International Student Migration: Young University Students in Brazil Coming from Portuguese-Speaking African Countries

• In Event: Highlighted session: Building comparative mobility narratives: the intersection of studies of study abroad and international students

Proposal

This paper is situated in the wider context of Brazilian foreign policy, a branch of the South-South Technical Cooperation, i.e., cooperation between developing countries. The goal of this exchange is to “provide access, acquisition and application of knowledge that will enable local development players to strengthen their skills” (Brasil, 2013, p. 13) in a horizontal relationship that is not based only on providing support, but rather on mutual learning and strengthening.

In the education arena, the oldest Brazilian South-South cooperation initiative is the Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students (PEC-G), established in 1965 and regulated by the Federal Administration in 1965 (BRASIL, 2018) through a partnership between the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Institutions. Students from the participating countries apply in a local selection process and, if selected, they come to Brazil to pursue their undergraduate studies with the express commitment to be financially supported by their families while studying in Brazil and to pick up their diplomas in person in their countries of origin. Today there are 60 countries participating in the PEC-G, 26 from Africa, 25 from Latin America/the Caribbean and 9 from Asia.

Few studies have been conducted on PEC-G in Brazil or on the perceptions of the students coming from African countries regarding their education in Brazilian institutions. Therefore, to a certain extent we tried to fill this gap by conducting a study with students coming from African countries where Portuguese is the official language (PALOP).This research was carried out with students from these countries who were studying at the University of Brasilia (UnB), a public institution located in the capital city of Brazil. The University of Brasilia is one of the 109 Brazilian institutions to receive students in the scope of the PEC-G Program. Since it ranks 8th (UnB, 2017) among the universities with the best academic performance in Brazil, in the 2010 to 2017 period it received over 600 foreign students from over 25 countries, most of them from South America and Africa.

For an in-depth analysis of the experience of international students, Group Discussions were held, which were then analyzed using the Documentary Method (BOHNSACK, 2010 and 2014; WELLER, 2018), with a total of 13 participants from Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, organized by country of origin. In addition to getting to know the individual opinion on the subjects presented to the groups, our intention was to understand the modus operandi of their actions which characterize them as groups of students coming from Portuguese-speaking African countries studying at the UnB.

The information obtained in the group discussions were organized by country of origin of the students and grouped around the following subjects: thoughts about their country of origin and the reasons why they migrated to study; aspects of their daily routine in Brasília and at the University and, finally, the outlook for the future for these young students.

The analysis revealed commonalities among all students and also specificities in each group. In common is the importance of family and friends when deciding to study abroad, indicating that education abroad is part of a family project. Another feature is the commitment to return to their country: they are aware of the fact that the countries have entrusted them with part of their development mission.

With the exception of Cape Verdeans, all students were emphatic about the fact that Brazilians were not willing to do a “cultural exchange” with them, they resent when they see that he brotherly ties that they thought existed between Brazil and Africa are actually weak. Students from Guinea-Bissau and Angola clearly stated that financial issues are possibly the greatest challenge they have to face. Financial survival was highlighted among students from these countries, but students from Angola recognize that financial difficulties will help them in the future when they have their own family, making them “more mature” and “real men”. However, they think that these deprivations will prepare them for their adult family life.

The students from São Tomé highlighted the idea of overcoming difficulties, saying that the hardships they used to experience did not change after they entered college. This fact reminds us of the unique situation faced by them which is directly related to educational needs in their country of origin: the lack of basic knowledge impacts their academic achievement at the university.

The analysis reinforces the need to know, reflect upon and improve international cooperation actions for students from the PALOP countries: we must go beyond just guaranteeing them a place at the university, we should plan the means to ensure all conditions are in place so that these students can be accepted and stay at the university, which is a great challenge for Brazilian institutions.

Authors

• Silvia Helena Rodrigues, Universidade de Brasília

• Wivian Weller, Universidade de Brasilia - UnB