Migrating Abroad: Factors and Experiences of Bangladeshi Students in Umeå, Sweden

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1 Migrating Abroad:

Factors and Experiences of Bangladeshi Students in Umeå, Sweden

Author: Md Lutful Bin Faruq Supervisor: Kerstin Westin Course: VT2021/2KG062

Magister Thesis in Human Geography

Master’s Program in Spatial Planning and Development Department of Geography

Umeå University, Sweden

Umeå May 16, 2021

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Acronyms

ECTS : European Credit Transfer System EMN : European Network for Migration

ERASMUS : European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students

EU : European Union

GDPR : General Data Protection Regulation GIS : Geographical Information System IT : Information Technology

MOU : Memorandum of Understanding

OECD : Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development SFI : Swedish for Immigrants

SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences STATA : Statistics and Data

UKA : Swedish Higher Education Authority VISA : Visitors International Stay Admission

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Abstract

The predominance of International Higher Education has switched from the USA, Canada, England and Australia, the pioneers of internationalization of higher education, to Europe and other countries. European countries have become the higher study destination for many students from all over the world. Own strategies and policies for internationalization have developed by European countries, building on and seeing beyond the policies stipulated by the European Commission. As a member of European Union, Swedish Government and universities have developed strategies, measures and tools to attract international students. Scholarships and grants, different projects, extended visa, education quality, social security, ranking of institutions etc. play important role behind third country students choosing Sweden for higher studies. However, other features such as education cost, ideological affinity, language aptitude, job availability, easy visa process etc. can influence the choice of students. These features make Sweden attractive as higher education destination to Bangladeshi Students. This study tries to understand the factors behind decision of Bangladeshi students choosing Swedish University for tertiary education. The study also attempts to discuss the experience of Bangladeshi students during their study period in Sweden as well as after finishing study. The theory of “Push and Pull factors” is used as the main theoretical reference to discuss findings of the study. Social insecurity, political instability, education opportunity and quality of home country, personal choice, job opportunity etc. are recognized as major ‘push factors and education quality, world class institution, social security, standard of life, easy application process etc. are recognized as ‘pull factors’ behind the decision of Bangladeshi student choosing Sweden as higher education destination. The Study not only discusses the challenges and experiences of Bangladeshi students including covid-19 situation but also gives implications for future students.

The data was collected by taking interviews from the Bangladeshi students studying at masters’

level in Umea university, Sweden and used qualitative method for analysis.

Keywords: Higher Education, Bangladeshi Students, Sweden, Push and Pull factors.

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Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to convey my colossal gratitude to my Supervisor Professor Kerstin Westin for her guidance, patience, and support for the completion of my research paper.

I would like to thank my course coordinator, program coordinator, study administrator, study counselor, faculty members of my master’s program and the department, administration of the Umeå University for the nice and supportive cooperation extended to my study.

I am indebted to my family and friends who were always by my side during this assiduous journey and gave me the strength and confidence to finish this research paper.

I would also like to thank all the respondents for their valuable time and support during this pandemic covid-19 situation.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge everyone who had made the effort comes true.

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1. Introduction, Aim of the study and Research Questions

1.1 Introduction

The presence of international students from third country is an omnipresent phenomenon in the sector of higher education in Europe which has become an important political, social, cultural, and economic agenda (Consterdine and Everton 2012). According to OECD (2013), nearly 0.8 million international students were enrolled in different educational institution across the world in 1975 which increased to approximately 4 million in present time. Teaching courses in English in non- English-speaking countries is one of the major considerations behind this proliferation.

(Nilsson,2015). Because of this reason Sweden, a member of European Union (EU), has experienced of increasing the third country nationals as students in higher education institutions over recent years. According to the report from ENM Sweden 2018:3, the total number of third country nationals for higher education who were granted first-time residence permit was 7274 in 2011 and reached to 13416 in 2017.However, the number of students decreased after 2010 because of the tuition fees introduced by Sweden for the non-EU and the third country students. Despite high tuition fees, the third country nationals are attracted to Swedish higher education institution and according to Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKA) (2020), 38330 international students were enrolled in the academic year 2018/19. Most of the European countries identify the advantages of foreign students and graduates as skilled migrants due to their innovation, language skill, contribution to social integrity and meeting labor demand (Raghuram 2013). Scott et al., (2015) point out international education as a good foundation for intercultural learning and network expansion. According to their opinion, international education can be beneficial if the host country can accept the foreign students in the labor market. Promoting the mobility of international students has been part of the EU’s migration policies since 1994, when the Council adopted a (non-binding) resolution on the admission of third-country nationals to the territory of the Member States for study purposes. As a member of EU, the regulations on foreign students in Sweden have been influenced by EU law regarding this issue. A proposal on visa extension for six months for job seeking in Sweden after the graduation of third county students was proposed by a parliamentary committee in March 2011 (Carlsson, 2012). The Swedish government has scholarships programs for international students. The scholarships and grants of about approximately 250 Million Swedish Kroners ($30 Million) for international students are provided

