Maia Chankseliani is Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Oxford, specialising in the role of higher education in social, economic, and political development. Last year, she finished a three-year research project entitled ‘International mobility and world development’, for which she and her colleagues conducted over 700 interviews in 70 countries and examined various systemic effects of international academic mobility. In our interview with her, she explains what mechanisms explain how international academic mobility can reduce poverty and promote democracy and what practical conclusions for politics and science can be drawn from this, especially in times of mounting global isolationism against immigration.
Dr Torger Möller and Philippe Dittmann are research associates at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). Together, they conducted a study examining the impact of DAAD graduate funding based on the publications of (former) DAAD grantees. In this interview, they explain their methodological approach, what they consider to be the key findings of the study, and what practical recommendations can be derived from these findings for the DAAD and other funding organisations.
Dr. Jenna Mittelmeier is a researcher and lecturer in International Education at the Institute of Education at the University of Manchester. Together with other researchers, she recently launched the website "Research with International Students", which will be followed by an anthology and conference of the same name at the end of 2023. In the interview, she explains what prompted these projects, which topics are in focus and what she sees as the biggest challenges and research gaps in research with and about international students.
Dr Sazana Jayadeva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge in the UK. In a recently published analysis, she examines the question of what influence Indian influencers in social media such as Facebook and YouTube have on the decisions of prospective Indian students in favour of Germany as a possible host country. In the interview, she explains what prompted this research question, what the key findings of her study are and what conclusions she believes can be drawn from this for university practice.
