Globally Educated, Globally Employed? Professional Trajectories of Former Mexican International Students.

• In Event: Transitional Experiences of International Students

Proposal

INTRODUCTION
Higher education is now compulsory in Mexico. Yet, as in many other Latin American countries, access to higher education is still restricted to a privileged portion of the population. Currently, only 42% of the college-age (19-23 years old) population in Mexico enrolls at a higher education institution (SEP, 2022). Graduating with a college degree highly and positively impacts the possibility of securing a better job. Overall, in Mexico students who complete a higher education degree earn close to 80% more than those with only upper secondary education (OECD, 2019).

But stratification doesn’t just happen between those who get access to higher education and those who don´t. Within those with at least some higher education, stratification still occurs based on several factors such as the type of degree, the quality of the institution, and especially, the students' own background. For those students who already start from a privileged position, the chances of getting ahead of their peers exacerbate. Among those experiences that could help widen the gap is studying abroad. This study explores the phenomenon of Mexican citizens who completed a graduate degree (Master's or Doctorate) in a different country and how this experience shaped their professional careers.

With only about 1% of Mexican national tertiary students enrolled in programs abroad (OECD, 2019), there is little information as to whether Mexican students getting a foreign degree has an impact on securing a job or getting a better income. This study is based on a survey designed by the author and distributed among Mexican citizens who completed a graduate degree outside of Mexico between 2000 and 2020. The survey asks participants about their employment expectations before starting their program abroad, if/how these shifted during their studies, and how did their international experience prepare them for their current job. Findings also map the participants’ professional trajectory to understand how globally mobile these former students are.

Methodology
The targeted population consisted of Mexican citizens, who earned a college degree from a Mexican HEI and who later emigrated to earn a Master’s or Doctoral degree from a university outside Mexico. Since this population is diverse and not easily identified, participants were recruited using several methods. First, through invitations posted on Facebook forums of current and former Mexican students abroad. A majority of the Mexicans who study abroad do so in a handful of countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Australia (Bustos Aguirre et al, 2022; CONACyT, 2022), and given how most graduate students who pursue a full degree abroad do so with a CONACyT scholarship, the CONACyT Facebook forums were primarily used. The author requested access to groups such as “Becarios CONACyT en…” (CONACyT scholars in [name of the country]) which concentrates a large number of current and former fellowship recipients seeking to expand their network. Second, I (a former Mexican international student) also sent invitations to colleagues known to have pursued their graduate degrees abroad. Lastly, a snowball sampling (Parker et al., 2019) method was employed. Personal invitations and those posted in the forums asked potential participants to also forward this invitation to people they knew qualified for the study. Overall, 240 people participated in the survey, however, only 179 completed at least 50% of the responses. This study presents the findings from those 179 participants that provided more complete information.

Preliminary Findings
Students’ post-graduation trajectory was classified as a) ‘return’, if students returned to Mexico for their first employment after graduation; b) ‘stay’, if students stayed for employment after graduation in the same country; or ‘move’, if students got their first job after graduation at a third-country (not Mexico, not the same country where they graduated from).

Contrary to common beliefs and previous literature on brain drain, 40% (71) of the participants indicated that their first job after finishing their degree abroad was back in Mexico. Out of those, 80% remain working in Mexico, 13% returned to work in the country where they got their degree, and 3% moved outside Mexico but to a country other than where they got their graduate degree.

Regarding the second group (stay) 26% (46) of the study’s participants remained in the same country where they got their degree. Out of those, 63% remain working in the same country, while only 2% has since moved to a third one. None of the participants in this group are currently working in Mexico.

The last group, that of students who moved to a third country after graduation, is comprised of only 7% (12) of the participants. Out of them, 42% remain working in the same country. One third of these participants (4) represent the most mobile group. These individuals were, at the time of responding to the survey, working in a country that is neither Mexico, nor the country where they got their graduate degree, or the country where they started working after finishing their graduate education.

Another interesting finding is the mediating effect that socio-economic status has on these individuals’ trajectories. As part of the survey, self-selected an income decile for their household prior to studying abroad. Findings show that students from the three lower deciles were overrepresented in the ‘return’ group. This finding is in contrast with other migration patterns in Mexico that show that individuals from less privileged backgrounds migrate to the ‘Global North’ seeking a better way of life. But findings from this survey seem to indicate that these individuals migrating for education purposes but are indeed returning looking for those better opportunities in their home country.

On the other hand, students in the highest three income deciles were overrepresented in the ‘move’ group, meaning that more affluent students are also more mobile. Interestingly, this group is also overrepresented in the return group; this can be explained by the fact that this is also the group with the highest percentage of entrepreneurs/self-employed participants. Finally, students in the 4-7 income decile group are overrepresented in the category of staying to work abroad after graduation in the same country.

Author

• Santiago Castiello-Gutiérrez, Seton Hall University