Examining student immobility: a study of Irish undergraduate students

This paper explores student mobility among Irish higher education students. It specifically focuses on the profile of ‘stayers’, that is, students who have no plans to study abroad, thus addressing an underexplored topic in existing literature on student mobility. The article aims to identify factors that impact on students’ decisions not to pursue study abroad. Drawing on a national survey of students, Eurostudent V, the findings demonstrate that immobility is predicted by mother’s level of education and family income, showing the salience of socio-economic factors. Age and language proficiency are also visible factors, with the main obstacles to mobility being finances, language barriers and not wanting to separate from family and friends. Trends are also visible in the education institution a student is enrolled in, with those in institutes of technology more likely to be immobile than those in universities.