The Structural Characteristics of Knowledge Networks Embedded in the Flow of International Student Mobility

• In Event: A New Form of Educational Inequality in South Korea

Proposal

Objectives. International student mobility can provide important knowledge grounds for understanding how the central and peripheral countries of knowledge and research are connected. For a long time, universities and other research institutions have been connected to the knowledge network through the publication and dissemination of books, academic journals and materials. However, globalization and a knowledge-based economy has rapidly made the world as global knowledge network in that knowledge, information, and data are connected and communicated with each other in real time. Proliferation of international student movement is such a phenomenon that reflects and reveals the characteristics of the global knowledge network in the most physical and visible form. Given the importance of understanding the knowledge network, this study examined international student mobility by degree level and majors.
Methods. This study used the 2019 student mobility data provided by OECD and social network analysis.
Results. Inbound mobility of international students was concentrated in North America and European countries for all degree levels. In the Asian region, only Japan was a center for studying abroad in terms of the number of international students and the diversity of countries with international students. The extent of outbound mobility was high in Asian countries, except for Japan, for all degree levels. China was the country with the highest concentration of outflow in terms of the number of students and the diversity of countries. For humanities and social sciences, the influx of students to the United States was concentrated for all levels of degree, and the science and engineering field had a high influx of students into the United States, Canada, France, and Australia for all levels of degree. For the doctoral or equivalent level, the inflow of international students to major countries in the Americas and Western Europe is concentrated. Among Asian regions, there was an influx of international students to Japan and Korea. Japan has a high influx of short-cycle tertiary education level, bachelor's level, and master's level for science and engineering, whereas Korea is concentrated on bachelor's level. For the field of health and welfare, the influx of students into the United States was concentrated for all levels of degree, followed by the UK.
Conclusion. These analyses show that international student mobility concentrated on USA, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia. Asian and Latin American countries have a high level of student outflows and remain periphery. Also, international student mobility tended to flow to America and Europe for higher degrees, which include countries of high inflow centrality, rather than flowing to various countries. Such concentration on a small number of countries of high centrality was noticeable particularly at doctoral level in science and engineering. The skewed flow to a few developed countries along with the worldwide increase of international student mobility suggests that imbalance of the global knowledge network has been aggravated. We discussed the implications of such imbalance from the perspective of brain drain.

Authors

• Jayoung Ham, Dept. of Education, Ewha Womans University

• Anna Kim, Dept. of Education, Ewha Womans University