International Mobility, Origin-Country Contexts, and Social Stratification

International mobility is increasingly promoted as a pathway to educational success, employability, and global competitiveness. Governments worldwide have invested heavily in policies that encourage student mobility and the development of transnational human capital. Yet growing evidence suggests that both access to international mobility and its benefits remain unequally distributed across social groups.

This session examines international mobility as a process of social stratification embedded in broader political-economic and institutional contexts. We explore how educational systems, labor markets, welfare regimes, and state policies shape opportunities for international mobility and the returns associated with such experiences. While international mobility may provide valuable skills, networks, and credentials, its consequences for educational attainment, labor-market success, well-being, and social mobility are likely to vary across institutional settings.

We invite contributions that investigate the relationship between international mobility, transnational capital, and social inequality from comparative and longitudinal perspectives. Relevant topics include social class, gender, ethnicity, migration background, educational trajectories, labor-market outcomes, family formation, well-being, and intergenerational mobility. We particularly welcome studies examining how institutional arrangements shape the unequal distribution and rewards of international experiences.

The session welcomes quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research from all world regions. By bringing together scholars working across diverse contexts, the session seeks to advance comparative understanding of how international mobility contributes to the reproduction, transformation, or mitigation of social inequalities. The session may also serve as a basis for a future edited volume on international mobility and social inequality.

Session Organizers:

Steve ENTRICH, Universität Zürich, Switzerland, steve.entrich@aoi.uzh.ch
Joonghyun KWAK, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, joonghyun.kwak@tcd.ie
Ayse GUVELI, University of Warwick, United Kingdom, Ayse.Guveli@warwick.ac.uk

See more of: RC28 Social Stratification
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