Here today, gone tomorrow? Student mobility decision-making in an economic crisis context

Abstract

This article engages with the theme of student mobility, focusing on prospective after the completion of present course of study in one of the European societies most affected by the global financial crisis, Portugal. Empirical evidence is drawn from two surveys (N=800) conducted in Lisbon during 2011 and 2012. Results provide indications of level of mobility intentions among these students, as well as estimated durations of stays abroad. While the level of mobility intentions is high, the decision to leave is not generally attributed to the economic crisis. This implies that post-diploma mobility is more of a normative choice among Portuguese students than a specific reaction to growing economic marginalisation. That the level of mobility intentions has declined across the two years surveyed is explained in terms of parental resource depletion after the expansion of austerity measures. Results in regard to anticipated stays were largely inconclusive, and failed to provide a definite sign as to whether Portugal is to witness an imminent exodus of its young people as part of a brain drain or brain circulation process.