Over the past decades, international student mobility (ISM) in higher education has expanded  rapidly. This growth has sparked a considerable interest in ISM within different disciplines, research communities, and circles of practitioners and policy makers. However, there is surprisingly little connection and exchange among researchers across these spheres. In addition, ISM scholarship remains strongly restricted to scientific circles, despite the relevance that scientific knowledge on ISM has for policy and daily practice. This Action responds to the pressing need for systematic interdisciplinary and international exchange of knowledge on theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, findings, and best practice examples, and for translating scientific findings into recommendations for ISM practice. It is organised around five working groups, four of them addressing themes in need of scientific development, and a fifth one bringing together recommendations for practice:
(1) Global ISM flows and trends at the macro-level;
(2) Social inequalities in access to and during ISM;
(3) The social and cultural integration of international students in their host countries;
(4) The impact of ISM on graduates’ careers;
(5) Connecting research and practice.
The Action brings together established researchers, early-career investigators (ECIs) and PhD students from different scientific disciplines, countries, and research communities as well as stakeholders from international offices, international student and study abroad organizations, and different policy levels. The Action will offer comparative and practical insights into ISM dynamics by bringing fragmented knowledge together, with the main aim of generating new interdisciplinary and innovative empirical perspectives on the phenomenon and translating these into tangible recommendations for stakeholders.

Contact person:  Prof. dr Milan Segedinac
Period of realization: 2021 – 2025
ID: COST Action CA20115