Abstract
This article aims to analyse the motivational factors, which influence students to study abroad, taking as a case study the student flows directed to the University of Coimbra in Portugal and the University of Groningen in Netherlands. The theoretical framework is complemented by a push-pull factors model of both cities and universities. The paper uses a quantitative approach based in a questionnaire survey of a sample of 507 students. The motives for studying abroad are different according to University and type of student registration. There are no significant differences between attractiveness factors of the two cities but there are significant differences when the global indexes of attractiveness of the universities are compared. This data provides empirical evidence that can be used by higher education institutions, local and central governments in the development of educational and touristic strategies.
Highlights
One of the most striking phenomena today is movement of people, in mass, from all ages and to multiple destinations
Mobilities are a renewed object of study of social sciences that contribute to a new paradigm: “...this paradigm examines how social relations necessitate the intermittent and intersecting movements of people, objects, information and images across distance
The paper attempts to answer the starting point: What predisposes foreign students to attend a university located in a European middle-sized city, in a country different from the one of their permanent residence? In this context, this paper analysed the student reasons that allows us to confirm if the priority is given to education or to tourism
Summary
One of the most striking phenomena today is movement of people, in mass, from all ages and to multiple destinations. These mobilities are influenced by the processes of globalization (Giddens, 1999, Urry, 2007). The growing flow of people in cross-border movements brings us to a new way of understanding mobility, defined by Appadurai (1994) as ethnoscape. Mobility is associated with deterritorialization, outside the traditional concepts of territory, frontier and sovereignty. Zygmunt Bauman even refers to "dephysicalization" (Bauman, 1988, p.19), where distance is a social product that varies according to the speed of communication. Mobilities are a renewed object of study of social sciences that contribute to a new paradigm:
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