Time well spent? Temporal dimensions of study abroad and implications for student experiences and outcomes under the UK Turing Scheme

This paper reflects on the importance of ‘time spent’ in understanding the international student experience. Short-term mobility programmes (involving stays of between 1 week and 2 months) attracting less privileged students, such as the relatively new Turing Scheme in the United Kingdom, have been hailed as a potential ‘solution’ to the fact that, traditionally, wealthier individuals have been far more likely to engage in study abroad. However, we do not yet know how short-term and longer duration programmes compare in terms of the value they confer to students (in relation to their experiences and outcomes). How likely is it that short-term mobility at undergraduate level is as valuable, according to different measures, as mobility lasting 6 months to several years (as with degree mobility)? This paper reviews some of the evidence to date on shorter duration mobility, addressing how value in international study is constructed and conferred and how this relates to ‘time spent’. The paper concludes by arguing that the picture is mixed: although short-term mobility will be beneficial to students, those engaging in longer term exchanges (usually more privileged students) are likely to derive greater benefits

Failing to succeed ? The role of migration in the reproduction of social advantage amongst young graduates in Hong Kong

This paper attempts to unpack the role of failure, and subsequent international mobility, in affecting employment outcomes for ‘overseas educated’ university graduates in Hong Kong. It draws upon extensive fieldwork in Hong Kong and Canada, to scrutinise the link between international credentials and migration, asking : do experiences of living abroad – for schooling and the whole of a university education – confer distinction and subsequent social advantage upon already privileged individuals and their families, offsetting previous academic “failure” ? If so, then why does this process of valorisation occur ? In much of the extant literature on international education, the advantages bestowed upon internationally mobile students are taken for granted. In contrast, this paper begins with the premise that a ‘local’ university degree is widely considered significantly superior to one acquired abroad. Despite this, however, graduates educated overseas are clearly advantaged in many ways when they return to Hong Kong to find work. The analysis of the data shows that the cultural capital and social capital developed through living abroad and attending an overseas higher education institution override, in various ways, the inherent value of a local university degree. The paper contributes to wider debates around the role of international education in the reproduction of privilege and the continuation of class inequalities in educational outcomes.Cet article tente d’examiner le rôle de l’échec et de la mobilité internationale qui en découle, affectant les débouchés professionnels pour les diplômés d’outre-mer à Hong Kong. Il se base sur un vaste travail de terrain mené à Hong Kong ainsi qu’au Canada, dans le but d’analyser le lien entre références internationales et migrations. La question posée est la suivante : les expériences acquises à l’étranger, en matière de scolarité et de formation universitaire, confèrent-elles prestige et avantages sociaux subséquents aux individus et familles déjà privilégiés, en compensant un précédent échec académique ? Le cas échéant, quelle est l’origine de ce processus de valorisation ? Une bonne partie de la littérature relative à l’enseignement international considère les avantages conférés aux étudiants internationaux mobiles comme allant de soi. Notre article, au contraire, débute par la prémisse qu’un diplôme universitaire “local” est largement considéré comme nettement supérieur à un diplôme obtenu à l’étranger. Cependant, malgré cela, les diplômés formés à l’étranger se trouvent clairement avantagés de multiples façons lorsqu’ils rentrent à Hong Kong pour y chercher un emploi. L’analyse des données démontre que le capital culturel et social développé en vivant et étudiant à l’étranger annihile, de diverses façons, la valeur inhérente d’un diplôme universitaire local. Cet article contribue à élargir le débat sur le rôle de l’enseignement international dans la reproduction des privilèges et la poursuite des inégalités de classe en matière d’enseignement

International Education is Political! Exploring the Politics of International Student Mobilities

Public and academic debates around international students and the internationalization of higher education have been overly concerned with economic issues and insufficiently attentive to the political ramifications of associated changes in educational practices. It takes seriously a call made by Madge et al. (2009), in which they assert that notions of “engaged pedagogy” and “responsibility” need to be explored in relation to international student experiences. Debates have thus far neglected the wider “politics” that underpin the relationship between international students and their “host” university. An awareness of these political relationships has the potential to encourage progressive practices within the institution of the university, including the campus. The article examines the case of transnational education programs in Hong Kong, and considers why a political perspective on international student mobilities is important. The wider goal of this article is to inject some much needed “politics” into discussions of international—and domestic—student experiences

Schools as spaces for in/exclusion of young Mainland Chinese students and families in Hong Kong

Around 30,000 children living in Shenzhen, Mainland China cross the border to Hong Kong to attend school every day. This paper focuses on the school as a key meso-level organisation that mediates macro-level policies and micro-level everyday life experiences among these children and their families. We advocate a relational, spatial perspective, conceptualising schools as webs of intersecting physical, social and digital spaces, where differences between the “locals” and “others” are played out, negotiated and (re)produced, and in turn giving rise to specific (and understudied) geographies of in/exclusion. Drawing on our qualitative research, we offer a close reading of three exemplary school spaces: (i) the physical classroom and school grounds, (ii) the digital classroom, and (iii) at the school gate. Our findings demonstrate the complex and at times contradictory ways in which “the school” is a place of both inclusion and exclusion. It is a dynamic and power-traversed space where social differences between the “locals” and the “others” are played out, contested and redefined continuously

Making ways for ‘better education’: Placing the Shenzhen-Hong Kong mobility industry

