Methodological nationalism (MN) pervades higher education scholarship and practice, particularly in the arena of globalisation of higher education (HE) (Shahjahan and Kezar 2013). MN refers to the assumption that national boundaries define the natural category or unit of analysis for society. Drawing on affect theories, this conceptual article…

This paper explores the contemporary relationship between international student migration and diaspora formation. It argues that international students have been largely absent from recent discussions of 'knowledge diasporas', where migrants' 'home' states attempt to harness and co-opt the skills and knowledge of their émigrés. This is surprising,…

In 2016, approximately 5 million students, about 2% of global tertiary enrolments, studied abroad. As globalisation of education advances, tertiary student mobility is an important channel through which highly skilled immigrants arrive and work in different nation states. Informed by the multidisciplinary internationalisation frameworks, this…

International student mobility in higher education has gained currency as an important topic in today's global, political, and economic environment. United States postsecondary institutions are working to expand their international student population to increase revenue and diversity. The current higher education and economic context has produced…

During the last decade education worldwide has experienced massive changes ranging from domestic market inauguration to the internationalization. In due course of time, there has been a great urge for restructuring the education system to make it internationally comparable ensuring economic benefit. The developed countries have dominated through…

Full-degree mobility from Western countries is a topic that has been little researched. Existing literature tends to be normative; mobility is seen as an advantage per se. In this article it is questioned whether mobility is an advantage when investigating degree mobility and employability of students from the Nordic countries. Results show that…

In recent years there has been a significant growth in the number of international students. In several developed countries the inflow of foreign tertiary students has become a significant source of income for higher education (HE) providers and the economy as a whole. This net inflow of foreign students has been indirectly and, more recently,…

The number of highly skilled Africans leaving their country of origin, many with PhDs, has reached disturbing proportions. Meanwhile, Africa spends billions per year to fill the capacity gaps that are created by the exodus of the highly skilled. In Africa, Ethiopia ranked first in terms of rate of loss of human capital. Many African governments…

China is used as a case study to examine the problem of "brain drain," the departure of skilled professionals and students from their own countries to live and work in the United States. Chinese attempts to adjust their policies for study abroad are reviewed, including proposed controls on what Chinese students study abroad, who goes…