandemic, and through their past educational choices (field of study) and attainment (university type). Our study provides a more nuanced understanding of the way how COVID pandemic affects students from different backgrounds.

In educational research, scales are often presented as the ontological reality of a study. This study problematises this starting point and suggests approaching scales as experienced and epistemically used. Thus, this study asks how international students studying at Finnish universities during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic negotiated their experiences using scales and scaling. The analysis was based on the responses (n = 84) to an open-ended question in an online survey. The survey was distributed in the spring of 2020 to international students studying in universities across Finland. We conducted an abductive analysis of how the international students employed scales in their reflections on their lives during the pandemic. Theoretically, we draw from the conceptualisation of scales, which we suggest provides an analytical lens for understanding subjective experiences, and rescaling, which students used in making sense of their experiences. We argue that international students made sense of their everyday lives during the pandemic through scales and rescaling, contributing to their sense of belonging and sense of (in)equality.

One issue that has received little attention is how students factor distance from home into their decisions about college. In this study, we used data from the Education Longitudinal Survey of 2002 (ELS:02) to examine the distances between a student's home and the colleges to which they applied, and how far from home they enrolled. We focused on how demand- and supply-side factors were related to the distances applied and enrolled. We tested the sensitivity of our findings to alternative ways of measuring the supply of postsecondary education within commuting distance, and identified factors associated with differences between a student's application and enrollment distances. Finally, we used quantile regression analysis to determine if the associations between demand- and supply-side factors and distances applied and enrolled varied along the distance distributions.

Scientific and technological development has brought greater demands for both general and skilled talents, which sets higher requirements for talent cultivation in higher education. As a vital component of higher education internationalization, international student mobility (ISM) is playing an increasingly important role in talent cultivation and supply. Using data from the Chinese National Graduate Sample Survey (CNGSS), this study explored whether ISM affects general and skilled talents' post-graduation decisions. Due to the substantial differences in the content and form of ISM, the heterogeneous effects of ISM duration and the host institution's ranking were further analyzed. The results showed that ISM helped general talents receive further education and helped skilled talents find employment. Furthermore, for general talents, short-term experiences had a greater impact on pursuing advanced education than long-term ISM, while for skilled talents, long-term experiences had a greater impact on finding employment.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Chinese cross-border students in Hong Kong to participate in online homeschooling for three years while local students attended face-to-face schooling when the situation released. Previous studies have explored the learning challenges or educational inequity among students in online learning during the pandemic. Limited studies explored the educational inequality between local students and cross-border students. To fill this gap, this study explored the extent of educational inequity between Hong Kong local students and Chinese cross-border students. It further investigated the elements that lead to educational inequity between these two groups of students and the long-term consequences of prolonged purely online learning for Chinese cross-border students. This study compared self-regulated learning, perceived academic achievement, and learning challenges between 35 cross-border students and 32 local students in Hong Kong primary schools. According to the questionnaire and open-ended opinion surveys, the findings showed significant evidence of educational inequity between these two groups of students. Through six teachers' semi-structured interviews, the study analyzed students' learning experiences and synthesized the elements contributing to the issue of educational inequity. The study attributed this inequity to infrastructure elements and stakeholder-related elements. Prolonged purely online learning has resulted in negative and positive effects. This study offers practical implications for the government to implement feasible policies to reduce educational inequity in cross-border education and for stakeholders to conduct effective measures to support young learners in the post-COVID world. Lastly, this study discusses the limitations and recommendations for future research.

International student mobility (ISM) prepares young people for the challenges of global and multicultural environments. However, disadvantaged students have lower participation rates in mobility schemes and, hence, benefit less from their positive impacts on career progression. Therefore, policymakers aim to make mobility programs more inclusive. Nevertheless, it is far from clear how policy design can achieve this aim. This study investigates factors driving inequality in international student mobility uptake. The study's novelty is twofold: first, in contrast to most existing studies it does not only investigate individual but also university characteristics as possible drivers of unequal uptake. This is possible due to the use of rich graduate survey and administrative data merged with university-level European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) data. Second, the study compares results across four European countries. Results show that the socio-economic mobility gap remains still sizable even when taking university characteristics into account. However, universities matter considerably and especially student compositions in terms of socio-economic background and ability contribute to unequal ISM uptake. As a consequence, intergovernmental policies should aim to distribute grants and mobility opportunities more equally across all universities, independent of their student composition.

