Born during the era of digitalization, the current generation prefers to be known as ‘global citizens.’ Accessibility, availability, and affordability of educational services have increased manifold.
This gives every student an equitable opportunity to study in the best educational institutions of the world without it costing them an arm and a leg. Let us try to understand why the current Generation wants to study abroad.
Every student is motivated due to various factors. The prime amongst them being personal growth along with other variable factors such as their age, gender, level of education of parents, household income, and prior international experience.
Every student wants to study in the best college. India has many prestigious educational institutions, but due to a large population, the competition is quite fierce, and not many can achieve their goal of studying in an elite institute. Most of the students opt to study abroad because they don’t wish to pursue their academics in average institutions in their domestic country.
The current Generation understands the importance of practical based learning and the redundancy of mere theoretical based knowledge. The Indian education system emphasizes more on ‘learning’ a concept than ‘understanding’ the idea because of which most graduates lack employability. Those who study abroad learn how to give more importance to the applicability of their learning, which automatically makes them more employable.
Most educational institutions offer standard courses about science, law, medicine, architecture, and so on. Every student is unique and deserves to be a master of his/her desired discipline. Many prefer to study abroad because they can find a distinguished institution that offers a unique course that they wish to study. Countries like Canada, Ireland, the USA, UK offer unconventional courses like cosmetology, astronomy, animation, sports science, and so on. According to the 2018 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, Indian and other international students in the US are showing greater interest in offbeat courses like marine engineering, geophysics, game design, and development.
Variables like less household income and low level of education of parents motivate the current Generation to increase their standard of living. Most of the countries allow international students to work during and after their course.
The Governments of these countries provide almost all necessary amenities at a reasonable or nil rate, including daily expenditure allowances, medical allowances, and so on. Respect for labor is also a factor that drives people to study and work abroad.
Generally, after studying abroad, a student has two options – to work overseas or to work in his/her own country. Whichever option that the person chooses, their career prospects will increase, and also the remuneration as compared to his/her counterparts. Along with an excellent education, international students obtain the skill to adapt to a dynamic environment quickly. They are more tolerant of others, which is quality in high demand, especially in multinational organizations.
Due to the rapid evolution in the field of technology such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and automation, we have entered into what is commonly known as the fourth industrial revolution. As is apparent, some traditional jobs no longer exist, and others are continually evolving. Along with this, many new posts are also coming up. As a result, employees are now on the lookout for people who are skilled in these specialized and niche areas. This phenomenon is evident from the fact that in 2019 there was a huge demand for courses like Robotics, Mechatronics, and Infection control. Since these courses are available abroad in reputable institutions, most students prefer to study overseas.
