Indian international students in Toronto: exploring young men resisting their family's expectations

Abstract

This paper is located at the heart of the growing body of research on international student migration. Using a gendered perspective, it explores the power relations between the students and their families that shape the processes and experiences of migration. The spotlight is on Indian students who move to Canada, specifically Toronto, for higher education. These students are part of a growing yet highly diversified stream of migrants who make up the Indian diaspora in Canada. Using survey data collected by the author, the paper first presents the social characteristics of Indian international students. The discussion then moves to present the narrative of one male respondent in Canada to illustrate how gendered power relations within the Indian patrifocal family shape the participation of sons and daughters in international student migrant flows.

Characterizing Indian Students Pursuing Global Higher Education

“…Contemporary understandings of the “internationalization” agenda of Indian students is largely under researched except for studies that have looked at experiences of migration for Indian students in destination countries (Sondhi, 2013), rationales for international mobility for Indian students from certain regions in India (Yakaboski, Sheridan, & Dade, 2014) and the impact of immigration policies in destination countries on the enrollment figures of Indian international students (Hawthorne, 2014). This lack of academic discussion on Indian students could be because of a number of reasons.…”