Who Goes Where and Why: An Overview and Analysis of Global Educational Mobility

Who Goes Where and Why: An Overview and Analysis of Global Educational Mobility. Caroline Macready and Clive Tucker (2011). New York: IIE and AIFS Foundation. ISBN-13: 978-0-87206-342- 6, $39.95, pp. 154The number of international students and scholars studying and working in a culture beyond their own has significantly increased in past few years. The mobility of students and scholars bring a diverse and global educational exchange of cultures, ideas, and technological innovations to the culture of colleges and universities. In this context, Who Goes Where and Why, written by Caroline Macready and Clive Tucker (2011), is a significant contribution to the field of international student mobility and study abroad. In this book, the authors analyze the trends of students on why and how they study overseas, and how the national policies of hosting and sending countries affect the decisions of those mobile students. The authors also describe the Exchange Visitor Program in the United States by analyzing the 2010 data from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.The book is organized into two parts. The first part includes five chapters on global educational mobility and the second part deals with international student mobility in the United States. Chapter 1 describes the physical flows of internationally mobile students across national borders. Based on the Open Doors data, this chapter answers the question "Why is student mobility important?" from the perspectives of students, hosting institutions and national governments. Chapter 2 reviews international mobility at the tertiary level in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and other several countries where students pursue higher education. This chapter also includes recent trends in origins and destinations of international students in Asia, North America, Europe, Arab States, and Africa.Chapter 3 presents information on global student mobility in non-tertiary education i.e. mobility at upper secondary school level, post-secondary school level, and mobility of teachers, staff, and scholars in non-tertiary education into the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other non-European countries. Chapter 4 examines "push factors," "anti-push factors," and "pull factors" to understand why students move and how they choose oversea destinations. The authors mention three push factors in student mobility. First, students do not find the quality program at home country. Second, young students wish to study "to broaden cultural and intellectual horizons and improve job prospects" (p. 42). Third, students and scholars choose study abroad to position themselves for the next stage of education or work. Similarly, challenges that students face such as financial impediments or visa difficulties are taken as anti-push factors. For majority of students, pull factors are associated with their study abroad elements such as quality of study and work opportunities, affordable cost, internationally recognized qualifications, helpful visa arrangements and so forth.Chapter 5 looks at the impact of national policies of 15 of the top destination and sending countries, and how these policies impact college students' decisions on where to study. The featured 15 countries are from Asia (China, India and Japan), Europe (UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and Africa (South Africa). …