Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany
Abstract International students are conceived as essential contributors to the development of their countries of origin after they finished their studies abroad. Political decision-makers of the countries of origin therefore take measures that students will eventually return to their home countries...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Comparative Migration Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00313-0 |
| _version_ | 1811200913860198400 |
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| author | Sascha Krannich Uwe Hunger |
| author_facet | Sascha Krannich Uwe Hunger |
| author_sort | Sascha Krannich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract International students are conceived as essential contributors to the development of their countries of origin after they finished their studies abroad. Political decision-makers of the countries of origin therefore take measures that students will eventually return to their home countries and bring back their gained knowledge and consequently contribute to development back home. However, is a return always the best way to contribute to development in the country of origin or can international graduates contribute equally from abroad or through their high mobility between different countries? This article aims to address this question on the basis of an intensive three years mixed-methods-based investigation in six countries – Germany as country of study and Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia and Israel/Palestinian territories as countries of origin. We investigated a specific German scholarship program, which gives scholarships to international students from the Global South to study in Germany. Although a return to the country of origin is a precondition for the scholarship, our study indicates that not only return migration, but also remains and circular migration can create beneficial circumstances that former students practice diverse development-related functions and therefore contribute to the development in their country of origin in a specific way. Here, it is important to recognize that scholarship programs do not only offer the opportunity to fund studying abroad, but they can be also designed for the needs of scholars during, before and after their studies, which would also benefit their developmental contributions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:11:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d69b09f1ba244b0da0e7c315f0c3e939 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-594X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:11:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comparative Migration Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-d69b09f1ba244b0da0e7c315f0c3e9392022-12-22T03:52:23ZengSpringerOpenComparative Migration Studies2214-594X2022-09-0110112210.1186/s40878-022-00313-0Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in GermanySascha Krannich0Uwe Hunger1Giessen UniversityFulda University of Applied SciencesAbstract International students are conceived as essential contributors to the development of their countries of origin after they finished their studies abroad. Political decision-makers of the countries of origin therefore take measures that students will eventually return to their home countries and bring back their gained knowledge and consequently contribute to development back home. However, is a return always the best way to contribute to development in the country of origin or can international graduates contribute equally from abroad or through their high mobility between different countries? This article aims to address this question on the basis of an intensive three years mixed-methods-based investigation in six countries – Germany as country of study and Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia and Israel/Palestinian territories as countries of origin. We investigated a specific German scholarship program, which gives scholarships to international students from the Global South to study in Germany. Although a return to the country of origin is a precondition for the scholarship, our study indicates that not only return migration, but also remains and circular migration can create beneficial circumstances that former students practice diverse development-related functions and therefore contribute to the development in their country of origin in a specific way. Here, it is important to recognize that scholarship programs do not only offer the opportunity to fund studying abroad, but they can be also designed for the needs of scholars during, before and after their studies, which would also benefit their developmental contributions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00313-0International student migrationScholarship programsGermanyGlobal southTransnationalismDevelopment |
| spellingShingle | Sascha Krannich Uwe Hunger Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany Comparative Migration Studies International student migration Scholarship programs Germany Global south Transnationalism Development |
| title | Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany |
| title_full | Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany |
| title_fullStr | Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany |
| title_short | Should they stay or should they go? A case study on international students in Germany |
| title_sort | should they stay or should they go a case study on international students in germany |
| topic | International student migration Scholarship programs Germany Global south Transnationalism Development |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00313-0 |
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