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8 by the Swedish government. Strategies, measures and tools taken by the universities and Swedish government to actively recruit international students and welcome them in Sweden (ENM Sweden 2018:3) including scholarships and grants, different projects, extended visa etc. play important role behind third country students choosing Sweden for higher studies. However, other features such as education cost, ideological affinity, language aptitude, job availability, easy visa process etc.

can influence the choice of students (Varghese,2008).

The tendency of Bangladeshi student choosing overseas universities for higher education has increased since past couple of years. The choices for higher education destinations are influenced by factors like the choice of the university itself, which is depend the University's ranking, course rating and also the tuition fees and living expenses (Khan, 2015). Cubillo et al., (2006) also assert some critical factors including personal reasons, institution image, country image effect and program evaluation which dominate their decision. It is not to be exaggerated to state that like other third country nationals, Bangladeshi students also attracted to study in Sweden because of these factors as well as the strategies taken by Swedish government and universities. However, Maringe (2006) contends on the issue of choosing of higher education institution and describes it as an irrational process. On the other hand, according to Petruzzellis and Romanazzi (2010), the decision of making choice is a recurrent, complicated notion including three correlated elements:

context, key influencers, and selectors. In addition, Swedish universities appreciate the worth of the experience of cross-cultural students and the global influence of education and research. So, the students through strategic partnerships and exchange program are very much significant (Nic, 2013). The society and culture of the host country's campus are predominantly influenced by the international students as well as the development of research and innovation in the host country are also effected (Middlehurst, 2003).

1.2 The Aim of the Study: The purpose of the study is to examine and discuss the factors that lead Bangladeshi students to choose Sweden and Swedish universities as their overseas higher education destinations. It also describes the gathered experiences of Bangladeshi students migrated in Umeå, Sweden.

Research Questions: The researcher tried to find out the feasible answers to the following questions:

Q1. What are the factors behind migrating Bangladeshi students to Sweden for higher study?

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9 Q2. What are the experiences they face during studying in Umeå university, Sweden?

2. Literature Review:

This section aims to review the literature conducted on higher studies of Bangladeshi students regarding factors and motives that play significant role in choosing Sweden as their higher education destination. It also puts light on the experiences of the Bangladeshi students studying in Swedish Universities. Though there are a lot of studies regarding students’ choice and the complex nature of choosing a higher education institution for higher studies (Briggs, 2006; Soutar & Turner, 2002), it is very difficult for the researcher because studies conducted to find out factors, motive and experiences of Bangladeshi Students in Sweden has been fairly scarce. To investigate the factors, motive and experiences of Bangladeshi Students as well as international students in Sweden, some related research findings are asserted in this section.

2.1 Globalization and Internationalization of Higher Education:

A lot of studies have conducted on the impact of internationalization and globalization on global education (Munusamy and Hashim, 2020). According to Teichler (2015), higher education institutions can be considered as the most international institutions in certain ways as knowledge is universal. Both globalization and internationalization highly impact higher education (Dodds, 2008), however, these two are opposite concepts. Scott (2000) describes globalization as tumultuous circumstance as it overlooks and outstrips national borders which creates global trends (dodds, 2008) and competition by putting significant impacts in the global knowledge economy, for instance research, enrollment of students, branches of schools, franchising, etc. (De Wit, 2011).

Thus Rhoads & Rhoades (2005) pointed globalization as the patron of “"corporatization"” of universities changing spirit and nature to complete the global market effectively which turns the education sector into a source of trade in many developing countries (Cheong Cheng, Cheung &

Yuen, 2011). On the other hand, De Wit (2011) describes internationalization is a way to create relation of global collaboration and mobility. In a nutshell, globalization is more about competition where internationalization pays heed to strategic relations. In the discourse on internationalization of higher education, the most stated topic is the physical mobility of the students. The topic was discussed in a large scale after the second world war and assumed as a key to eliminate enmity

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10 among nations and create mutual understanding and cooperation and became prominent in 90s(Teichler,2015). Student mobility expanded widely in that period and the concept of internationalization of universities with substantial professional support, international strategies and policies became prominent. Under this circumstance of globalization and internationalization of higher education, external and internal environment play an important role for mobility. Teichler (2017) further continued that physical mobility and knowledge transfer are the factors of border crossing which is one of the main ideas of internationalization in the Higher Education. Another concept mention by him is ‘diversification’ which indicates a changed direction of particular activities towards being more international. Guo and Chase (2011) state that internationalization of higher education has been geared up by globalization. Thus, the two term ‘internationalization’

and ‘globalization’ are sometimes confusing and can be used alternatively. Knight (1999) defines internationalization as one of the ways of responding of a country to globalization maintaining the individuality of the nation.

