International student migration: evidence from Finland on who stays, why, and returns in the labour market
- Charles Mathies, University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
In tandem with growing enrolments globally, an increasing number of students are studying internationally with each passing year. The rapid increase of student mobility and migration has raised questions of how many international students choose to stay in the country where they studied and whether it would be possible to retain student migrants on a large scale by different policy decisions.
This presentation encompasses three papers examining the factors influencing international students’ choice to stay in Finland after they complete their studies and their associated returns in the Finnish labour market.
The unique data used in the papers comes from national (Finnish) registries and allows for following students longitudinally across multiple sectors. The presentation concludes with discussions of labour market outcomes of international graduates, including comparisons with Finnish graduates, and the financial ‘net benefit’ (tax revenues – social welfare transfers) for the Finnish government of hosting international students.