The homogenizing and diversifying effects of migration policy in the internationalization of higher education
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The homogenizing and diversifying effects of migration policy in the internationalization of higher education Elizabeth Jacobs1 Accepted: 9 November 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Amid internationalizing shifts in higher education, universities around the world are simultaneously becoming more integrated and more disparate. This paper examines the role of immigration policy in producing convergent and divergent educational attainment among international and domestic students at Indian and US universities and shows that student and work visas influence international students’ decisions about where to study, what to study, and how much education to pursue. Using original data sources and a transnational data collection strategy, this study develops new approaches to measuring international student mobility and offers a window into transnational phenomena not easily observable in other datasets. An analysis of 7177 education histories and 105 in-depth interviews with international students, university administrators, and immigration lawyers shows that migration policy contributes to the growth of international student enrollment and multinational educations but also creates asymmetrical student flows and funnels international students into certain fields of study. The results of this study indicate that migration policies simultaneously contribute to integration and differentiation between the US and Indian university systems. The findings show that immigration policies play an important role in regulating the flow and nature of international student migration streams and lead to simultaneous convergence and divergence in the educational attainment and field of study between Indian international students enrolled in US universities and their domestically educated peers in India. Through an empirical case, this paper develops a conceptual bridge between two dominant frameworks on internationalization and theorizes the central role of migration policy in shaping processes of higher education internationalization. Keyword International students · Globalization · Internationalization · Migration policy The internationalization of higher education is marked by simultaneous processes driving it towards becoming both more homogenized and differentiated. Where some researchers of the global university system emphasize standardization and convergence, others note * Elizabeth Jacobs [email protected] 1
Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Building, PA, Philadelphia, USA
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Higher Education
discontinuities as national conditions lead to differentiation (Scott 1998; Held 1999; Altbach and Knight 2007; Marginson 2006; Stromquist 2007). But much of this research over-emphasizes the binary, exclusive nature of these forces, which can in fact be mutually constitutive. Global convergence in higher education may be contributing to localized differentiation, and vice versa. Building on previous research on local diversification and global homogeniza
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