2.2 Internationalization of Higher Education: Europe and Sweden

Most of the literature on internationalization of higher education are found giving emphasis on Canada, USA, United Kingdom and Australia-the predecessor of internationalization of higher education (Liu, Elston & Zhou, 2013; de Wit, 2020). However, internationalization in the education systems is adopted by other countries to attract foreign students (Guruz, 2011). As a result, European countries have become the higher study destination for many students from all over the world (Morris-Lange, & Brands, 2015). Most of the literature lumps the research under broader classifications such as ‘Europe’ or ‘Nordic countries’, for example (Schworm, Cadin, Carbone, Festing, Leon & Muratbekova-Touron, 2017; Myklebust, 2017).

In Europe, there is a lot of institution has internationalization policy (61%) compared to other part of the world which is lower than Europe (Polak et al.,2015). Moreover, internationalization policy of many European institutions marks a clear difference between activities within the regional cooperation settings (EU and the Bologna Process), and internationalization on a general level (Polak et al., 2015). Own strategies and policies for internationalization have developed by European countries, relying on and seeing beyond the policies stipulated by the European Commission (Polak et al, 2015).

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11 According to De Wit (2020), ERASMUS (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), the earliest program focusing on internationalization of higher education, was the part of the European programs for research and education with a aim to develop stronger strategic approach to internationalization in higher education which created a common for internationalization in most countries, which was further strengthened by the Bologna Process.

Erasmus was integrated from of smaller initiatives in Sweden and Germany in the 1970s and a European preliminary program from the early 1980s (de Wit and Hunter, 2013). To make European qualifications more transparent, comparable and competitive Bologna Process (1999) comes with the idea of monitoring. The ERASMUS program of the European Union (EU) inspired another program NORDPLUS, a result of the treaty in 1971 among Nordic countries for cultural cooperation, which was organized and sponsored by the Nordic Council of Ministries and launched in 1988(de Wit,2020) At present, ERASMUS has transformed into Erasmus+, a program pooling seven existing EU programs in the field of education, training, youth, and sport (EU, 2014).

Mobility of credit through joint exchanges and programs are encouraged by ERASMUS and NORDPLUS, further encourage internationalization of higher education (KYVIK, 2014).

2.3 The Push and Pull Theory:

The classic theory of push and pull factors can impact the decision of students studying abroad. A lot of data of the decision-making process of international students can be provided by the theory (Mazzarol & Soutar,2002). The “push and pull” theory of population migration was first introduced by an American expert named E.S. Lee in 1960s by determining two factors “push”

and “pull” (Lee, 2017). Later, D.G.Bagne added the intermediate obstacle factors. These three factors combine into population mobility. The students have to face at least three different phases while taking decision for higher studies which related to the three factors. The chronological order of students’ decision for higher study includes deciding to study abroad rather than at home which is dominated by “push factors”, then choosing the destination influenced by the “pull factors” and finally selecting a particular institution which is dominated by additional “pull factors” that make the institution more preferable (Chen, 2007; Mazzarol &Soutar, 2002). Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) indicate while choosing study destination, pupils from China, India, Indonesia and Taiwan also have to experience these three stages influenced by ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. The interaction of push and pull factors impacts the decision of students for higher education abroad (Mazzarol

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12 and Soutar, 2002). They indicate ‘push factors’ as home country aspects as well as ‘pull factors’

as host country features. According to Mazzarol & Soutar (2002), the “Push” factors and the “Pull”

factors can inspire students to study abroad and influence the students’ decision.

