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Facilitated and chaired by: Dr Sazana Jayadeva who is the co-convenor of the International Research and Researchers Network. For more details about the network and its activities, please click here.

Overview:

This event showcases research on international student mobility from and to India being carried out by researchers based in India, the UK, Sweden, Germany, the USA, Canada, Australia, Israel, and Kazakhstan. Papers in the first two panels will focus on Indian student mobility to a range of countries – Anglophone countries in the Global North, such as the USA, UK, and Australia, as well as post-Soviet countries. These papers explore the drivers of student mobility from India, how Indian students experience and negotiate study abroad, as well as their university-to-work transitions. Additionally, one paper examines the power dynamics that mediate collaborations between researchers in India and the UK. In the third and final panel, we will move to research on international student mobility to India, with papers exploring the ‘Study in India’ campaign and the motivations and experiences of international students in India.

Schedule:

Speaker bios

Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh is an international award-winning Senior Lecturer at the Department of Management and Marketing, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Australia. Dr Singh’s research expertise is in higher education with a particular interest exploring international students’ lived experiences of academic success, employability, career aspirations and learning experiences. Dr Singh also explores lived experiences of skilled migrants and international academics’ career development. Dr Singh received several institutional and international research and service awards. Dr Singh received A. Noam Chomsky Global Connections Award - Shining Star Research Award and Society for Research into Higher Education Accolades award recognising her research and academic citizenship in transnational research and practice. Dr Singh was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Care Award for a special recognition of the CALD Working Group's sponsorship and Vice Chancellor’s Care Award as a Program Lead for the Academic Promotion Peer Support Program.

Sabrina Gupta is a Senior lecturer in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University, where she serves as the Head and Course Advisor for the Public Health major within the Bachelor of Health Science Program. Her role involves lecturing in both undergraduate and postgraduate health science courses, with a focus on the development, delivery, and coordination of subjects. Her research explores the intersections of social and cultural determinants related to migration and ethnicity. Sabrina is passionate about improving the health outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including international students, and has established global research partnerships in India and the UK. Currently, she serves as the Deputy Program Director for the La Trobe – JSS University Joint PhD Scheme in India. Sabrina has received recognition for her contributions through awards in both teaching and research.

Hannah Holmes is a Professor of Business Education in the Business School at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she is the Dean of Business School and Deputy Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor for Business and Law. Manchester Metropolitan University Business School is one of the largest in the United Kingdom with circa 10,000 students, 17% of which are international. Hannah is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is actively engaged with a number of global bodies including being a Council Member and Trustee for the Chartered Association of Business Schools and member of the AACSB Eligibility Review Committee. Hannah’s research has a strong focus on international student mobility, higher education policy, and graduate employability. As a leader in higher education, Hannah is committed to shaping policies that improve global student experiences and post-study career outcomes. Hannah has received recognition for her contributions through awards in both teaching and leadership.

Gaurav Harshe (तो, he/him) is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education Administration at the University of South Carolina and an AACTE Holmes Scholar. He served as the most recent President of USC's Graduate Student Association (GSA) and currently serves as the AERA Division J (Postsecondary Education) Student Representative (2024-2026). His research critically examines the internationalization of US higher education, drawing from his experiences as a racialized-as-Brown international student from India. Gaurav focuses on the intersectionally marginalized and privileged experiences of Indian international graduate students and the minoritization of religious, spiritual, and secular identities in higher education. Beyond research, he is committed to advocacy, fostering inclusive academic communities, and advancing equity in student representation. His leadership extends to critical interfaith engagement, solidarity-building initiatives, and highlighting South Asian voices in academia. 

Punita Lumb is a PhD candidate in the field of Higher education and Comparative, International, and Development Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She is examining the processes of internationalization using post/decolonial, critical race, and transnational feminist theories. Her dissertation focuses on research processes between India and the UK in the field of social sciences to uncover power dynamics and possibilities for scholarship beyond Eurocentric paradigms. Additionally, Punita has been working in the field of higher education and student affairs for the past decade and currently serves as the Director, Student Engagement and Campus Life at University of Toronto, Scarborough. 

