Youth Transitions, International Student Mobility and Spatial Reflexivity

Being Mobile?

D. Cairns

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137388513
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Geografía humana

Drawing on comparative country case studies, this book explores student mobility in Europe, incorporating original theoretical perspectives to explain how mobility happens and new empirical evidence to illustrate how students become mobile within their present educational and future working lives.

1

Introduction

This introductory chapter begins with a partial health warning: for readers in the main metropolitan centres of Europe, this book is going to provide a somewhat strange and often disconcerting account of student mobility; for those familiar with the lives of tertiary-educated young people in peripheral societies and their need to be mobile, there will be no such difficulties. This is a discussion that takes as its research foci university-educated young people in three different societies, each of which is characterized by its own peculiar social, economic and political limitations; limitations that mean international mobility is, at least for many of those with ambition, de rigueur in order to successfully reach personal and professional goals. In this sense, this is a study of student mobility in contexts where such movement is of fundamental importance to finding a position in society rather than being an additional supplement to enhance an already healthy state of employability.

My thematic choice means this book cannot by any reasonable stretch of the imagination be regarded as representing the dominant experiences of how students enter the youth mobility field in Europe, limited as the discussion is to Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; there are hence no pretentions towards becoming a ‘classic’ text in this academic area. Nor does the research engage with the full spectrum of youth in these locales, preferring as it does to concentrate upon those presently studying at tertiary level educational institutions in Lisbon, Dublin, Cork and Belfast. The book is, however, intended to be interesting, original and challenging, through bringing to light new perspectives on student mobility as well as being engaged with contemporary academic and policy debates in this field. These debates include the struggle to understand transitions between education levels and movement from education to work in late modern and increasingly neoliberal societies, the role of mobility in personal and professional development and the geo-political meaning of the transnational circulation of young people.

In regard to theoretical context, or contexts, the discussion that follows is grounded in ideas from European Sociology, Social Policy and Geography as well as new perspectives emerging from research findings. More specifically, this book will have a special, if occasionally antagonistic, relationship with the interdisciplinary fields of Migration Studies and Youth Studies. Much has been learnt from the accumulated literature in these areas but there is also a need to recognize a few basic limitations. As has been previously noted (King, 2002), youth have traditionally been absent from studies of migration and other forms of geographical mobility, and while some research on youth transitions has recognized the importance of spatial inequalities (Furlong and Cartmel, 1997; Jones, 1999; Jamieson, 2000; Henderson et al., 2007), most youth scholars still assume that the young people they study and make policy recommendations about will be geographically static as they move between educational stages and, hopefully, into the labour market. This sedentary bias can be seen as part of a larger problem within Sociology and cognate disciplines; a problem that is seemingly imperceptible to researchers and theorists living and working in the European ‘centre’ but painfully obvious to those of us from periphery.

On a more optimistic note, looking towards the area of youth policy and those involved in the practice of youth work, in spite of a frequent failure to consider geographically marginal youth in policy interventions, it does need to be acknowledged that vast strides that have been made in recent years, principally at European level, towards recognizing the need to open-up the international field of tertiary education to a broader range of young people (Teichler, 2004; Brooks and Waters, 2011). This includes the provision and expansion of institutionalized forms of student mobility, for example, the European Commission’s (EC’s) highly visible Erasmus programme (Teichler, 1996; Maiworm, 2001), and the globalization of tertiary educational platforms via developments such as the Bologna Process (Wächter, 2004). Since this area has been well-trodden by other writers, this debate will not feature prominently in this book, but it is important to acknowledge that while it remains an incomplete project, the institutional encouragement of student mobility has been a qualified success.

Being mobile

This slightly unorthodox beginning leads directly to the asking of a very important question: if this book is not a straightforward account of student mobility then what is it about? Quite simply this is a discussion about being mobile, with particular emphasis upon university-educated youth outside the main metropolitan centres, that is, not those living in regions such as France, Germany, Great Britain or the Nordic countries. This phrase, being mobile, has been chosen quite deliberately. It is an attempt to incorporate recognition of what has been referred to in Migration Studies as the ‘mobility requirement’ (Morano-Foadi, 2005, p. 146) into the more sedentary world of youth transitions. We might somewhat pretentiously regard this as the ontological dimension of this investigation, but before this book can be tossed aside in disgust by those fearing a lengthy engagement with ill-conceived, over-complicated and self-reverential theories, in more straightforward terms this can be explained as simply recognizing that the role of geographical movement in attempts to secure better, or at least different, transition outcomes will be acknowledged. This can be in the form of securing access to the global field of postgraduate education, entering a foreign labour market at a level commensurate to skills and qualifications or finding other less tangible forms of personal fulfilment via foreign dislocations. In what follows, aside from considering this theme at a conceptual level in Chapter 2, there will be explanation of a more concrete aspect of being mobile in Chapter 3, which relates to the study of how mobility processes are initiated among various student respondents. Added to this, in Chapter 4, is elaboration of current policy and provision for institutionally mediated mobility in Europe and the role of this form of movement in the political project of uniting Europe.

