Citation

Vögtle EM, Windzio M. Geogr. J. (Hoboken) 2020; 186(1): 103-115.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/geoj.12329

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article analyses the network of international student mobility between OECD and European Higher Education Area (EHEA) member countries between 2000 and 2009. It aims to investigate the link between countries? levels of democracy and how this impacts on their ability to attract degree-mobile students from abroad. Social network analysis and exponential random graph modelling are used to show that the ties of student mobility occur more often when both countries in the dyad have either low or high levels of democracy and when the receiving country is also economically wealthy. The network is characterised by a core?periphery structure where a few countries act as hubs with numerous strong ties. The overall results lend support to homophily assumptions about the network of internationally mobile students and show a considerable confounding of effects of democratisation and economic prosperity on international student mobility.

Language: en

Keywords

democratisation; EHEA countries; exponential random graph modelling; international student mobility; OECD countries; social network analyses