International Student Mobility and Transnational Social Relations: How Returnees Contribute to Higher Education Transformation Through the ‘Multiplier Effect’

International student mobility (ISM) research often concentrates on knowledge and skills acquisition, yet less attention has been paid to how transnational social relations developed through mobility contribute to higher education transformation in home contexts. Drawing on 40 semi-structured interviews with academics across 10 MENA countries, this study examines how returnees mobilise transnational social relations to support systemic change in higher education. Informed by Critical Realism, Relational Subject, and Transnationalism, the analysis identifies three relational mechanisms: reflexivity, mobilisation of relational goods, and partnership-building. These mechanisms generate a multiplier effect through which returnees extend their impact beyond individual achievements by diffusing relational goods, enabling collective agency, and embedding change within university structures. The findings highlight transformation as an emergent, relationally embedded process. However, institutional constraints, scepticism, and fragmented policies limit its sustainability. The study reframes returnees as relational agents and calls for policies that support sustained collaboration and co-creation through partnerships.