From Student to Transnational Migrant: Paradigm shift in student migration from Nepal

Abstract

In the contemporary globalised world, migration has become a dynamic phenomenon which involves a number of new actors and processes. International students who move from less developed to more developed countries have become important actors in of contemporary international migration, and this is also the case in Nepal. However, very little is studied about the way Nepali young people migrate internationally as a student. There is also a lack of adequate knowledge about the processes, patterns and dynamics of student migration, the incentives and motivations that influence the actors, and the roles of the social networks and families of the students. This deficit is the central theme of this study. Conducting a multi-site ethnography with Nepali students in the UK and their families in Nepal, this study endeavours to examine the social networks and connections and also the roles of transnational households in supporting and facilitating the migration of students from Nepal to the UK. Premised on the theories of transnational migration, this study explores, in particular, how student migrants become 'transmigrants'.