Factors and Barriers of Inbound International Student Mobility in Russia

Abstract

Global integration and globalization in politics, economics and culture expand international contacts and result in higher education internationalization through export of educational programs and academic mobility. International student mobility is a complex, controversial and dynamic process. There is more global data on inbound than outbound student mobility. According to UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the number of internationally mobile students more than doubled from 2 to 4.3 million in the period between 1999 and 2014. Russia hosts 5% of the total number of mobile students; most of them come from Asia, the region which traditionally demonstrates the highest interest in and demand for the Russian higher education. The paper aims at distinguishing the pull factors and barriers (push factors) of inbound international student mobility in Russia by summarizing the experience of one of the leading engineering universities through analyzing the statistics and sociological survey results. The authors draw their conclusions on inbound academic mobility dynamics and give their recommendations on improving its intensity.