The profile of Latvian global graduates as ‘liquid migrants’

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper empirically examines whether former international students, i.e., global graduates, are more likely to be ‘liquid migrants’ than those who hold higher education degrees from home and the factors which enable or inhibit transnational mobility among global graduates. Based on an analysis of a subsample from a large-scale web survey of Latvian migrants, this paper finds that highly-skilled Latvian and global graduates represent two different groups of migrants. On the one hand Latvian graduates appear to migrate due to employment or family reasons and seek stability when doing so, corresponding more closely to the profile of sedentary migrants. Former international students from Latvia, on the other hand, are more likely to explore different destinations, even though most of them have lived in no more than two countries, excluding their country of origin. Global graduates who are older, male, hold a doctoral degree, are more recent emigrants, and live outside Europe and the US, are more likely to engage in a ‘liquid migration’ lifestyle. The empirical analysis and findings in this paper suggest alignment with the conceptualisation of ‘liquid migration.’