Abstract

This paper examines taught postgraduate students’ migration from Greece to the United Kingdom in times of economic recession in Greece. For many years the United Kingdom has attracted thousands of Greek tertiary-level students. However, despite the great volume and numerical importance of their migration flows, there is a gap in the study of the educational migration of this national group of students. Drawing on an ongoing doctoral study and based on a series of interviews with taught postgraduate students from Greece, staff members in UK Higher Education Institutions, as well as with education agents, this project investigates various aspects of this phenomenon. Specifically, it explores the patterns and trends of taught postgraduate students’ migration from Greece to the UK and examines their aspirations, decision-making, perceptions, motivations, experiences, and graduation plans through the socio-economic, family, social, and cultural contexts in which they are situated. The study found that students migrate for various reasons, such as socio-economic, career-related, socio-cultural, and personal motivations, and student migration is mostly perceived and used as the first stage of a broader emigration project, as almost all of the participants intend to remain abroad upon graduation.

Keywords

student migration, taught postgraduate students, aspirations, decision-making,future plans.