Motivations and Constraints of Moving Abroad for Indian Students

Abstract

Faced with a situation in which countries compete for international students, it becomes especially important to understand students' preferences regarding migration behaviour. This paper looks at the determinants of international mobility intentions in the specific situation of Indian students in sciences and engineering. It uses the collected data from the survey held among students at five Indian universities and complements it with qualitative data from interviews. We looked at the role of students' personal and family background, universityrelated factors, their social network and preferences for living location in their motivations for moving abroad. The type of university and field of studies work as strong predictors for students' desired move abroad. Whether a student plans a career in academia or wants to work in a company has a decisive influence on where they see themselves in the near future. Professional aspects are confirmed to be the most prominent in the decision-making regarding international mobility. People who place high importance on work-related factors are more mobile, while people who place higher importance on family-friendly environment and public safety prefer staying in India. International student mobility is obviously a family decision. Parents' support is crucial for moving abroad, in moral as well as in financial terms. Normally, obligations towards family are put in the first place ahead of potential individual initiatives.

International migration and gendered dreams of youths in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

“…Mary identified herself as coming from a middle-class family and explained that her parents had made plans (e.g., saving money, sending them for additional tuition class; gathering information regarding courses overseas) to send her and her younger brother abroad in the future. Family support in terms of encouragement to migrate has been identified as an important factor in Indian students’ plans of moving abroad (Hercog and Van de Laar, 2016).…”

“…Migrant networks based on kinship and friendship provide information and support to potential migrants both in the origin and host country. For potential migrants, the experiences of migrants in their social networks (e.g., social mobility experienced through remittance; possible opportunities; sustainability of culture in the host country) may reinforce their positive views about migration and encourage them to migrate (Hercog and Van de Laar, 2016; Cohen, 2004). Slowly, migration becomes part of their everyday experiences and values associated with migration become embedded in the values of the society and this supports the emergence of the culture of migration in a society (Cohen, 2004).…”

The relationships between bilingual learning, willingness to study abroad and convergent creativity

“…In addition, among the different indicators of SES, only income showed significant associations with children’s emotional health status. Therefore, good and stable economic conditions are crucial for studying abroad (Hercog & Van de Laar, 2017) and can provide material security for students to study abroad and achieve professional and personal goals (Doppen, An & Diki, 2016).…”

La movilidad académica internacional: experiencias de los estudiantes en IES de Colombia y de México

“…Existe riqueza en cuanto a las investigaciones relacionadas sobre movilidad académica internacional en la educación superior (Rodríguez, 2005;Brooks y Waters, 2011;Morales y Manosalba, 2016;Hercog y Van, 2017). Algunos autores han demostrado, mediante estudios empíricos, avances concretos en materia de movilidad estudiantil, cuya orientación se ha enmarcado en temas que invitan a reflexionar críticamente sobre el significado y las implicaciones de la movilidad internacional con fines educativos y su relación con una variedad de desigualdades, a niveles macro, meso y micro (Bilecen y Van Mol, 2017).…”

“…Otros estudios revelan el significado de dicha movilidad obedeciendo a interpretaciones sociales adaptadas a determinadas culturas, por ejemplo, en regiones de Asia la educación en el extranjero de un estudiante se interpreta como un medio de ascenso social para toda la familia, lo que conlleva a la movilidad social y al avance profesional entre di-chas familias (Huang y Yeoh, 2005;Findlay, King, Smith, Geddes y Skeldon, 2012). Asimismo, en India los determinantes de la movilidad internacional están soportados en el tipo de universidad, en el campo de estudio, en la proyección profesional y laboral, y en los apoyos moral y financiero por parte de la familia (Hercog y Van, 2017). De otro lado, en un estudio realizado en Turquía se pudo establecer que las razones que influyen en la movilidad de estudiantes extranjeros procedentes de países vecinos hacia este país, está mediada principalmente por la calidad académica, por encima de aspectos significativos como aspiraciones laborales, proximidad geográfica y la racionalidad económica (Kondakci, 2011).…”