The empirical part of the investigation involves looking at the results of a number of research projects conducted with a view to assessing the relative importance of personal and societal factors in predicting likelihood of moving abroad for the next educational or occupational step. Pertinent issues here include preferred destinations (the question of where to go), anticipated durations of stays for those intending to leave (when to go, how long to stay and whether or not to return) and identification of real and imagined barriers among those intending to stay (what stops mobility processes from being initiated or limits their chance of success). The policy aspect of being mobile is ultimately concerned with the extent to which mobility can become a youth cohort experience for the tertiary-educated population via institutional means, neatly dovetailing with issues such as the establishment of European citizenship and enhancement of employability prospects. It will ultimately be argued, in Chapter 5, that despite some promise, there is still much room for improvement.

Locating mobility

Returning to the idea of synergizing various elements of Migration Studies with youth transitions paradigms, the discussion in this book can be specifically located at the period in the life course characterized by the undertaking of various socio-developmental tasks, which when realized constitute, more or less, an arrival at a state of adulthood. Given substantial differences across different countries and regions, it is not possible to define this period with precision in terms of age; however, the majority of respondents covered during fieldwork were aged between eighteen and their mid-to-late twenties, an age band which can reasonably be accepted as normative parameters for constituting an engagement with the ‘youth’ or ‘young adult’ population.

As everyone who has ever worked in the field of Youth Studies knows, youth transitions is an area in which a vast amount of literature has accumulated, only a modicum of which will be reviewed in Chapter 2. But we know from this work that while the transition phase has many facets it also has one universal feature: it represents a period of profound significance in the life course due to the large number of later-life defining decisions being taken. This includes making educational choices, deciding upon a career path, working out how and when to leave the parental home, who to have meaningful relationships with and whether or not to have children. However, as pointed out in previous articles on this theme by the author (see especially Cairns, 2008), existing paradigms of youth transitions do not generally interpolate the question of precisely where is it that these choices are to be enacted. It just tends to be casually assumed that this will be close to home. Therefore, in respect to providing a contribution to the state of the art in youth transitions, making a case for this crucial spatial amendment will be the main advance of this book.

Like all empirical studies, the evidence discussed in the subsequent chapters has a specific geographical and temporal context, as well as an educational setting. As is clear from the title, this is a book about tertiary-educated young people involved in incipient processes of International Student Mobility (ISM), predominantly undergraduates studying at a variety of university institutions in three European regions. Each of these locales has its own set of social, economic and political contextual specificities, although there are also a number of important commonalities which cross national boundaries. And while influenced by research conducted by the author prior to this time, discussion will be rooted in the results of fieldwork which took place between 2010 and 2013, thus encompassing events such as the global financial crisis and subsequent recession; an affair that has had both predictable and not so predictable impacts on mobility intentions.

Theorizing mobility and immobility

Looking back at the research agendas of the three empirical studies conducted by the author, while regionally specific issues were always present, and will be discussed where relevant, the issue of mobility decision-making was central to respondents in all three contexts. For the relatively small numbers of young people with very definite plans to leave, it is usually possible to identify reasons why this is the case, with these scenarios illustrated through the use of case study evidence and some off-the-shelf theoretical tools, including the concept of ‘habitus’, an idea most frequently associated with Pierre Bourdieu (e.g., Bourdieu, 1990; Bourdieu, 1996); this notion was previously introduced by the author to the discussion of ISM in an article published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education (Cairns et al., 2013) and a related paper presented at a European Commission/Council of Europe Youth Partnership conference (Cairns, 2013). Of equal importance to understanding why some young people are more willing and able to leave than others is the mirror issue of immobility; this again is elaborated via case study evidence with emphasis upon the grounding influence of a family habitus.

The interpretation of the results emerging from the analysis of primary empirical data will be further aided via the development of a relatively new theoretical concept, referred to as ‘spatial reflexivity’. This idea, first introduced by the author in an article published in the Journal of Youth Studies (Cairns et al., 2012), refers to the extent to which young people incorporate a geographical dimension into their transitions to adulthood. As discussed in this theoretically embryonic paper, the act of being mobile can be understood as using geographical mobility to move towards better transition outcomes, thus linking spatial movement with socio-economic self-advancement. This includes the process of securing employment that matches one’s qualification and skill level or finding a job within an occupational field that is inaccessible or non-existent at home. Alongside such considerations may be the more straightforward desire to find better remunerated work or more secure working conditions. There is also recognition of the desire to live in a society with a better standard of living, and free of economic hassles and political instability. Alternatively, the main aim of being mobile might just be to avoid unemployment or one of the numerous forms of underemployment and job precariousness that now seem to define the contemporary youth experience in many countries (Standing, 2011).

