Youth on the move? Student mobility and immobility in Portugal and Northern Ireland

Abstract

This paper provides insight into the geographical mobility experiences and orientations of youth in Portugal and Northern Ireland, utilising the results of quantitative and qualitative research conducted during 2005-2008. An overview is presented of the past mobility experiences of two academically matched groups of students in Lisbon and Belfast, followed by indications of future mobility intentions, including transnational migration. The main findings are that while a majority of those sampled in Belfast (55%) have intentions to live outside Northern Ireland at some stage in the future, fewer of their counterparts in Lisbon have such a desire (32%). Further logistic regression analysis explores the extent to which social ties impact upon the direction of future migration intentions, while results are less supportive of economic explanations for wanting to move. The results related to economic explanations for the desire to move confirm other research results, while contradicting neo-classical thinking.