As part of a larger project focused on the intersection of educational and health trajectories over the life course, we use in-depth interviews with 28 adults who experienced multiple non-promotional school changes during the course of their K-12 schooling in three U.S. urban centers to advance understanding of frequent student mobility. Prior research focuses predominantly on isolating the impact of student mobility while saying little about processes through which mobility influences educational trajectories in particular contexts. Frequent student mobility was intertwined with adverse childhood experiences and access to coping resources, and these forces shaped participants' trajectories in patterned ways. Supporting frequently mobile students, almost a third of school-age children in the United States, will require greater attention to the reasons for, processes of, and contexts of student mobility.

In this article, we discuss the significance of English in the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility, using Kachru's (1985) Three Circles Model of World English. As education is one of the major forms of migration (Liu-Farrer, 2022; Borlongan, 2023) in the so-called 'age of migration' (cf. de Haas, Castles, & Miller, 2020), more and more students are motivated to study abroad to complete their tertiary education. First, we discuss motivating factors both for the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility. Second, we point out how English has been playing a very central role in the internationalization of higher education institutions and international student mobility (Philipson, 2010; Jenkins, 2017) among these factors. Then, we present the dynamics of international student mobility by looking at their global flow, English-medium programs, and English language proficiency requirements. While Inner Circle countries are still the most attractive destinations for most international students, Expanding Circle countries, where English is not an institutionalized medium of instruction in higher education, also value English by expanding English-medium degree programs and requiring English proficiency test scores to admission. Finally, we end the article by reiterating the dominance and utility of English in the internationalization of higher education and international student mobility and its stable position as the language of educational migration.

Numerous studies show that children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC) face significant disadvantage in completing high school and accessing post-secondary education. The current research involved a two-round Delphi survey which aimed to identify educational challenges and school reforms to improve the educational experiences of children and young people in OOHC. A total of 45 participants from three OOHC stakeholder groups (carers of children in OOHC, professionals/educators, and young people with lived experience of OOHC) completed the round one survey which consisted of open-ended questions analysed using thematic analysis. In the second survey round, 19 participants completed a Likert scale questionnaire which drew on themes from the round one thematic analysis. Using a consensus threshold of 70% for the round two survey, participants agreed that students in OOHC face a myriad of educational challenges, such as dealing with a history of trauma, frequent home and school transitions, mental health issues and stigma as a result of being in OOHC. It was agreed that teachers lack knowledge and experience, and schools lack support for students in OOHC. Stakeholders recommended provision of greater mental health support, coordination of services and more autonomy for OOHC students regarding their education.

In the era of higher education institutions' internationalisation, international student mobility is viewed as a crucial educational tool for enhancing the cross-cultural competence of learners. This paper aims to present research findings on the development of cross-cultural competence (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) among students participating in a short-term international mobility programme. The study involved 45 students from five European universities located in Kosovo, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, and Malta. We utilised three scales in our methodology: the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory, the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire, and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, along with data from a structured diary. Our findings indicate that students who took part in this programme expanded their knowledge through various trainings and workshops during each study visit abroad. Students not only gained new knowledge and specific skills (e.g., conflict management, negotiation skills), and behaviours (e.g., tolerance, openness, trust), but they also improved previously acquired competencies, such as professional and linguistic ones (English fluency). This study contributes to the scientific understanding of cross-cultural competence development and may also be valuable in designing intercultural training and mobility programmes for students.

