https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3071-3349
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ABSTRACT
Taking the UK and Japan as contrasting national case studies, this article supplements existing research into student migration by consolidating a regulatory perspective with individual narrative accounts. Reported here are the results of a mixed-methods two-phase study. Phase 1 is a concerted trajectory analysis of student migration policy in the UK and Japan from 2004 to 2018, while phase 2 draws on biographical-narrative interviews with 26 student-migrants. The paper reveals tangible effects of the receptivity, stability, and transparency of regulatory frameworks in student-migrants’ trajectories, while also demonstrating that seemingly receptive regulatory environments do not necessarily equate to smooth and risk-free post-study transitions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 As Hollifield describes, ‘the economic logic of liberalism is one of openness, but the political and legal logic is one of closure’, and the result of this ‘paradox’ is persistent tension between the competing imperatives of international openness and national security (Hollifield Citation1992, Citation2004).
2 Indeed, the Conservative government, elected in December 2019, has stated that it hopes to re-implement a two-year PSWV (Home Office Citation2019).
3 Despite an historic aversion to immigration, the chronic challenges of a low birth-rate and demographic decline have caused a softening in opposition to inbound migration to Japan (Komine Citation2018; Yonezawa Citation2020).
4 Japan has since been surpassed by China as the leading host of international students in East Asia.
5 Participants chose their own pseudonyms at the time of the first interview.
6 Universities typically create and distribute original documents for this purpose. A typical example is available from Ritsumeikan University (Citation2019).
7 Notably, this pathway was closed on July 6th, 2019.
8 Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (as well as British overseas [territories] citizens, and British nationals [overseas]).