![Sample our Education journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5932/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Education.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This study aims to contribute to the knowledge about international student mobility to semi-peripheral states. The theoretical framework combines the world- systems analysis and the push–pull model grounded on international migration theories. Data emanate from the semi-structured interviews with 50 international students from five leading Ukrainian universities with distinct disciplinary profiles: technical, classical, medical, aviation and life sciences. Findings reveal that the main push factors that trigger international students to study in Ukraine include a lack of job prospects and the failure to enter higher education in the home country. Attractive elements of Ukrainian universities include a lax admission process, good affordability of higher education, low cost of living and the recognition of Ukrainian degrees for further studies in developed countries. The expected quality of education appears not to be a major issue. Ukrainian degree is an indirect route for international students to enter the labour market in the home country or a gateway to further studies in developed countries.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Barend van der Meulen and Hans Vossensteyn for making insightful and constructive comments on this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Myroslava Hladchenko
Myroslava Hladchenko is a researcher at Nicolaus Copernicus University (Poland). She holds a PhD in higher education from the University of Twente. Myroslava participated as a visiting scholar in MARIHE program (2013) and had visits as an invited researcher to the International Centre for Higher Education Research-Kassel, University Kassel (2015) and Observatoryof Social and Political Sciences, University of Lausanne (2015).