International Students Migration (ISM): Group Formation, Networks and Emerging Practices in Africa

Abstract

The phenomenon of international student migration has come to stay in contemporary world affairs. Recent trends indicate that international students' mobility is largely from the developing countries to the developed economies of Europe and America where international students easily form groups and social networks that enhance continuity in IMS and favors international capital flow and enhances remittance to their social networks back home. South East Asian countries like China, Korea and India, for example, have also received their fair share of international students in recent years. But, the trends are not static as they continue changing in terms of structure, sex and age composition which makes it difficult to assess the implications of ISM on destination and departure countries/continents. The reasons for the shift in paradigm has not been sufficiently explained by scholars, though, a cursory review of available empirical literature suggest amongst other things that improvement in technology and creation of networks in the diaspora and home/foreign policies options for tertiary and higher education now favors ISM more than before this century. The central hypothesis of this paper is that ISM is enhanced by networks of group formation that have significantly favored ISM in many developing countries in recent years. The paper further argues that ISM is enhanced by other factors like the use of social media where networks that benefits from the sending and receiving countries are created. To underscore the recent trends and the outcomes of this phenomenon, the paper adopts a mixed methodology of study, but its application leans on the historical approach to present and analyze the trends and dynamics of ISM, the benefits, and constraints faced by international students in the "wilderness' or  diaspora and the strategies they use to overcome them. The paper concludes that despite the visible challenges, IMS appears to be a veritable source of remittances for many families in Africa, especially south of the Saharan Africa.