Knowledge migration flows in education hubs: Mobile students enrolled at Indian and British branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates

Project Information

EduHubMig

Grant agreement ID: 706550

DOI

10.3030/706550

Project closed

EC signature date 25 April 2016

Start date 9 January 2017

End date 16 September 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 165 598,80

EU contribution

€ 165 598,80

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EduHubMig (Knowledge migration flows in education hubs: Mobile students enrolled at Indian and British branch campuses in the United Arab Emirates)

Reporting period: 2017-01-09 to 2019-01-08

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The expansion of the global middle-class means that more families now aspire to send their children to university. In addition, states have heralded the transition to a knowledge-based economy as one of the pathways to a more sustainable economy and thriving society. These factors have contributed to a growing demand for higher education, with university enrolments forecast to rise by 163 million between 2015 and 2030. But due to decreasing national public funding for higher education, many countries cannot satisfy the surge in demand. Thus, universities have sought alternative revenue streams and boosted their activities concerning internationalised education.

One trend over the last decades has been the overall growth of international student mobility. In 2018, there were 5.6 million tertiary students worldwide who moved to another country for the purpose of study. Yet, many international students enrolled in the Global North are faced with high tuition fees, anti-immigration policies, travel bans and work restrictions. A second, development is so-called 'transnational education' that allows students to study for a foreign degree 'at home', e.g. via distance learning, international branch campuses, joint degrees, etc. In other words, ever more institutions are finding ways to deliver education across international borders.

A relatively new third phenomenon, however, are contexts in which both institutions and students become transnationally mobile. Until now, little is known about international students at international branch campuses and the ways in which these entangled mobilities may affect the acquisition of skills and knowledge.

The overall objectives of the EduHubMig project, therefore, were to:
• Engage in a critical examination of the number and characteristics of international students at international branch campuses with a focus on the United Arab Emirates (UAE);
• Develop a comparative perspective of the aspirations and experiences of international students and domestic students enrolled at Indian and British international branch campuses;
• Investigate how 'transnational education' is regarded and promoted by various stakeholders and the implications this may have for knowledge production and higher education in the region;
• Develop appropriate theoretical frames in order to contribute to debates concerning the internationalisation of education, youth mobilities and the governance of migration.

EduHubMig addressed these issues through research in Dubai – a strategically relevant education hub that has established several national Emirati higher education institutions, but also hosts one of the largest number of international branch campuses and reported a high proportion of international students. The Fellow conducted an online survey, in addition to qualitative data collection and analysis of secondary data. This research engages with pressing issues about student migration and higher education, which have become even more pronounced after the Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically reconfigured global mobility patterns and the delivery of teaching.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

"EduHubMig project ran from January 2017 until September 2020. This project's work was organised into several connected stages: a preparatory secondary data and literature review stage; a fieldwork-focused stage in the UAE; and an analysis and dissemination stage. For the fieldwork in the UAE, the Fellow greatly benefited from her local affiliation with Zayed University and the collaboration of the international universities that agreed to participate in the study. The collected data provide insights into the perspectives of students, alumni, staff and other stakeholders engaged in transnational education. This allowed her to better understand the ways in which cross-border education is promoted, practised and experienced.

The findings from this project suggest that the number of internationally mobile students in the UAE is lower than reported in international statistics. Like many other countries, the Emirati statistics continue to identify international students solely based on citizenship. This means that non-Emirati students, who are part of the country's very large migrant community and decide to study locally, are included in the data. Nevertheless, international students still represent a substantial and growing share of the student body at the branch campuses in the UAE. The profile of the international students is varied, and it includes citizens from other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) or Arab countries, Europe, non-Arab Asian countries and Sub-Saharan Africa, amongst other regions. A considerable number of students are second-generation expats of South Asian or European origin who grew up in neighbouring GCC countries.

Following their studies, the alumni interviewed for this project encountered many barriers to enter the Emirati labour market and re-new their residence visa, which also structured their complex mobility patterns after graduation. In this regard, the 'kafala' system for temporary sponsored visas appears to be particularly at odds with the Emirati government's 'Vision 2021' to ""attract and retain"" talented individuals. However, in 2018 the UAE introduced longer post-study visas, which have somewhat eased graduates' transition into labour market and also position the country as a more competitive study destination.

The Fellow gave presentations and invited lectures about the project's findings at over twenty international conferences and seminars. She also had the opportunity to share EduHubMig results with students at Utrecht University as part of several guest lectures. Besides, the Fellow co-organised public events, such as workshops, conference panels and roundtables in the Middle East and Europe, bringing together practitioners, research scholars and students. During the project, the Fellow prepared a range of publications, including several journal articles, one book chapter and one co-edited volume. Moreover, the data collected during this project will inform and enhance additional publications in the coming years."

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Two influential topics in research and policies concerning the internationalisation of education over the last two decades have been 'international student mobility' and 'transnational education'. In most regions of the world, there has been growing research interest in both these themes. But only very few studies have examined the connections between these topics, and therefore the two research fields have largely developed in isolation of each other. EduHubMig builds on these two literatures to make sense of processes that are starting to converge in practice and, in turn, understand the implications for students, higher education institutions and society.

Importantly, the project introduces multi-dimensional and comparative perspectives. By conducting interviews with students and alumni of international branch campuses, the Fellow includes the experiences of individuals who generally have been sidelined in research on transnational education. The interviews with university staff add a further layer of embodied experience. Moreover, the comparisons between Indian and British branch campuses allowed the Fellow to examine the role of non-Western institutions in shaping knowledge production via transnational education.

Dubai International Academic City

Dubai Knowledge Park