World class? An investigation of globalisation, difference and international student mobility

Findlay, Allan M, King, Russell, Smith, Fiona M, Geddes, Alistair and Skeldon, Ronald (2012) World class? An investigation of globalisation, difference and international student mobility. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 37 (1). pp. 118-131. ISSN 0020-2754

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This paper explores the motivations and meanings of international student mobility. Central to the discussion are the results of a large questionnaire survey and associated in-depth interviews with UK students enrolled in universities in six countries from around the world. The results suggest, first, that several different dimensions of social and cultural capital are accrued through study abroad. It is argued that the search for ‘world class’ education has taken on new significance. Second, the paper argues that analysis of student mobility should not be confined to a framework that separates study abroad from the wider life-course aspirations of students. It is argued that these insights go beyond existing theorisations of international student mobility to incorporate recognition of diverse approaches to difference within cultures of mobility, including class reproduction of distinction, broader notions of distinction within the life-plans of individual students, and how ‘reputations’ associated with educational destinations are structured by individuals, institutions and states in a global higher education system that produces differentially mediated geographies of international student mobility

Item Type: Article
Keywords: international students;higher education;universities;mobility;globalisation;difference
Schools and Departments: School of Global Studies > Geography
Depositing User: Russell King
Date Deposited: 06 Feb 2012 15:16
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2012 12:51
URI: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/11379
📧 Request an update