International Student Migration and Mobility: Policy Perspectives. An Epilog.
On 13–14 October 2016, an international workshop entitled “International Student Migration and Mobility: Policy Perspectives” took place at the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland). It was jointly organized by members of the nccr – on the move and members of the IMISCOE research cluster on international student mobility. The workshop had three aims. First, to advance our understanding of the relationship between international student mobility (ISM) and mobility policies, a topic so far neglected in the migration literature. Second, to prepare papers for a special issue publication on international students and policies of mobility. Third, to consolidate an emerging international network of researchers gathered by the IMISCOE research cluster on international student migration and mobility.
Participants came from European, Australian, and Chinese universities and included the following (from left to right in the above photo): Etienne Piguet, nccr – on the move, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), Allan Findlay, University of St. Andrews (UK), Alexandra Stamm, FORS (Switzerland), Greg McCarthy, Peking University (China), Yvonne Riaño, nccr – on the move, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), Christof van Mol, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) (Netherlands), Thais França, University of Minho (Portugal), Xianlin Song, University of Western Australia (Australia), Elisa Alves University of Lisbon (Portugal), Sylvie Lomer, Manchester University (UK), Annique Lombard, nccr – on the move, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), Laure Sandoz, nccr – on the move, University of Basel (Switzerland), Sinéad O’Connor, University College Cork (Ireland), James Hampshire, University of Sussex (UK), and Daan Huberts, EP-Nuffic, The organization for internationalization in education (Netherlands).
The format of the workshop was designed to allow maximum scientific exchange. Each presenter was allocated 45′ time to speak as well as to receive feedback from a discussant and from the workshop participants. A first keynote by James Hampshire (Sussex University) introduced current theoretical approaches to examine immigration policies. A second keynote by Allan Findlay (University of St. Andrews) introduced current approaches to understanding international student mobility. Workshop participants presented papers, which examined immigration policies, government programs and university strategies in eight different countries including Australia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.
The workshop format was very successful. Participants intensely exchanged their ideas over two days. In their opinion, they were able to expand their understanding between international student mobility (ISM) and policies of mobility, as well as to receive constructive comments for their papers. They will now improve their papers and – on the basis of a second round of constructive comments – the best contributions will be submitted in early 2017 for a special issue publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
The social event at the restaurant “Max et Meuron” in Neuchatel allowed participants to get to know each other in an informal context and to enjoy wonderful Swiss food and wine!
Local organizing committee
Yvonne Riaño, Etienne Piguet, and Annique Lombard
nccr – on the move
International organizing committee
Yvonne Riaño (Switzerland), Christof van Mol (Netherlands), and Parvati Raghuram (UK)
IMISCOE research cluster “International student migration and mobility”