2.3.1 The Push Factors:

To make international learning decision “push factors” play important role. First of all, the decision is associated with the selection of where to study–home or abroad. At this stage the "Push" factors are very important. Lam, Ariffin and Ahmad (2011) show that choosing international education over local is the initial attempt of the students for higher studies which is influenced by ‘push’

factors. To be specific, as students are not satisfied with the quality of education in their own country, they look for the global standard of higher education (Lee, 2017). Some students do not get access to local universities are "pushed" from home countries. Lack of relevant study opportunities at home universities specially in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East makes pursuing higher education very tough (OECD, 2013). In the majority of the related studies, students expectation of experiencing a new culture and developing own personality as well as expectation of international experience for being positive for future career are found (cf. the Swedish International Program Office for Education and Training 2002; 2008; Centre for International Mobility, the Swedish Council for Higher Education and Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education, 2013).And this is related to the personal factors also. Anticipated global standard of education and range of global or multicultural experiences that they assume to have in abroad in comparison to their domestic counties compared to that in their native countries push the students (Bodycott, 2009). Bodycott & Lai, (2012) and Bodycott (2009) figure out that the students take their own decision, however the immediate family members influence while taking decision. In making a final decision recommendation of parents, relatives, friends and other

"gatekeepers" play as a key factor (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002). Lam et al., (2011) point out some

‘push factors’ which include better career prospects, improvement of language skills, experience of a different culture among others. Medium of teaching is a key factor in enrollment of international students (Nilsson, 2015). The Swedish universities offer highest English taught courses in Europe which is preferable for international and exchange students and thus makes Sweden becomes participant in the international education market (Nilsson, 2015). English- speaking environment is an important factor to international students to study abroad. However,

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13 the authors indicate pull factors including host country’s academic reputation, cultural difference and geographical distance from home country, living cost, tuition fee, program suitability and so on.

2.3.2 The Pull Factors:

In the Second stage, the "Pull" factors dominates the preference of the destination. “Pull” refers to those features which make the selected country more preferable to international students. Host country’s academic reputation, cultural difference and geographical distance from home country, living cost, tuition fee, program suitability are the pull factors indicated by Lam et al. (2011) which make the destination more preferable. According to Paulsen & St. John (2002) and Kurlaender (2006) Financial status can affect the students' decision to study abroad. Higher fees decrease the number of applicants (Elliott and Soo 2013). To intrigue international students reducing tuition fees is one of the best ways (Trilokekar & Kizilbash, 2003; Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2006).

The number of students decreased after 2010 because of the tuition fees introduced by Sweden in 2011 for the non-EU and the third country students. When families decide to send their children studying abroad, tuitions fees and living expenses play the most important role. International scholarships and fellowships, establishing new international partnerships and collaboration impact the stature of the education system of a country implicitly (Trilokekar & Kizilbash, 2003). The Swedish government has scholarships programs for international students. Approximately 250 Million Swedish Kroners ($30 Million) in scholarships and grants to international students are provided by the Swedish government (ICEF Monitor, 2017). However, the number of scholarships is not enough for international students for instance Asian students with poor financial backgrounds (Ng & Tang,2008).

The Third stage is about selecting an institution (Mazzarol & Soutar, 2002) which also includes some “Pull” factors. This usually considers the global status of institutions, market profiles, resource used, promotion and marketing, and so on (Mazzarol, 1998). Eder et al. (2010) classify

‘push’ factors as personal growth, language and career and ‘pull’ factors as college, physical geography and culture. In addition, they include visa issues and money as ‘structural “factors. To decide higher education destination, reputation of educational institutions plays a crucial role (Krampf & Heinlein, 1981; Mazzarol, 1998; Bourke, 2000; Gutman & Miaoulis, 2003). The global status and ranking of the universities are the most dominating factors to draw attention of

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14 international students (Krampf & Heinlein, 1981; Mazzarol, 1998; Bourke, 2000; Gutman &

Miaoulis, 2003). Before choosing an institution student look into reputation, past experience, and marketing activities (Ivy, 2001). Furthermore, factors like academic status, quality of teachers, academic opportunities are also crucial (Mazzarol, 1998). A study conducted among students from four countries by Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) convey that the status of institutions is considered as the most important factor in taking decision. According to Cheung et al. (2016) students’ choice of study destination depends on immigration policies of the host country. Immigration policies such as job opportunities and citizenship impact the decision in studying abroad (Cheung et al., 2011). Restrictions on visa applications, work experience during the study period and/or failure to provide language, social and academic support services may affect the choice of a country or institution (Bodycott, 2009).

