The Main Motivations of Ukrainian Students Who Choose to Study in Poland

Abstract

Students’ educational migration is one of the phenomena characteristic of the globalization processes. It has been growing dynamically since the 1970s. A number of young people studying abroad has grown globally from 0.8m in 1975 to almost 5m in 2014. It comes therefore as no surprise that educational migration has become a subject of many sociological and economic studies. Their authors usually use the push-pull factors model i.e. they investigate the factors that “push” students out of their own countries and those that “pull” them to the new place of study. Our research on foreign students in Poland has been approached from a similar angle. In fact, we set out to find an answer to the question “What made foreign students from Ukraine leave their country and why did they choose to study in Poland?” To find our answers we conducted questionnaire interviews on a random purposive sample of foreign students from Ukraine (N=83). In addition, to avoid the risk that the resulting correlations were accidental and the knowledge yielded in this way false, we also used the triangulation procedure – a supporting, in-depth qualitative study involving a focus group. We altogether managed to hold 4 sessions. The results obtained in the questionnaire study and in the focus group sessions were sorted and analyzed statistically (quantitative and qualitative analysis), which allowed us to find out about the main motives influencing students’ migration decisions as well as the factors “pushing” them out of Ukraine and attracting them to Poland.

The reform of the higher education of Ukraine in the conditions of the military-political crisis

“…Ukraine loses not only foreign students. Many Ukrainians go abroad to study (Gomółka, 2015;Anticor, 2016;RIA News Ukraine, 2018), and the number grows every year: in 2014, 38 thousand Ukrainian students left for study abroad, in 2015-40 thousand, in 2016-50 thousand (Bogolib, 2017, in 2017-70 thousand (Gazeta.ua, 2017), half of them chose Poland (Rębisz and Sikora, 2015). The best people move away: only the best is able to leave, adapt and stay in a foreign country.…”

Globalisation Has Double Sides on Developing Countries: The Benefits and the Harm

“…Reasons for that are evident. Rębisz and Sikora [7] reports that 59% of Ukraine students believe that studying abroad in foreign universities contributes to their further education, and 44.6% of them argue that a foreign university background promotes the chance of being employed. Additionally, according to Rapoport [8], people now are experiencing a new type of migration which is mainly from developing countries to developed countries.…”

The Impact of Implicit Instruction upon the Use of English Discourse Markers in Written Tasks at the Advanced Beginners’ Level of EFL Proficiency

“…Second, another focal point of this research rests with a specific group of participants comprised of speakers of Ukrainian as their L1. Given that more Ukrainians study abroad nowa days (Rebisz and Sikora, 2015), this research is deemed to be relevant to the educators and educational establishments providing EFL courses and/or instruction in EFL to Ukrainian L1 speakers at the advanced beginners' level of EFL proficiency. Third, following Polat (2011), it is assumed that a longitudinal study of the use of English DMs has important implications for EFL teaching and learning.…”