Mette Ginnerskov-Dahlberg is Associate Professor in Sociology of Education at Uppsala University. With an academic background in anthropology, she holds a PhD in European Studies from Aarhus University. Her research focuses on the migration of students from Eastern to Western Europe, and more recently from South Asia to post-Soviet countries, exploring the complex dynamics of student migration. Specializing in ethnographic research with a longitudinal approach, Ginnerskov-Dahlberg examines the lived experiences of student migrants over time. She is particularly interested in how geographical mobility intersects with social mobility and the challenges students face in their labor market integration. Through her work, she aims to illuminate the broader socio-cultural, economic, and policy implications of student migration, highlighting its long-term impact on both individuals and the societies they navigate.

Sanam Roohi is an fellow at the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies, Bochum, and serves as the co-editor in chief of Comparative Migration Studies. Her research focuses on social-spatial mobility linkages, embodied migration infrastructures and transnational political mobilization. Roohi has been awarded various fellowships, including the KWI International Fellowship (2023), Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2020-2023), Marie Curie COFUND Fellowship (2018 - August 2020), and SSRC InterAsia Fellowship (2018). She was a visiting research fellow at the University of Sussex’s School of Global Studies in 2022. Previously, Roohi was an assistant professor at St. Joseph’s University, Bangalore (2016 – 2018).

Alina Schartner is senior lecturer in applied linguistics at Newcastle University, UK where she teaches and researches intercultural communication. Her research interests include the experiences of internationally mobile groups, in particular international higher education students.

Sam Shields is senior lecturer in education at Newcastle University. Her research interests include social inequalities in higher education, particularly focused on social mobility and students’ experiences of university. Sam’s teaching is underpinned by her research into qualitative methodologies and intersections between gender, social class and education.

Nazgul Mingisheva teaches at the Karaganda Medical University, Kazakhstan and is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan

Annette Bamberger is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Bar-Ilan University and also serves as an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Education. Her recent research focuses on international higher education and the interplay between higher education, diasporas and nation-states. She holds positions on the editorial boards of Teaching in Higher Education, Higher Education Quarterly, and the European Journal of Education.

Evelyn Min Ji Kim is a Lecturer in the Department of Education, Practice, and Society at the UCL Institute of Education. She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Comparative Education Policy from the UCL Institute of Education. Dr Kim’s research interests lie in the politics of education policymaking, the internationalisation of higher education, and global educational governance, with a particular regional focus on Asia. She also serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Global Higher Education. 

Sazana Jayadeva is a Surrey Future Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey in the UK. She is also affiliated with the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies in Germany as an Associate Researcher. She is conducting research on the role of social media in facilitating international student mobility from India, the drivers of international student migration from India to Germany, the internationalisation of Indian higher education, and virtual student mobilities. Sazana serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Sociology, an editorial board member of the journals Sociological Research Online and Global Networks, and co-convenes the International Research and Researchers’ Network of the Society for Research into Higher Education.

Mousumi Mukherjee is Professor and Deputy Director leading the Centre for Comparative and Global Education under the aegis of the International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building, O.P. Jindal Global University. She is also an Honorary Senior Fellow of the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, Australia and International Advisory Board member of Morgan State University, USA. She is a Research Standing Committee Member of the World Council of Comparative Education Society; Vice-President, Research and Partnerships Development of the Star Scholars Network and a member of ACU Supporting Research Community Steering Committee. A Fulbright alumnus, she has 25+ years experience in the area of international higher education. She is a recipient of the Washington Centre Civic Engagement Award and Phi Beta Delta Honour Society Medallion for her contribution in international higher education. She has led research projects and written 40+ internationally peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Akanksha Dochania, is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Delhi. Her academic journey reflects a commitment to exploring the complexities of human behavior and fostering inclusive environments, a commitment best exemplified by my doctoral research on implicit prejudice and microaggressions experienced by Afghan students in universities in Delhi. During her PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), she has focused on implicit prejudice—unconscious attitudes that subtly shape behavior—and its impact on Afghan students’ academic performance, mental health, and sense of belonging. Her work has been presented at conferences such as APA (American Psychological Association) and published in journals such as European Journal of Education. As an Assistant Professor, she extends this research to broader themes of prejudice, inclusion, and resilience, while mentoring students and fostering critical thinking. Looking ahead, she aims to deepen her research on implicit prejudice and its broader societal implications, contributing to evidence-based strategies that dismantle systemic barriers.