South–South student mobility: International students from Portuguese-speaking Africa in Brazil

Abstract

As a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon, student mobility involves diverse actors, interests and rationalities. With the globalization of education, universities and other higher education providers have implemented strategies to recruit and attract international students, not least to increase their revenues and levels of internationalization (Findlay et al. 2017). Likewise, destination countries have acknowledged the advantages of hosting international students: financial benefits, an increase in the skilled worker pool and improvements in diplomatic relations (Riaño et al. 2018). Origin countries meanwhile identify student mobility as a means through which talented individuals can become qualified via moving to countries with well-developed higher education system (Findlay 2010). And students themselves, and their families, recognize the potential impact of an international diploma on employability, making them instrumental in establishing educational mobility imperatives at tertiary level (Alberts and Hazen 2005; Holloway et al. 2012).