2.4 Expectation and Experience:

Expectations refer to a cultural emphasis on future standard of life and financial security (Gordon, 2000). The availability of job opportunities and the possibility of emigration is also included in expectations (Bodycott, 2009). Students studying in abroad want to serve on the basis of qualification and merit as well as expect to be assured that it will make them more potential for finding employment (King et al. 2010). A study by Wiers-Jenssen (2008) in Norway finds that mobile students seek for and have more work experience in abroad than the non-mobile students did. If the expectations and choices, set before leaving domestic country, are fulfilled then it is a satisfying experience for the students (Arambewela & Hall, 2009; Arambewela, Hall & Zuhair, 2006). Contact with local culture is very important for international students for studying abroad (Cheung et al., 2011). Culture refers to the interpretation of human behavior which encompasses beliefs, values, norms and social practices (Lustig & Koester, 2006). Nilsson (2015) shows that students expect to have new cultural experience. It is obvious that international students belong to different cultures, languages and religions, cultural and social backgrounds which vary from the host cultures. It is very common that students may find alienated and outsider in the host country.

Some of their important values are likely to be ignored in the host country and vice versa (Huang, 2008). Lewthwaite (1986) finds out that the sense of loss can be created from the differences in values, belief attitudes between host and domestic country which may create a huge pressure on the student. The international students’ experiences can constitute an intermingle of factors

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15 including their family and personal history, previous experience of mobility, and personality (Murphy-Lejeune 2002) which impact on life satisfaction of them. Life satisfaction refers to the individual’s contentment with life, his or her aspirations and achievements (Jacobsson & Lexell 2013). Studying in another country will have implications on different domains in life. Kennedy (2010) states that studying abroad may appear as a self-realization project for the student which can make them more open-minded.

3. Research Methodology

3.1 Study Area:

Umea is a renamed and the largest city and Kommun in Vasterbotten County of Northern Sweden.

It is the fastest growing city in Sweden. Umea is well known for the Umea University which has established in 1965. It is a comprehensive university. There are 44 international programs and enrolled number of students 36337 from 60 nationalities. Bangladesh is one of those nationalities from where a good number of students come to Umea to study in the Umea University as an international student. The researcher purposively selected the Bangladeshi students of Umea University who are staying and studying here to conduct the study.

3.2 Method:

The researcher selected Umea, Sweden as the area of his study. To gather the purposive information related to the factors and experiences of the migrated students from Bangladesh in Umea, qualitative method was selected as the most convenient to conduct the study. To analyze the correlation between theory and research qualitative research is a feasible and empirical method (Bryman and Bell, 2007). Guba & Lincoln (1994) state that qualitative research is an interpretive and naturalistic approach. Qualitative method is frequently used method in social sciences for collecting one’s perceived experiences and. Creswell (1998) noted that:

Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct

methodological traditions on inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyses words, reports details of informants, and

conducts the study in a natural setting. (p. 15)

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16 3.3 Interview:

Interview method was chosen by the researcher for facilitating the data collection from the respondents. The researcher found semi-structured interview as the appropriate method for data collection. The advantage of a semi- structured interview is that it allows the participants to express their thoughts freely and which makes provides rich and direct information to the researcher (Hay,2016). According to Patel & Davidson (2011) (as cited in Bernhardsson & Johansson 2017), through semi-structured interview the researcher can gather qualitative data according to his need.

Hay (2016) mentioned semi-structured interview as a combination of structured and unstructured interview where the researcher is flexible to ask not only the predetermined open-ended questions but also questions that arise from the answers of the respondents. A list of pre-determined open ended guided questions was prepared before conducting the semi-structured interview to meet the objective.

3.4 Sampling / Participants:

The sample for the study was selected through purposive sampling technique. According to Bernard (2002), this is a nonrandom technique which allows the researcher to select people who can and are interested to provide information according to their knowledge and experience. The participants were selected deliberately through homogenous sampling who possess some common characteristics. According Etikan, Musa & Alkassim (2016), in this sampling researcher selects participants who commonly have particular characteristics, for instance, the respondents may share similarity in terms of ages, cultures, jobs or life experiences. They also focus on the relationship between the homogenous characteristics and the research topic. The participants for the study were selected based on their homogeneous characteristics. The characteristics were: they were from Dhaka the capital of Bangladesh, their current status should be active studentship, registered at university or institute in Umea, currently physically residing in Umea. Considering those criteria, the potential students were contacted through mobile, messenger and WhatsApp for participating a face-to-face interview. The students who showed their interest and provide a schedule were selected finally. Thus 5 respondents were interviewed in this qualitative interview. Though the researcher tried and interested to conduct more interview but adverse covid-19 situation, social distancing, respondent’s availability, time constraints made list limited within 5. The respondents

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17 are anonymous and came from Bangladesh to Umea, Sweden for studying 2 years’ master’s program at Umea University. Among them 3 were male and rest 2 were female.