Despite the position of the United States as a top destination for international student mobility and the advancement of research on study abroad decisions, little is known about how American college students choose a destination country for study abroad. Expanding the understanding of students' choice of a study abroad destination can contribute to promoting study abroad and guiding college students' study abroad decisions. Therefore, this study used qualitative data from multiple institutions and study abroad providers in the US to explore how study abroad participants choose a destination. The findings show that various forms of capital--cultural and social, linguistic, academic, and program capital, which can also be conceptualized as pre-college, college, and program capital--guided these destination choices. The findings suggest how higher education institutions can help students build such capital for their study abroad destination choices.

This article investigates temporality in the everyday lives of 9-year-old children of international professionals in Finland. The children's transnational mobility causes ruptures and discontinuities in their position within various timescapes. The institutional timescapes of schools in different countries appear to be somewhat incompatible, which can be challenging for these mobile children, especially if their sojourns are temporary. At the same time, the timescapes of the Finnish school system provide children with particular agency beyond the school setting, since school days are relatively short. Children also view differing timescapes differently depending on the length of their stay in the country. The article shows how past, present and future timescapes, and potential ruptures within these, become entangled when mobile professionals' children negotiate their position and agency within various timescapes.

Schools are important in nurturing social skills and behaviours. Research consistently demonstrates that movement into/out of school (transience/mobility) disrupts positive social skill development, especially for students who frequently move. The impact of attending a highly transient school on "non-mobile" students is not as well-known. The current study explored the impact of values and life skill-based programme, Kiwi Can, on social development and the classroom climate for non-mobile children. Researchers administered surveys to students attending 15 intervention (i.e. Kiwi Can programme; n = 763) and 9 control (n = 456) schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. We examined the impact of programme participation by school transience level (high, middle, low) and length of school participation (new, experienced). The results indicate that students attending highly transient schools struggled to build social relationships, feel connected, demonstrate care and compassion to others, and behave in prosocial ways. They also felt less safe at their schools. Students participating in Kiwi Can for more than two years (experienced schools) showed fewer negative effects of transience on social development than less experienced schools. This research highlights the plight of students who are 'left behind.'

This study investigates the effects of studying abroad through the Erasmus Programme (EP), a European Union programme launched primarily to foster international mobility and cultural exchange of University students, on the school-to-work transition of university graduates. Since a satisfactory transition does not only mean finding a job, but also concerns the wage level and the quality of work, such as stability, working hours and risk of overeducation, we consider all these aspects in order to draw a comprehensive picture of the effect of the EP. We exploit a composite dataset, built on administrative and survey data, covering all graduates from the largest Italian university from 2011 to 2015, and replicate the analysis on a national sample of graduates to verify whether the results can be extended nationwide. Estimates are provided, based on a PSM procedure, of the effects of the EP on the probability of employment, including abroad, on the quality of jobs and on wage levels at different points in time after graduation. We also investigate whether less advantaged students benefit from the Erasmus experience, and provide insights about the role of the foreign languages skills. The results show that the participation in the EP improves employment prospects at least in the short term, as well as the quality of job, and has a positive long term effect on the participants' ability to find a job abroad. The wages of participants are persistently higher than those of non-participants. Less advantaged groups also benefit from the Erasmus experience.

This study focuses on the analysis of school exclusion, which underlies and causes early school leaving, in 20 schools around Porto, Portugal. It is based on the qualitative and documental study of the personal school files of 25 youth, born between 1996 and 2003, who have left school and are now in a situation of social exclusion. We created a characterization grid for these "at-risk" students, and we have picked the following categories for the analysis of their schooling paths: early detection of misalignment processes between students and school; disruptive behaviour and corrective and punitive actions by schools; individual academic paths; main pedagogical recommendations devised by schools; and the articulation mode for these measures leading up to the exclusion from school. The study allows us to understand how these educational practices, through processes marked by humiliation and disqualification, create unteachable students, as well as make them solely accountable--together with their families--for their own academic failure, thus hiding the role of the schools as promoters of silent exclusion.