In this Narrative Inquiry, we share the stories of three Chinese rural students who grew up in a southeastern county in China before moving to the county seat for high school. By inviting our participants to read their own life, we aimed to understand how Chinese rural students make sense of their experience in an exam-centered school system that…

A rise in higher education institution closures prompts creative mergers and acquisitions solutions, resulting in over one hundred higher education institutional mergers in the U.S. this century. The problem addressed in this study is that mergers in higher education are susceptible to higher turnover rates post-merger than pre-merger, as mergers…

Although a large body of literature explored the mechanisms that shape social mobility of youth, it remains unclear how youth, in general, especially from marginalized backgrounds, exercise agency in pursuing aspirations. Drawing on life history narratives of prestigious university graduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in Kazakhstan, this…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on public education worldwide as well as in Virginia. In the years since the pandemic's onset, students' test-based performance dropped dramatically and has not yet fully bounced back, chronic absenteeism increased, mental health worsened, and incidences of student misbehavior rose. School…

Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10-21. We explore the potential…

International student mobility contributes to a knowledge-based economy and forms an important component of a highly educated migration. This paper aims to identify how far political factors--including political discrimination, restrictions, freedom, UK migration policies and social cultural norms and policies--enhance or inhibit individuals'…

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected and continues to impact several areas of human lives and activities. With a particular focus on China, this reflection shares authors' observation on how COVID-19 may affect future trends of student mobility from and to the country. The reflection revealed that the impact of COVID-19 might not…

In international education, climate change is an increasingly prominent consideration. International mobility contributes to global carbon emissions yet provides students with skills and knowledge to address climate change. Based on interviews with 17 individuals working in international education, this qualitative study illuminates how…

Teacher turnover is a major concern for education policymakers worldwide. This study examines the relationship between principal support and teacher turnover intention in Kuwait, focusing on the mediating role of teacher job satisfaction. Data collected from 392 teachers in public schools were analyzed using a structural equation model. The…

Tinto's (1993) interactional model of student departure was initially developed for students in traditional academic degrees, at residential colleges in the US. This paper takes up Tinto as a fruitful starting point for a critical review of the aspects of the model which are more and less suitable for professional degrees: integration and…

This interdisciplinary, qualitative study applies a critical lens to the field of education abroad, advocates for a more expansive and inclusive view of student mobility, and centers Hawai?i as a destination of choice for increasingly mobile students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen students from the continental U.S. who…

Retention and turnover for early childcare education teachers have steadily become a problem. It is now more important than ever to have passionate and skilled teachers available to help grow the minds of young children. The problem addressed in this study was that early childcare education teachers were not staying in the field. The purpose of…

The literature on international student mobility (ISM) has recently proliferated across diverse fields, reflecting its multifaceted connections with higher education institutions, business, and industry. This paper reviews existing research to examine what is known on ISM in higher education to determine future directions. The paper provides an…

This study explores the disparate trajectories of students in Chilean higher education and how these alter socioeconomic segregation within this system. The study follows the cohort of students who entered higher education in 2011 for eight years through census-type data. It uses two segregation indexes to make novel comparisons of socioeconomic…

In recent decades, parallel literature has documented the magnitudes and effects of teacher turnover and the impact of state school finance reforms (SFRs). In this paper, we examine SFRs as possible mechanisms to improve teacher salary, turnover, and job satisfaction by using nationally representative data from 2000 to 2016 and leveraging…