3.5 Materials and Devices:

While conducting the research study few materials and devices were used to get the information from the respondents. These were the consent forms, android mobile to record the interview with due permission of participants, laptop to store and summarize data and convert information from audio to visual and in written form, headphone and the guided semi structured interview questions.

The guided questions were divided into 3 sections which included background of the respondent in the first part, interview questions related to their migration to Umea, Sweden and the factors of home and host country in the second part and questions related to their experiences, challenges and required skill in the third section.

3.6 Data Collection:

Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source was the face- to-face interviews from the Bangladeshi students by the researcher and the secondary data were collected from books, journals and online sources.

To carry out the research, the researcher took consent from the respondents. Quantitative data was analyzed statistically by using the Microsoft Excel program.

3.7 Procedures

Preparatory works of the interview and materials were ready then the respondents were communicated for their schedule. They were shared approximate duration of the interview so that they prepared for the session and selected the place of interview. Also shared that the session will be recorded. After having consensus with respondents, the researcher confirmed the scheduled and the place. On scheduled time the interview was conducted in a friendly environment where the respondents enjoyed their freedom of giving opinion. Before starting the interview, the researcher briefed the research title and objective and confirmed signing of the consent paper. The whole interview was recorded. Thus 5 interviews were conducted and stored for interpretation and descriptive discussion.

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18 3.8 Data Summarize, Result and Interpretation

When the interviews were completed the voice records of the interviews were copied from mobile to laptop. Thus, the audio information was stored in the laptop. After conducting all the targeted interviews, the researcher tried to interpret the audios and transcribe the interviews accurately.

Microsoft excel software was used to summarize the information of the respondents. The research questions were coded as RQ1 and RQ2 with subdivision and the respondents were coded as Anonymous1 to 5.

The result of the study summarized as table format which was attached in the appendix section.

3.9 Analysis and Discussion

The research was done to answer the two research questions to analysis and discuss their outcomes.

The questions were related to the factors impacted migrating abroad and their experiences after migration. The first questions discussion was divided into three parts one is individual motivations and rest two were major push factors from the home country and pull factors of the host country.

Then the second questions discussion followed after the first with few other relevant correlated findings. The analysis and discussion fully based on the summary of the respondent’s interview.

3.10 Validity and Reliability:

While conducting qualitative research, it is very difficult to manifest rigour for the apprentice investigator due to the lack of enough recognize evidence about the standards by which such research should be examined (Rolfe, 2006). To address the validity and reliability, the following consideration were taken in the study process. The respondents were selected from homogenous target group. The guide questions of the semi-structured interview were first prepared as draft then conducted a mock interview to make necessary correction and fined tune the guide questions. The process also helped to measure the estimated period of conducting the interview and it was around 25 to 50 minutes. It helped to provide the information to the expected respondents for deciding their consent to participate the interview with quality time which helped the researcher to collect adequate and expected information. All the interviews were recorded which ensured the authors perception of the respondents answer properly and it can affect the reliability of the study (Patel

& Davidson, 2011) (as cited in Bernhardsson & Johansson 2017).

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19 3.11 Ethical Consideration:

The study was based on using qualitative method with interview. Hay (2016) stated that participants’ privacy may be threatened by qualitative approach of data collection. As it was a method of gathering information from respondents precisely their personal opinions and sharing, the ethical consideration was maintained strictly. According to Webster, Lewis and Brown (2013), ethical consideration in research involves anonymity and confidentiality of the participants and the participation should be voluntary, free of pressure and risks of harm. A session was conducted for the magister thesis students where GDPR was discussed with its pros and cons. A prescribed format of consent paper was provided to ensure ethical agreement between the interviewer and the interviewee. In this study GDPR was followed and consent papers were duly signed. The respondents were assured that their personal information will be kept in a confidential manner and would use only for the study purpose. The information would be destroyed just after the completion of the study and submission of the thesis. Before starting the interview, the respondents were informed that the duration of the conversation would take twenty-five to fifty minutes and whole conversation would be recorded too. Also briefed clearly that everything in the process is voluntarily and anonymous. The respondents were briefed that they had their full freedom of providing their information and conclude the conversation. At the beginning the title and purpose of the study was shared with the interviewees. When the respondent agreed to proceed and signed the consent paper then the interview was conducted. The consent papers were preserved in a proper manner.

4. Results:

The study was conducted using qualitative interview with focusing two research questions and in- depth answers of those from five respondents. The background of the respondents includes: they had completed their graduation at home country and perusing two years’ master’s program at Umea University. Three of the respondents were second year and two were in first year. Moreover, among them two were female and three were male. All of them came from megacity Dhaka which is one of the densities’ city in the world and the capital of Bangladesh. Currently they are residing at student apartment at Alidhem beside Umeå University.

