PhD Studentship: Sociology of migration and education: Uncertain pathways: Mapping Chinese international students’ post-study (im)mobility in the UK

Post-study opportunities in host countries is an increasingly important concern for international students. This project explores how Chinese international students navigate post-study pathways in the UK in the context of migration policy changes, uncertain job market prospects and rising xenophobic environment. Focusing on the largest international student group, the study analyses how graduates negotiate decisions to stay, return, or move elsewhere. It uses a 12-month longitudinal diary methods and interviews with graduates, to map the intersecting webs of factors (visa regimes, labour markets, transnational network, and personal aspirations) and the process of shaping post-study (im)mobility. Combined with graduates’ retrospective reflections and experiences “in the moment” captured over time, the study provides a unique meso-level explanation of joint influence on individuals under shifting conditions. It explores student migrants’ responses to the UK’s difficulties in balancing talent retention and anti-immigration politics. It informs UK’s future international student recruitment and higher education sustainability.

(To be eligible, International Applicant must also hold a SUIPRES Scholarship).

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