International students as transnational migrants

With the expanding and diversifying of international education, an unprecedented number of students are able to participate in international education for different periods of time. This chapter presents various types of international students that have been the focus of academic discussion, differentiated by their education levels, age profiles and purposes for migration. It also describes the different patterns of mobilities that have emerged, highlighting the increasing trend of intra-regional student movements, various forms of return migration and the fluid and multiple mobilities. Through presenting students’ varied identities and mobilities, this chapter points out that international education is increasingly utilized to carry out a multitude of objectives by a wide range of stakeholders. At the same time, the expansion of international education is in tandem with a changing educational landscape, characterized by an inter-connected global field of education with distinct hierarchies. Moreover, the diversifying student mobility emphasizes the new form of transnationalism that is best described as continued cross-border ties that individuals, organizations and institutions are able to maintain through different movements across frontiers.