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20 Their answers were tabulated using Microsoft Excel in two tables included in the appendix. The first tables contained the first research questions findings and the second table for the second research questions. The result of those findings discussed below.

4.1 Table-1: The table consists of three sub sections for RQ-1 the factors associated with student’s migration from Bangladesh to Sweden. The sections were personal motivations, push factors and pull factors. The results were-

RQ-1.1: Personal Motivation: The study represents that every student had some personal motivations. The most common motivations addressed everyone were looking for a better and secured life, enriched professional career in their respective field, enhanced higher education and advanced academic competencies, achieved international degree from abroad and settled in Europe as permanent residency. One of the respondents said about the better and secured life of Sweden:

“…...For live a better life. You know Sweden is a part of European Union, here the facilities for future is very good. And the security is also very good. That’s why they came here.”

Another respondent stated about higher education:

“…. first of all, my motivation was to have a foreign degree.it was my fate to migrate to abroad you can say. But I also had a plan to complete my master’s degree in a foreign country with a good university and Umea is a like the world ranking it’s like three hundred and thirty-six may be now.

It’s a very good university.”

Few of them had some other motivations like enjoying personal independence in western culture, looking for an international career, met international diversified people, overcome the family issues and travelling Europe etc.

RQ-1.2: Push Factors of Home Country:

The respondents were experienced a lot of negative issues during their inhibiting in home country those acted as push factors. The most enormously uttered factors were unemployment and job selection, corruption, discrimination and job satisfaction, political situation of the country, adverse

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21 urban environment (traffic jam, crowd, air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution, infrastructure etc.), social insecurity and peace. One of the participants explained:

“……first of all, I think the environment is the biggest factor to migrate abroad because in Bangladesh the environment is not so good like first world country, like Sweden .First of all I would like to say our political situation in our country that is very bad if I compare to the another country like Sweden .Politically Bangladesh is now very unstable and there is inconsistency in political system.one government is running our country like seems ten years almost .This is one of the factor that our country I feel I always felt that my country is not safe or not secure for my future generation because also there are another factor like social environment , you can say the social environment there’s crime rate is very high in our country, the air pollution, water pollution, every pollution is increasing day by day in our country and this is the first reason I leave I want to migrate to another country because of the social environment and also environment ,there’s an environmental issue like traffic jam that in our country worst experience in my life as I used to live in old Dhaka.”

Majority of them also mentioned some other factors which were back dated education system, people mind setup and labor division, societal conservativeness (female), poor law and enforcement and others involvement on individual personal matter. Few of them have different personal factors like education environment, family issue etc.

RQ-1.3: Pull Factors of Host Country:

The respondents were structured and positive information derived from friends, relatives, internet and social media those were the pull factors of the host country. The very common factors attracted all the respondents were easy application process, world class education system, reputation and ranking of the universities, favorable visa processing and traveling across with the same visa, sound environment with peaceful life and social security. Most of them talked about western openness with better life, Job opportunity with settling as permanent residency, equal respect to all jobs or absence of labor division, Society without Discrimination. Few of the participants shared enjoy freedom of own life, recognition of western degree especially from Swedish Universities and affordable tuition fees compare to other countries etc.

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22 4.2 Table-2: The table summarized the results of the RQ-2 which was the gathered experiences of the respondents during their residing in Umeå at everyday life and academic life. The table divided into five sub headings. The results were presented according to those sub headings which were as below

RQ-2.1: Common experiences they observed positively and liked:

The most common observation liked by the respondent were social security and safety, people with descent behavior and open mind, Swedish calmness and peaceful life, natural beauty of snowfall and northern light Aurora and enjoying weekend party. Majority of them liked enjoying own personal life, unique education system, professionalism and punctuality, and widely spoken English. Few shared in favor of healthy environment, people’s food culture, zero corruption, job facilities and satisfaction, systematic and society without discrimination etc.

RQ-2.2: Common experiences they observed negatively:

The observation everybody experienced negatively were very few which were harsh weather with too cold and heavy snow, introvert and individualistic people. Most of them disliked the high living expenses, using Swedish everywhere and keeping awaiting long que for services. Few other negative experienced were conservativeness in making friendship, getting work permit and VISA, long-term darkness and daytime etc.

RQ-2.3: Challenged Faced

Very common challenges faced everyone were language proficiency, part time job scarcity and getting job without Swedish language skills. Few other challenges were shining career with own study arena, long que for receiving services, getting desired accommodation and learning Swedish as a new language etc. Anonymous 5 shared

“.. Language, Language and language is the main challenge for us in Sweden.”

