Management

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://ir.iguka.ac.ug/handle/123456789/47

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    Internationalization and Student Mobility: Exploring the Mobility of Higher Education Students in East Africa
    (BIGSAS, 2024) Amutuhaire, Tibelius
    Internationalization of higher education (IHE), notably through student mobility, has a long history and has been extensively researched. Despite this reality, more research is needed, particularly about intra-African student mobility. IHE has generally been interpreted using evidence from the global North, which does not correspond to the African context, particularly its colonial history and socioeconomic challenges. The present study uses a mixed methods approach to explore some rationales for intra-African student mobility in East Africa. Quantitative data were collected from 195 international students in two Ugandan universities, i.e., Makerere University and Kampala International University, using a self-administered questionnaire sent by email. Qualitative data were collected through 16 interviews with international students, staff from international student offices in the selected universities, staff from the country's higher education regulatory agencies, and a senior immigration officer. Data analysis reveals that intra-African student mobility occurs for reasons that complicate – and sometimes challenge – widely ignored issues about student mobility: 1) the direction of student flows is influenced by colonial legacies and past histories of hosting international students by certain countries, as well as economic imperatives; 2) while international student mobility tends to reproduce social class, it is also used by students from lower social classes to resist social class positioning; 3) although international students are desirable in the host country, they are subjected to restrictive immigration policies. This study contributes to understanding why African people invest in international student mobility. It contributes to the growing body of research on critical internationalization and paves the way for future research on the same topic in other parts of the global South.