Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the case of student mobility from four Central European countries to Japan and analyses the motivations and perceived value of the study in Japan. We assess an explanation focused on labour market outcomes, and emphasize non-material and socio-cultural dimensions of motivations.

Paper long abstract:

Previous studies on student mobility towards Japan focused on understanding of this migration in relation to labour market outcomes and mainly from a handful of major sending countries such as China or Vietnam (e.g., Liu-Farrer 2011, Sato 2018, Mazumi 2021). This paper discusses the case of student mobility from Central European countries to Japan and analyses the motivations and perceived value of the study in Japan. Furthermore, by comparing the aspirations and values of study abroad held by students of Japanese studies with their counterparts from Chinese and Korean studies, we aim to understand the popularity of study in Japan and explore alternative explanations of student mobility that goes beyond the “neoliberal reductionism” often seen in studies on international student mobility (Lipura & Collins 2020).

Our paper is based on an analysis of questionnaire survey (N=692, conducted October – November 2022) and focus group interviews (conducted in November 2022 – January 2023) with students of East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean studies) in three Central European countries (Austria, Czech, Slovakia). We aim to explore how institutional, national, and individual factors (such as age, gender, class, or value orientations) shape student’s aspirations to study in East Asian countries and how students understand the value of studying in these countries in relation to their future plans.

Preliminary results suggest that students of Japanese studies are less career-motivated when choosing their majors and see less instrumental value of study abroad for their future careers when compared with students of Chinese studies. Besides demonstrating symbolic values of each of the countries in the European context, these results necessitate explanation of student mobility that does not necessarily reduce students’ motivations to strategic intentions related to market forces and account for non-material and socio-cultural dimensions of study abroad (Lipura & Collins 2020:348).