Book Review of "Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education"

Abstract

Brooks, R., & Waters, J. (2011). Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Pages: 208. Price: 100.00 USD (hardcover). ISBN 9780230578449Current research investigating international student mobility tends to focus on economic factors and government policies. Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education departs from this trend by looking at internationalization of higher education from students' perspectives. Drawing on case studies of international student mobility from East Asia, mainland Europe, and the UK, the authors have developed a strong analysis on the relationship between the internationalization of higher education and the understanding of student mobility. Informed by key conceptual ideas and discourses associated with employability, cultural capital, social reproduction, and cosmopolitan identities, this book is a timely investigation of the changing patterns of international student mobility. With the majority of educational research examining student flow from countries in East and Southeast Asia to Anglophone destinations, the authors take a unique position by considering the perspectives of students who come from continental Europe and the UK.According to the authors student mobility is changing direction, from inward migration to outward migration for some Anglophone countries. They also point out that countries such as China and India, which used to be main senders of students, are now attracting students from overseas. The analysis of the changing nature of student mobility is developed through eight chapters.The introductory chapter highlights relevant literature and explores the link between neoliberalism, globalization, and education. The authors survey literature around highly contested concepts such as neoliberalism and globalization, and suggest that these two terms should be problematized and kept analytically distinct. By clarifying the distinctions between empirical facts, ideology, and the social-imaginary natures of globalization, this chapter also briefly introduces some key conceptual ideas that are explored in more depth in the later chapters.Chapter 2 addresses the policy context of contemporary student mobility in higher education at the international, regional, national, and local levels. While many researchers and scholars argue that globalizing pressures and the influence of transnational organizations have fundamentally changed educational policy and practice, the authors contend that individual nations still retain considerable decision-making powers.Chapters 3 through 5 provide strong empirical evidence on the student experiences from East Asia, mainland Europe, and the UK. Although examining a similar group of young students seeking higher education in an overseas environment, these chapters point to a very different picture for each individual region. The authors maintain that students from East Asian countries such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan are motivated by the potential to accumulate social and cultural capital. On the other hand, students from mainland Europe are motivated by broader economic and political considerations, such as instilling a particular type of European identity. While suggesting that the motivations for students from the UK who study abroad are less clear, the authors do illustrate the privileged nature of the experience of UK students seeking overseas higher education.Chapters 6 and 7 highlight key themes emerging from the analysis of the preceding case studies. In Chapter 6 the authors explore the emergent geographies of student mobility and introduce a distinctive geographical perspective into their analysis of it. In Chapter 7 they reflect on the changing nature of higher education within the context of internationalization. Drawing on the earlier case studies, this chapter explores the internationalization of higher education by looking at different aspects of societal change. …