IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v9y2021i1p299-307.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“I Have to Further My Studies Abroad”: Student Migration in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei

    (Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana)

Abstract

The literature on migration intentions of university students and their decisions to travel abroad as student migrants is limited. This article outlines how the thought of student migration is created and nurtured. It investigates how facilitators and/or constraints influence the decision to migrate as students. Using a multi-sited approach, fieldwork in Ghana focused on prospective student migrants, while fieldwork in the Netherlands provided a retrospective perspective among student migrants. Life story interviews were adopted in the collection of data. In the minds of the respondents, there is a clear distinction between the idea of ‘migration’ and the idea of ‘student migration.’ The article concludes that childhood socialization shapes the idea of ‘migration’ that culminates in the thought of ‘student migration.’ Apart from studies, experiencing new cultures and networking are among the notableexpectations that inform the thought of studentmigration. Religiosity categorised as prayers and belonging to religious community is a cultural principle employed to facilitate the fulfilment of student migration intentions. With a shift from the classical economic models of understanding the decision to migrate, this article elucidates the fears, anxiety, joys and perplexities that are embedded in the thought of student migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei, 2021. "“I Have to Further My Studies Abroad”: Student Migration in Ghana," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 299-307.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:299-307
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v9i1.3690
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/3690
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v9i1.3690?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stark, Oded & Helmenstein, Christian & Prskawetz, Alexia, 1998. "Human capital depletion, human capital formation, and migration: a blessing or a "curse"?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 363-367, September.
    2. Mathew J. Creighton & Fernando Riosmena, 2013. "Migration and the Gendered Origin of Migrant Networks Among Couples in M exico," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 94(1), pages 79-99, March.
    3. Mavis Dako-Gyeke, 2016. "Exploring the Migration Intentions of Ghanaian Youth: A Qualitative Study," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 723-744, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Justice Richard Kwabena Owusu Kyei, 2021. "“I Have to Further My Studies Abroad”: Student Migration in Ghana," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 299-307.
    2. Luca Marchiori & I-Ling Shen & Frédéric Docquier, 2013. "Brain Drain In Globalization: A General Equilibrium Analysis From The Sending Countries' Perspective," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1582-1602, April.
    3. Bertoli, Simone & Brücker, Herbert, 2011. "Selective immigration policies, migrants' education and welfare at origin," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 19-22, October.
    4. Stark, Oded & Dorn, Agnieszka, 2013. "International migration, human capital formation, and saving," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 411-414.
    5. Di Maria, C. & Stryszowski, P.K., 2006. "Brain Drain and Distance to Frontier," Other publications TiSEM 01abb5e7-e9ce-4d85-8bc3-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Joshua Bedi, 2024. "Fake marriages, asylum, and gas station robberies: institutional determinants of migrants' strategies," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 45-72, March.
    7. Biswajit Mandal & Sugata Marjit & Noritsugu Nakanishi, 2018. "Outsourcing, factor prices and skill formation in countries with non-overlapping time zones," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(2), pages 289-304, August.
    8. P. Giannoccolo, 2004. "The Brain Drain. A Survey of the Literature," Working Papers 526, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. repec:zbw:rwidps:0020 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Martin Olsson & Lars Persson, 2021. "Talent development and labour market integration in European football," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 367-408, February.
    11. Arnaud Bourgain & Patrice Pieretti & Benteng Zou, 2008. "The Shortage of Medical Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Substitution Policy," DEM Discussion Paper Series 08-13, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    12. Grossmann, Volker & Stadelmann, David, 2011. "Does international mobility of high-skilled workers aggravate between-country inequality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 88-94, May.
    13. Oded Stark & C. Simon Fan, 2009. "The Brain Drain, ‘Educated Unemployment’, Human Capital Formation, and Economic Betterment," International Economic Association Series, in: János Kornai & László Mátyás & Gérard Roland (ed.), Corruption, Development and Institutional Design, chapter 7, pages 120-151, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Antwi, James & Phillips, David C., 2013. "Wages and health worker retention: Evidence from public sector wage reforms in Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 101-115.
    15. Gassmann, Franziska & Siegel, Melissa & Vanore, Michaella & Waidler, Jennifer, 2012. "The impact of migration on elderly left behind in Moldova," MERIT Working Papers 2012-082, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Yao Pan, 2017. "The Impact of Removing Selective Migration Restrictions on Education: Evidence from China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(3), pages 859-885.
    17. repec:hal:journl:hal-00779716 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Batista, Catia & Seither, Julia & Vicente, Pedro C., 2019. "Do migrant social networks shape political attitudes and behavior at home?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 328-343.
    19. Gabriel Romero, 2007. "Skilled Migration: When Should A Government Restrict Migration Of Skilled Workers?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2007-25, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    20. Nil Demet Güngör & Aysıt Tansel, 2008. "Brain drain from Turkey: the case of professionals abroad," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 323-347, July.
    21. Tina Dulam & Philip Hans Franses, 2015. "Emigration, wage differentials and brain drain: the case of Suriname," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(23), pages 2339-2347, May.
    22. Stark, Oded & Wang, Yong, 2002. "Inducing human capital formation: migration as a substitute for subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 29-46, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:299-307. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.