Staying for the benefits: Location‐specific insider advantages for geographically immobile students in higher education.

In the youth mobility research, young people's geographical immobility is often associated with negative connotations. This paper challenges this discourse by analysing the location‐specific insider advantages (LSIAs) of geographically immobile young adults in higher education institutions (HEI). We use data from a survey of students in two locations in Denmark: the peripheral city of Esbjerg and the metropolis of Copenhagen. We categorise students with diverse geographical mobility backgrounds into four (im)mobility types: 'local stayers', 'regional commuters', 'regional in‐movers', and 'distant in‐movers'. The paper explores LSIAs across (im)mobility type and location type. We find that immobile students are more likely to have a connection to, and experience with, the local labour market, to be satisfied with their social life, and to live with their parents compared with their geographically mobile peers. However, the advantages differ in type and amount between the peripheral and the urban case locations. We conclude that immobility should be (re)framed as an advantageous strategy for some young adults in early higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]