Framing student mobility in identity (global versus local) terms: An Indian experience

Pages: 6-15
Umesh L. Bharte (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Mumbai, Kalina, Santacruz (East), Mumbai)
Arvind Kumar Mishra (Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

In view of the gaps identified in the existing literature, the present study specifically aimed at investigating the issues of self and identity, i.e., the ways in which different senses of identity impact upon whether students are willing to go for higher education abroad. It also tries to examine the role of related construct of psychological distance, i.e. the way different events are mentally represented, in shaping mobility preferences. Precisely, the goal was to examine the impact of space dimension of psychological distance and associated construals on framing mobility preferences of Indian students. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that spatial aspect of psychological distance and associated construal levels, activated through different identities-local versus global- would significantly affect mobility preferences (study 1). A covariate, specified in terms of perceived reputation of foreign qualification, was further introduced with a prediction that this variable would significantly influence the student mobility preference (study 2). Two experimental studies supported these basic predictions, highlighting a range of ways that differences in psychological distance are evident in relation to different identities affecting mobility preferences. Findings from these studies tend to support the claim that psychologically distant self (spatially) is construed at a higher level. These higher level self construals, in turn, frame the student mobility preferences. Specifically, the theoretical point being made is that for many Indian students a more abstract construal focuses their attention on the long term, in which long term career prospects become more salient which lead students to prefer going abroad. Second, perceived reputation of foreign qualification influences student mobility intentions independent of identities salient at a given point. The potential contribution of framing student mobility in identity terms to the development of source and destinations countries is also discussed.