Indian Student migration and the meaning of home
Author Name
Tilotama Pradhan
Author Address
Tilotama Pradhan, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, University of Essex, U.K, Email:
[email protected]
Keywords
Student- migration, home, diaspora, internationalisation of education, social and cultural impact.
Abstract
This paper will outline the journey of the Indian migrant students, how they maintain their home culture during their stay abroad and whether this experience has an impact on the way they think about home. We are familiar with the phrase ‘home is where the heart is’, if home is the place people ultimately long to be, how do migrant students adapt to their dislocation when they are absent for long periods? Around 3 lakhs Indian students go abroad to live and study annually, for a period of one year or more. Contrary to many migrants, some may intend to go back home once they finish their programme or apply for jobs in the country they have graduated from or somewhere else. What does this mean to their identity and the way they perceive home? Student migration is commonly viewed only as, adjacent to internationalisation of education. Studies on student migrants have not adequately addressed the social or cultural impact, or the struggle the students face during their stay in a foreign land.Therefore, the current paper will rely on the analysis of data, obtained from semi-structured interviews to stress thateducation related migration have their own set of inspirations, ambitions and experiences. This is common amongst other kinds of migration also, like economic or refugees. The paper will highlight that student migration have a particular trail of distinctive migratory pathway and the key theme identified to understand this trajectory is the concept of ‘home’, in the studies related to the Indian diapora, the concept of home is idealised and is often viewed as the lifelong desire to go back to one’s ‘desh’ while they are residing in‘videsh’ (Jayaram, 2004). However, this paper will argue that, for Indian migrant students the concept of home may not be tied to one place and that the experiences of themigrant students have a role to play in the way they perceive and construct the meaning of home, after they have been exposed to the cultures of the host country.
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"