Student Migration: Critical Analysis Of Articles

Student migration is a process in which students who wish to study outside their home country of birth or citizenship move to another country for education.

With the rise of international opportunities, students seek opportunities for higher education in foreign countries and many international students now consider overseas study a stepping-stone to permanent residency within a country. The contributions that foreign students make to host nation economies both culturally and financially has encouraged major players to implement further initiatives to facilitate the arrival and integration of overseas students, including substantial amendments to immigration and visa policies and procedures.

In today’s world, the new generation wants to belongs to the fast-paced world which develops an urge to leave their home country and move to another country which has different effects on a student and their life based on how they imagine the foreign land when they decide to move along with understanding the struggles and perks when they reach the west ( developed countries like Australia, New Zealand, Europe) is discussed in the reading “Transnational Student -Migrants and the Negotiation of Connectedness and Self Identity In Australia: The Pains and Gains, Hannah Soong” ( Reading 1). The phenomenon of student migration is becoming a status symbol and success with respects to moving to the West has opened new market being recruitments through institutions which benefits the countries economy and the institutions which is a major contributor to globalization is discussed in the reading “Theorizing student mobility in an era of globalization, Fazal Rizvi” (Reading 2).

The pair of readings is based on two contrasting eras, while Reading 1 is based on the current time as the research by Soong took place in 2017 giving data from recent years, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development data about more than four million students studying outside their home country in 2015 and the ethnographic study conducted by Soong dates to 2016 discussing the interconnected relationship between the home and the host country with focus societies, genders, cultures and ethnicities, how policies have changed over time and how student migration has become more visible and prominent in the recent decade, moreover the study conducted by Soong takes references from Rizivs and post-colonial era research. On the other hand Reading 2 highlights that international student mobility has been a part of the world since a very bigging and prevailed even in the historical times wherein foreigners traveled distances to study at ancient universities in India, China, Middle East (Guruz,2008) students traveled not only to study region and art but mathematics and sciences. Then moving to the colonial era wherein international education was only for the elite as the international exchange of education was linked to colonial arrangements, the perception attached to international education was that empire and colonies an educated administrator while the local elites considered foreign education as a way of maintaining power over their subjects. Post-colonial era there were reforms like Colombo and Fulbright which only gave opportunity to the talented students to visit a foreign land and gain knowledge to help the new nations develop (Oakman,2005) Rizvi then states the concept of brain drain leading to students not coming back to their home country to take up the developmental roles.

Reading 1 and Reading 2 both commonly point out the need for change in policies for a better and smooth student migration process. In Reading 1, the Australian government made policies for students migrants, the point system wherein student had to choose to study a particular course that would lead to their way to residency. Furthermore, when students upon having degrees from certain fields were found working in sales or administration mainly because they did not belong to an English speaking background the concern was then modified leading to granting international graduates temporary work visas ( Baird,2010). Although Reading 2 also embraces on the change of policies in contrast to Reading 1 the policy shift from ‘aid’ to ‘trade’ in Reading 2 benefits in creating education as new market, with the coming of a new market there was a new set of rules established at a World Trade Organisation under the General Agreement on Trade in Servies. Yet with the coming of a new set of rules the ‘points’ system remains a similarity for both the reading enabling potential students to obtain residency.

Similarly both the reading talk about the concept of ‘west’ ,’ imagined world’ and the factors that motivate students to migrate internationally where in Reading 1 author describes ‘west’ not as a specific geographical area but rather as an imagined world where exists the adaptation of western cultures, attitudes, values in context to personal freedom (Tomlinson,1996). Noth in Reading 1 and Reading 2, Soong and Rizvi describes how neoliberal imagination of west motivates students, parameters like lack of opportunities at homeland, social status, interest in travel, freedom, permanent residency push a student to get attracted to international migration. Reading 1 also shifts light on parents pushing and encouraging their children to receive residency and shifting families cross borders for access to a better lifestyle and western education. While in the begginingReading 2 describes ‘west’ as the modern land with better educational opportunities that can help nations develop, like education at Oxford, Cambridge, and London in England were reconsidered supreme and fundamental for the role they needed to play in the political empires.

