RESEARCH TITLE
International Student Migration in the Serbian context and (Re)Construction of Identity:
Main Issues and Inputs for Policy Making (IS-MIGaIN)
RESEARCH FIELD
Interdisciplinary: demography, sociology, geography
RESEARCH SUBJECT
Researching the influence of the experience of migration and new social environment on the transformation of identity of international students.
PROBLEM
International students are the fastest growing group of international migrants. Highly educated workforce with the experience of international education is an important element of socio-economic progress. Dynamic transnational experiences of international students may have impact on widening their social, cultural and professional identity, but also the formation of cosmopolitan or fluid identity.
The goal of the project is to deepen scientific understanding of the link between identity and the experience of international student migration in the context of the countries with relatively high emigration, such as Serbia.
RESEARCH
Trends of internationalisation in higher education on the European level indicate that it has been becoming a prosperous industry and a basis for socio-economic progress for many countries. In this sense, in the context of Serbia, it is necessary to develop policies which would stimulate the processes of social cohesion in educational institutions and wider communities. However, it is relatively little known about the ways in which international students perceive themselves in relation to new cultural and social groups, about social integration of international students in educational institutions and wider communities, about spatial contextualisation of identity, etc.
RESULT
The project is ongoing April 2023 – April 2025
The results of the empirical research within the IS-MIgAIN project would represent a foundation in initiating a constructive interaction between actors in different fields (higher education and science, public policies, non-governmental sector) and different levels of government, with the intention to utilise this improved cooperation and influence the formulation of the public policy measures which would promote social cohesion and influence development on the macro and micro level.
