Outward and Upward Mobilities

People move out to move up. As in the case with other migrant groups, the mobility experienced by international students is a form of social mobility, and one that requires access from a host state. But there are multiple institutions with which students interact and that influence the processes of social mobility. Outward and Upward Mobilities investigates the connection between student and institution.

This edited collection features work by key scholars in the field and considers international students across Canada regardless of legal status. Exploring how international students and their families fare in local ethnic communities, educational and professional institutions, and the labour market, this volume demonstrates the need to ask more critical questions about the short- and long-term effects of temporary legal status; how student and family experiences differ by education level and region of settlement, the barriers to and facilitators of adaptation and integration, and ultimately, to what extent individual, familial, institutional, and state goals function in harmony and in discord.

International students move out to move up. And while, as migrants, they are defined by their relationship to the state, students interact with multiple institutions in the process of achieving personal goals. This collection examines the connection between students and these institutions.

• Imprint: University of Toronto Press
• Published: February 2019
• Pages: 296

• epub: 9781487530570
• pdf: 9781487530563
• hardcover: 9781487504625

Ann H. Kim is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University.

Min-Jung Kwak is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies at Saint Mary’s University.

"Within the complex national context, Outward and Upward Mobilities explores the lived experience of study-migration pathways from fascinatingly diverse perspectives that act in defiance of the stereotypical views of international students. In exploring issues, including, gender, sexual identity, and settlement length, this volume moves from examining the ‘big picture’ to highly specific case studies, and contributes to the creation of a cumulatively powerful and highly readable ‘snapshot in time.’"

Lesleyanne Hawthorne, University of Melbourne

"Outward and Upward Mobilities brings together different ways of thinking about the relationship between study and migration. A unique and important contribution, this volume addresses topics, including the adequacy of data sources, that are rarely addressed in books about international students."

Parvati Raghuram, Professor of Geography and Migration, The Open University