Migrating to Learn and Learning to Migrate: A Study of the Experiences and Intentions of International Student Migrants

Abstract

"The research reported here evaluates whether students come to the UK mainly for educational reasons, and therefore perceive their stay as temporary, or whether emigration for study is being used as part of a conscious strategy by people intending to become future labour migrants.... The simplest interpretation of the results appears to be that migration, experienced as a result of international moves for study purposes, does not influence planning of further migration moves. But the research also indicates that migration for education is closely tied to other types of population redistribution and should be treated by population geographers as an integral part of international migration systems." Data were collected by questionnaire survey from 349 engineering students at Hong Kong universities and 82 Hong Kong students studying engineering in the UK.