Riaño, Yvonne and Etienne Piguet

International Student Migration
2016

The number of international students has grown considerably in the early 21st century. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2000 the global number of students enrolled in tertiary education outside their country of citizenship was two million; by 2012 that had increased to four and a half million, representing an average annual growth of almost 7 percent. Among all groups of migrants—including labor migrants, family migrants, and refugees—international students are the fastest-growing group. International students are generally defined as having left their country of origin and moved to another country for the purpose of study, and are usually divided into two groups: those who move abroad to complete a degree (degree mobility), and those who move for a short-term study exchange (credit mobility). The multifaceted question of why students move abroad has been of considerable interest to researchers in recent years, and three main reasons have been advanced in order to answer this question. For a start, universities in many countries take an entrepreneurial approach to higher education, and several use global strategies to attract international students in the interest of increasing revenue. This phenomenon is known as the globalization of international education. Secondly, several governments view international students as valuable future skilled migrants and devise measures encouraging them to remain after completion of their studies. Finally, students and their families recognize the labor-market value of obtaining foreign qualifications. Unfortunately, despite their importance as a distinct migrant population, and also in terms of the topic’s potential for enriching our understanding of contemporary forms of mobility, there has been relatively little research on international student mobility (ISM) in comparison to other forms of migration. The decision by an individual to move abroad for the purpose of acquiring international education has traditionally been explained from the perspective of human capital theory. According to this perspective, an individual will choose to migrate if (and only if) this means acquiring an experience or diploma (=human capital) that will improve future earnings. This rather simplistic cost-benefit model has recently been challenged by new theories. The literature on international student migration is multidisciplinary, incorporating notions of geography, sociology, higher education, migration studies, and international law. This article offers a foundation for gaining a comprehensive understanding of ISM and identifying research gaps. It proposes classifying the scientific literature according to six main questions: (1) How to theorize ISM? (2) What are the directions and patterns of student flows? (3) What are the students’ reasons for moving, and what are their subsequent experiences abroad? (4) What are the regulations, policies, and strategies of supranational bodies, national governments, and universities regarding ISM? (5) What are the outcomes and effects of ISM? (6) What are the students’ plans for future mobility, and what are their experiences upon return?