Tens of thousands of children living on Mainland China cross the border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong for a ‘better education’ every day. A well-oiled industry is in place to manage, facilitate and control this education mobility field. It involves schools, diverse businesses and non-governmental organisations that, in articulation with the Chinese and Hong Kong states, stimulate and regulate the movement of people, materialities, ideas and practices. Drawing on our fieldwork and media analysis, this paper unpacks the transurban mobility industry to illustrate the role of the various players and how they work in conjunction to facilitate cross-border schooling, especially among the very young children. We map out and visualise with photos the workings of the schools, buses, escorts, tutoring centres, day care and boarding houses. We show how the mobility industry, intersecting with other business networks and mobility systems, links Shenzhen and Hong Kong, taking and making places in these cities, especially in the border region. Our paper illustrates the role of this mobility industry in the making of the political-economy and socio-culture of the border area, which constantly connects, divides and redefines the two cities and regions it bridges. We end with some reflections on the implications of the recent political challenges and COVID-19 pandemic on this cross-border education mobility system

Mechanisms underlying the diminished sensitivity to prolactin negative feedback during lactation: Reduced STAT5 signaling and up-regulation of cytokine-inducible SH2 domain-containing protein (CIS) expression in tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons

Hyperprolactinaemia during lactation is a consequence of the sucking stimulus and in part due to reduced prolactin (PRL) negative feedback. To date, the mechanisms involved in this diminished sensitivity to PRL feedback are unknown but may involve changes in PRL signal transduction within tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons. Therefore, we investigated signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 5 signaling in the TIDA neurons of lactating rats. Dual-label confocal immunofluorescence studies were used to determine the intracellular distribution of STAT5 within TIDA neurons in the dorsomedial arcuate nucleus. In lactating rats with pups removed for 16 h, injection of ovine PRL significantly (P < 0.05) increased the STAT5 nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio compared with vehicle-treated mothers. In contrast, ovine PRL injection did not increase the STAT5 nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio in lactating mothers with pups, demonstrating that PRL signal transduction through STAT5 is reduced in TIDA neurons in the presence of pups. To investigate possible mechanisms involved in reduced PRL signaling, we examined the expression of suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins. Northern analysis on whole hypothalamus showed that CIS (cytokine-inducible SH2 domain-containing protein), but not SOCS1 or SOCS3, mRNA expression was significantly (P < 0.01) up-regulated in suckled lactating rats. Semiquantitative RT-PCR on arcuate nucleus micropunches also showed up-regulation of CIS transcripts. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that CIS is expressed in all TIDA neurons in the dorsomedial arcuate nucleus, and the intensity of CIS staining in these neurons is significantly (P < 0.05) increased in lactating rats with sucking pups. Together, these results support the hypothesis that loss of sensitivity to PRL-negative feedback during lactation is a result of increased CIS expression in TIDA neurons

International education and the employability of UK students

A common theme within the literature on higher education is the congested nature of the graduate labour market. Researchers have highlighted the lengths to which many students now go, in response to this congestion, to ‘distinguish themselves’ from other graduates: paying increased attention to university status; engaging in a range of extra-curricular activities; and pursuing postgraduate qualifications. Studies that have focused on the strategies of Asian students, specifically, have pointed to the important place of studying abroad as a further strategy in this pursuit of distinction. Given that there is now some evidence that the number of UK students enrolling on a degree programme overseas is increasing, this article explores the extent to which an overseas education can be seen as part of a broader strategy on the part of British students to seek distinction within the labour market and whether such an education does indeed offer tangible employment benefits

International Coercion, Emulation and Policy Diffusion: Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reforms, 1977-1999

Why do some countries adopt market-oriented reforms such as deregulation, privatization and liberalization of competition in their infrastructure industries while others do not? Why did the pace of adoption accelerate in the 1990s? Building on neo-institutional theory in sociology, we argue that the domestic adoption of market-oriented reforms is strongly influenced by international pressures of coercion and emulation. We find robust support for these arguments with an event-history analysis of the determinants of reform in the telecommunications and electricity sectors of as many as 205 countries and territories between 1977 and 1999. Our results also suggest that the coercive effect of multilateral lending from the IMF, the World Bank or Regional Development Banks is increasing over time, a finding that is consistent with anecdotal evidence that multilateral organizations have broadened the scope of the “conditionality” terms specifying market-oriented reforms imposed on borrowing countries. We discuss the possibility that, by pressuring countries into policy reform, cross-national coercion and emulation may not produce ideal outcomes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40099/3/wp713.pd

Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguins

International audienceClimate shifts are key drivers of ecosystem change. Despite the critical importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for global climate, the extent of climate-driven ecological change in this region remains controversial. In particular, the biological effects of changing sea ice conditions are poorly understood. We hypothesize that rapid postglacial reductions in sea ice drove biological shifts across multiple widespread Southern Ocean species. We test for demographic shifts driven by climate events over recent millennia by analyzing population genomic datasets spanning 3 penguin genera ( Eudyptes , Pygoscelis , and Aptenodytes ). Demographic analyses for multiple species (macaroni/royal, eastern rockhopper, Adélie, gentoo, king, and emperor) currently inhabiting southern coastlines affected by heavy sea ice conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) yielded genetic signatures of near-simultaneous population expansions associated with postglacial warming. Populations of the ice-adapted emperor penguin are inferred to have expanded slightly earlier than those of species requiring ice-free terrain. These concerted high-latitude expansion events contrast with relatively stable or declining demographic histories inferred for 4 penguin species (northern rockhopper, western rockhopper, Fiordland crested, and Snares crested) that apparently persisted throughout the LGM in ice-free habitats. Limited genetic structure detected in all ice-affected species across the vast Southern Ocean may reflect both rapid postglacial colonization of subantarctic and Antarctic shores, in addition to recent genetic exchange among populations. Together, these analyses highlight dramatic, ecosystem-wide responses to past Southern Ocean climate change and suggest potential for further shifts as warming continues