Reading 1 firstly establishes the basis on the current trend of student exchange by keeping the culture, gender and ethnicity as Soong studies five students who face different issues in establishing their “routes” yet staying interconnected to their “roots”. The first student the author mentions is Ping from China who had to be virtually connected to her home (roots) while on the other hand she still had to be physically connected to people near her establishing her routes for a better future, being in the west land Ping gained a change her perspectives about her marriage. To further establish on how routes and roots are interconnected ethnically, socially and culturally Soong cites the second student Asuntha from Srilanka who wants her children to grow up in Australia yet she focuses on how speaking Singhalese at home will lead to her children to be connected to their roots which is countered by Vertovec, while being west did give Asuntha higher status back home it did leave her with pain leading her to lack a social life. The third student the author studies Sunita who started a blog to cope up with her migration and how being bilingual proved to be a great thing for her being connected to her new life yet having a connection to her old life. Another student, Haggai from Israel wishes to reestablish his route by starting a new life yet upon coming to the west he still maintains a close connection to Jew migrants and on another hand, he had local Australian friends. The first reading also focuses on the challenges faced by students when migrating like the education system, language difference, lack of social interaction along with ethnic distinctions. Furthermore, it discusses the complication of education and migration which leads to overlooking policies of labor and how it effects international students, how even highly skilled students end up in sales jobs and the reforms and policy change by the Australian government in the same context. While the Reading 1 establishes and elaborated by focusing on the cultural, social, ethnic and racial aspects of how a student builds upon their identity upon international mobility the Reading 2, in contrast, focuses on the commercial and economic perspective on how student migration benefits are gained in respect to the country, government and universities upon the arrival as Jane Knight points out that international student mobility on one side focused on integrating an international thought to teaching yet on the other hand it was mobility was promoted for benefits making higher education an “export industry” where universities participated to students and fund generation which is further supported by the Dawkins reforms higher education contribution scheme which allowed universities to charge complete reimbursement from internationally migrated students which led to a change in a global perspective of then seeing education as a commodity to be commercialized for the market and to be made rules for. This not only leads to making education a source of generating capital but made international students potential clients targeting them through smart advertising and marketing in educational expos and conferences. The success of these universities is now measured by the number of fees paying international students enrolled in the university.

Reading 1 and Reading 2 both primarily focus on student migration as a concept of globalization. While-Reading 1 describes globalization as a concept that leads to student mobility through international education which leads to different dilemmas and expectation for a student in terms of “where they are from” and “where they are at” with the continuous struggle for self-identity and connectedness to their own culture with both home and host. In Reading 2, Kennedy defines globalization as the idea of social process that leads to rapid movements of good, ideas and people around the world, globalization is the interconnectedness between people living in different localities. Adding to this Steger elaborates that neoliberal imagination of globalization implies pushing of boundaries for market relations through people and communities. Adding to this it urges on parameters of global “free-trade” applying to good and services especially education.

There has been a marked increase in the migration of students worldwide, particularly from developing countries to developed countries reading 2 examines the migration of students to Australia as a potential market for the benefit of the state and university like the Colombo Plan which was strategically linked to the benefit west. The number of students arriving in Australia on student visas has shown an increasing trend though numbers have fluctuated from year to year. In addition to this, the policies of the globalization were viewed as an opportunity by the Australia universities in respect to neo-liberal imaginary to attract students with prospects of good placements and the value of international education in the global market. The article examines the role of Australia’s education export market, analyzes the main reasons for Australia’s attractiveness for students, discusses the characteristics of students contributing to the host’s economy.

“Transnational Student -Migrants and the Negotiation of Connectedness and Self Identity In Australia: The Pains and Gains, Hannah Soong” ( Reading 1) and “Theorizing student mobility in an era of globalization, Fazal Rizvi” (Reading 2) both the reading are similar and contrasting differently. While both the readings talk about the migration of students for international education, Reading 1 focuses on the dimensions of connectedness and understanding a parameters that form and cause mobility while unveiling the complexities of moving to a new land, identities and the struggle between ‘roots’ and ‘routes’ to build a sense of belonging to a migrant land merged with the experience of interconnectedness and identity formation on ‘who you are’ and ‘who you become’, ‘where you are from’ and ‘where you at’ along with the pains and gains.

Nevertheless, Reading 2 highlights the on the need for collaboration of education market and commercialization along with creating multi-dimensional networks that develop more and new ways of generating revenues and incomes and lastly it draws the readers attention to more towards view that higher education internationally should not only be beneficial culturally and socially but also more economically convenient.