What does this research mean for the field?

Vietnamese students navigating the mobility regimes in Canada, France, and the UK experience inequalities that prioritize the economic interests of these countries over the students' needs. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This paper aims to analyze how different mobility regimes impact Vietnamese students' educational choices and experiences in Canada, France, and the UK.

February 19, 2026Open Access

A Critical Examination of International Education Mobility Regimes: Comparative Insights from Vietnamese Students in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom

Key Points

This paper aims to analyze how different mobility regimes impact Vietnamese students' educational choices and experiences in Canada, France, and the UK.
Conducted two qualitative interpretive studies with 25 interviews
Focused on Vietnamese students in Vancouver, Paris, and London, Northampton, and Aberdeen
Performed thematic analysis to identify patterns in responses and experiences.
Identified variations in mobility regimes across Canada, France, and the UK
Highlighted inequalities driven by economic interests of sending and receiving countries
Discussed return migration as a potential strategy for students to navigate mobility challenges.

Abstract

Amidst the neoliberal commodification of international education, countries have taken various approaches to governing international students’ mobilities. This paper examines Vietnamese students’ navigation of different ‘regimes of mobility’ in Canada, France and the United Kingdom (UK). Drawing on Manderscheid’s (2020) “critique of mobility” we highlight how these regimes vary not only in openness, but also in the power dynamics they perpetuate. Based on two qualitative interpretive studies, including 25 interviews with Vietnamese students in Vancouver, Paris, and the UK (London, Northampton and Aberdeen), our thematic analysis addresses how mobility regimes affect students’ choice of destination, legal status, and post-graduation plans. Instead of a “triple win” (Brunner, 2021, p. 29) for students, sending and receiving countries, we examined how France’s, Canada’s and the UK’s mobility regimes perpetuate inequalities and prioritize their own economic interests. We argue that return migration might be an agentive way for international students to challenge Western mobility regimes.

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