Youth migration for educational purposes

Another subset of youth migrates for educational purposes. The number of students enrolled in higher education is increasing globally and will continue to rise (Global Migration Group [GMG], 2014, especially Chapter 11). Many young people see cross-border education in higher-income countries primarily as a means to secure better career opportunities. For some, degrees received abroad are perceived as academically superior compared to those received in origin countries. In addition, the language skills and cultural competences gained while studying abroad make them more competitive in the global market (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2015).

Youth migrants, like other groups of migrants, may also choose to study in a country with higher income levels. In this case, their education can be a steppingstone to employment and citizenship (GMG, 2014, especially Chapter 11). To address the needs of youth in this category, policymakers should consider that young people may need to work while pursuing their education, in order to fund their studies.

As well as needing to work while studying, youth migrants pursuing an education can face problems if there are incompatibilities between the education systems of the destination and origin countries. This can pose major issues, both when seeking employment and when applying to university. For example, if a young person has received a high school diploma in their country of origin, and the school or degree is not recognized by a certain regulatory body or as a standardized degree, this can be a major challenge not only for students but also for universities (see Integration and social cohesion).

Millions of students are on the move, demonstrating the fact that young people are becoming more mobile and that they are acquiring practical skills from their migration experience for their future (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]). Learning mobility – meaning “transnational movement undertaken for educational purposes or to acquire new competencies or knowledge” (European Platform on Learning Mobility, 2019) – has been shown to contribute to youth developing and improving many skills and competences, including intercultural skills, which ultimately can help young people access jobs at home or abroad. In some contexts, migration for learning purposes has been integrated into education and training paths, forming a key part of a formal qualification as well as serving as an effective way to promote global and regional integration.

These education and training programmes that offer youth the possibility of spending part of their studies abroad, or through skills development training and internships, allow for cross-fertilization between cultures and nationalities. Europe, a region in which youth learning mobility is among the most advanced, recorded around 3 million participating students. Such programmes are also linked to the wider regional goal of creating European Union citizens and promote integration within the common market.

Student mobility is also becoming increasingly common beyond Europe. For instance, the United States of America, Australia and Canada also promote youth mobility by organizing exchange programmes with students from countries around the world. Elsewhere, in South America,  the city of Redenção, Brazil, for example, hosts a tertiary level institution (UNILAB) for student migrants from Portuguese-speaking African countries (França and Padilla, 2018). Similar learning mobility programmes could be offered more systematically by other regional blocks willing to further promote integration. For instance, the European Union has financed youth mobility programmes for non-European Union students (European Platform on Learning Mobility, 2019) and expanded the forms of mobility that it supports, to include volunteering, educational exchanges and work placements (European Commission, 2018; Roman et al., 2018).

Other youth mobility programmes take place outside institutional frameworks. One example is the idea of the “gap year” whereby a person (usually a youth) delays the completion of their education milestones with a period of travel between secondary and tertiary education, or as a postgraduate intermission before entering the labour market. Young migrants may undertake voluntary work placements in civil society organizations or engage in prolonged stays in a different country.

A “gap year” may outwardly appear to disrupt an educational path, akin to an early dropout or leaving school. In fact, engaging in a prolonged period of travel has value in terms of personal development (Vogt, 2018) and the spread of intercultural understanding. Stays abroad can also enhance confidence, maturity and independence, as already seen in the practice of student mobility (Murphy-Lejuene, 2002). The gap year needs to be understood in different terms to the classical discourse on migration, where economic and political motivations are understood to be the main drivers. Here, the personal focus and the cultural imprint are quite different.

• The number of young people migrating for educational purposes has greatly increased as they aim to pursue education abroad in the hope that it will help them secure better jobs. However, compatibility of education systems is a major barrier to learning mobility and should be prioritized for countries with large numbers of young migrants seeking degrees abroad.
• Learning mobility allows youth to gain skills and competencies by studying abroad, through exchange programmes or “gap years” which in turn increase their employment opportunities and personal development.
• By supporting youth mobility programmes, governments can promote regional intercultural and economic integration while decreasing unemployment levels and skills mismatch.