Mapping International Student Mobility in Transnational Higher Education: USA, UK, Germany, and China

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday IV)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Mapping international student experiences

Proposal

This study overviews contextual push-pull factors affecting international student mobility from comparative perspectives of USA, UK, Germany, and China. It conceptualizes the emerging transnational models of degree programs expanding from “A” Model (one host country) to “A+B” Model (two host countries), “A+B+C” Model (three host countries), and “A+B+C+D” model (four host countries), which make international student mobility more diverse than “horizontal mobility” and “vertical mobility”. Not only the host and sending countries but also the third countries may benefit from attracting international students to enrich national human capitals. As the global competitions for international talents have been increasing significantly, from the perspectives of human capital theory, it is important to sustain balanced “brain circulation” (namely “brain exchange” or “brain gain”), instead of “brain drain” or “brain waste”. To gain comparative advantages in the global higher education competitions, higher education institutions have increasingly engaged in forming transnational alliances, partnerships, and multi-lateral collaborations to achieve their strategic targets and international visibility, especially in global rankings, which have stimulated the expansion of transnational student mobility and transnational collaborations in degree programs. Meanwhile, the development of the internationalization and transnational higher education, especially the expansion of branch campuses, has further promoted transnational student mobility. This study conducts a qualitative and comparative analysis of international student mobility in transnational higher education from perspectives of USA, UK, Germany, and China, in favor of data-driven decision-making of strategies, evidence-based policies, and an efficient mechanism in international student mobility. From the perspectives of institutional theory, it exams the present status of international student mobility as well as transnational joint degree programs in relation to transnational student mobility. The qualitative multiple-case studies of transnational joint degree programs further explore exemplary institutions that have developed an organizational context to support intra-organizational collaborations and to promote structured international student mobility. The global flow of international students shows that China is not only the main sending country of international students but also a host country with fast-growing international students and the Asian hub of transnational collaborations in joint degree programs. China and Germany are gaining multi-linguistic and cultural advantages through English-mediated degree programs and transnational joint degree programs, to compete with global dominant English-speaking host countries such as USA and UK. This study verifies the importance of multi-lateral governmental support in policy and practice, diverse governmental/non-governmental initiatives, and financial incentives in promoting international student mobility. To facilitate sustainable inward and outward student mobility, higher education institutions need to come up with efficient and effective strategies to enhance quality and international competitiveness. It indicates the importance of establishing an efficient mechanism on the institutional, national and international levels, to optimize the efficiency of national higher education resource for sustainable international student mobility.

Author

• Hongmei Sziegat, University of Tuebingen