These are just a few of what we might regard as the subjective level justifications in spatial reflexivity; and there are other equally important personal considerations not covered here, such as starting or ending a romantic relationship and reuniting with or getting away from a family, that no doubt are of significance for many young people. We also know from prior studies of youth transitions that success and failure in late modern societies was influenced not only by individual choices made in respect to work and study but also by societal structures of opportunities, which could be in turn shaped, enabled and constrained by gender, social class and ethnic identity issues (Roberts et al., 1994; Furlong and Cartmel, 1997; Schoon et al., 2001; Côté and Bynner, 2008). Whether or not such structures stay salient in our research contexts remains to be seen, but the importance of gender and socio-economic background will certainly be considered. What is less contentiously accepted from the body of Youth Studies theory is the idea that to successfully enter and remain within the labour market, and overcome structural deficits and disadvantages, young people must plan their futures effectively (Leccardi, 2005). This is especially important at times of economic scarcity and political instability, and this planning process can potentially include an incorporation of spatial reflexivity.

The basic argument is that making the right mobility choices can make a difference to transitions outcomes. An inability to become mobile also has consequences beyond an injury to career progress. At a personal level, the refusal to move can mean failure to self-realize, manifest in conditions such as prolonged emotional dependency upon family. Immobility will also have its societal costs, for example, in the short-term failure to capitalize upon what may have been substantial investments in tertiary education, that is, ‘academic capital’ (Bourdieu, 1984), and a long-term missing-out on the benefits to be accrued from processes such as brain circulation (Gaillard and Gaillard, 1997; Baláz et al., 2004; Jons, 2009). A further penalty can come in the form of encouraging brain drain processes through the mismanagement of, or not managing at all, mobility processes at a time of labour market difficulty (Guth and Gill, 2008; Labrianidis and Vogiatzis, 2012). Many young people also run the risk of making serious mistakes that may imperil their ontological integrity though taking the wrong mobility paths, be this heading towards foreign destinations when dangerously underprepared, moving to the wrong places at the wrong times or simply encountering unforeseen problems and barriers that result in personal unhappiness and distress.

Researching mobility

The need to look forward rather than back is recognized in respect to the research design of the three studies which form the basis of Chapter 3. This is important when producing knowledge for policymakers and practitioners who work in the field of youth mobility, considering that the future can be changed via effective interventions but the past cannot. The need for a prospective research design explains the decision to concentrate upon those who have not as yet moved, although in a few exceptional cases, prior mobility experience was in evidence. The main focus will also be on undergraduates (ISCED level five) since, according to King and Ruiz-Gelices (2003), such students make particularly good subjects for investigating mobility as they are, in theory, open to becoming geographically mobile and acting as potential pioneers in establishing migration flows. Therefore, little time will be squandered trying to conduct futile secondary analysis using what may be less than pristine data on the ever-changing numbers of tertiary-educated young migrants in Europe today, with the notable exception of figures relating to actual prevalence of student mobility at the beginning of Chapter 3 (UNESCO, 2013). Quantifying youth mobility is, as most migration scholars already know, an utterly futile exercise given both the fluid and ‘fuzzy’ nature of such population flows (Murphy-Lejeune, 2002, p. 6; see also Favell, 2008, pp. 100–101). This is even before introducing the methodological challenges inherent in conducting research with any section of the youth population due to their often peripatetic lifestyles and notorious capacity for failing to keep interview appointments.

The final part of the mobility jigsaw can be found in the policy arena, with specific emphasis upon understanding mobility regulation at European level, and the only part of this book based predominantly on the analysis of secondary materials. This evidence consists of various ‘grey area’ materials produced by the EC and other related bodies which elaborate upon contemporary youth mobility policy. In terms of this discourse, the Commission has been extremely adept at emphasizing the importance of youth mobility, and the more general principle of relatively free movement between Member States, to the European project, for instance, as a means of enhancing competitiveness within the European Research Area (ERA) and fostering employability via short-term student exchanges. Added to this are related concerns such as the encouragement of identification with a singular, if somewhat idealized, Europe. In practice, the glossy picture presented by the EC is not entirely representative of what is happening at ground level. One reason is the concentration of resources upon certain forms of mobility at the expense of others, leading to a resource imbalance between what is termed ‘credit’ mobility, meaning movement within undergraduate degree courses, and other less recognized modes of movement, such as longer forms of mobility that take place after the completion of diplomas. Recognizing this apparent imbalance is important to the present discussion as laissez faire post-diploma level travel is more crucial to young people in peripheral societies than the EC’s partially pre-paid short-term exchanges, thus raising serious questions in regard to the relationship between mobility programmes and rising levels of social inequality between European nations.

2

Mobile Being

Introduction

This chapter engages with the idea that mobility can make a difference in respect to the educational, professional and personal development of young people who are studying at tertiary-level educational institutions. Discussion begins with a survey of recent literature in two interdisciplinary research fields: Migration Studies and Youth Studies, the latter of which might also be termed the Sociology of Youth in a non-interdisciplinary context (i.e., minus Social Policy and Social Work). This highlights what is already known about the practice of mobility among tertiary-educated youth and, hopefully, helps move us towards a better understanding of the spatial dilemmas these young people face during their transitions to adulthood. This overview leads to a theoretical exploration of the potential meaning of the mobility experience, complemented by case study evidence taken from three different research contexts. Ultimately, this discussion is designed to contribute to the debate on the meaning and uses of geographical mobility for young people currently taking ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Mobile Being
• 3 Becoming Mobile
• 4 The Mobility Promise
• 5 A Mobile Future?
• Notes
• References
• Index