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23 RQ-2.4: Skills considered as an advantage in Sweden for a migrating student

While talking about skills and expertise which ease life as an international student everybody was just answered in a second was that language proficiency. Besides language another skill they all considered was driving. Few more skills could be considered were technical, respecting all jobs equally, punctuality etc.

RQ-2.5: Impact of Covid-19

The respondents were facing negative impact of Covid-19 in their academic and everyday life.

Anonymous 4 described own experience about campus and study that

“…Missing the live campus and international vive and the diverse international students”.

Anonymous 3 described that during covid-19 life in Umea as-

“…. Sitting long time in the room and talking with kith and kin back in home feels like staying physically in Sweden but mentally in home country. Missing the European life and people.”

5. Analysis:

5.1 Factors associated with Migration from Bangladesh to Sweden:

Based on the results the factors were divided into three sub sections which were personal motivations, push factors and pull factors. The analysis of those factors given below:

5.1.1: Personal Motivation:

Looking for a better and secured life; Life in Bangladesh was very uncertain and unsecured.

Though there were scope of higher education, scope of jobs but after a certain period the jobs became stagnant, promotion and career growth hampered due to a foreign degree and advanced academic background. This was a common issue in Bangladesh not only in multinational corporate or private sector but also in public sector too. This was the main urges and motivation for the

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24 young people who were pursuing their education at university level or completed their graduation and master’s program searching for favorable country with good number of reputed world ranking university and world class academic environment to enhanced their professional career and advanced their academic arena too. As well as enjoying an independent and personal life in western open culture. Considering those pros and cons Sweden was the good choice consisting of the criteria. Moreover, other motivational factors were information of jobs opportunity with permanent residency and scope of meeting intercontinental diversified people and their culture.

5.1.2: Push Factors of Home Country: There were several factors those were considered as push factors according to the migratory Bangladeshi students in Umea, Sweden. Among those the major push factors were:

Unemployment and Job Selection: Bangladesh is a country of around 170 million people. Job market is very skew. Every year thousands of students graduating but jobs are not creating proportionate to the passing number. The government and the policy makers are less interested about this issue. Because they are more concerned about their vote and public image. They are always busy with political issue and the power. As a result, every year a huge number of young people struggling to get a job competing thousands of applicants against a single vacancy hence, the job selection is also not fair enough. The most lucrative and prestigious jobs in Bangladesh are BCS Cadres recruited by PSC. Though they are autonomous but they are always governed by the ruling government and selection always struggle for transparency and won the trust of the common people.

Corruption: Bangladesh is well known as one of the corrupted countries in Asia. General people cannot afford any public services without speed money. But political powerful, elites and the rich people are utilizing, facilitating and promoting this mal practice. Even you can’t get a job without speed money and links. The basic services and facilities like health and education sectors are also corrupted. The society is driven by the corrupted people and the general people are losing hope in country. The scenario is continuing years after years and everybody is suffering. This corrupted society demotivated the migratory students most to migrate abroad for securing their own future.

Political Situation: Bangladesh is a democratic country but it is paper based and internationally announced. The actual situation is different, people cannot raise their voice against of ruling party, against of corruption, against of mal practice in administration, against of injustice etc.

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25 Everywhere, power is exercised by the political backed people. During election people are struggling for selecting their candidates and keeping out casting vote. The political parties patronizing student politics not for the sake of student’s welfare but for the sake of their own interest. University teachers are involved very active politics not for the interest of the education rather their personal benefits and facilities. There is not enough strong opposition in the assembly and the long term one ruling party is impacting the normal political environment. Every sector and everybody are trying to satisfy the ruling party other way rather providing their services. The whole situation is an alarming of an unstable future. Everybody is worried about the future of the country and part of mass people students are also worried about their own life. This was also a demotivating factor made them migrating abroad.

Adverse Urban Environment: The respondents were residing in Dhaka the capital of Bangladesh.

The adverse urban life over there demotivated them very much. The city the population density is very high and roads and whole city is overcrowded. Heavy traffic jam is common in daily life that takes several hours traveling to workplace to home or university campus. If it rains, then it becomes more worst. Besides the jam sound pollution, air pollution and water pollution are very high than normal range those caused health hazards and diseases. Unplanned and uncoordinated maintenance of roads, sewerage, electricity, drainage is a common in urban daily life.

Job satisfaction and discrimination: The job environment is poor in Bangladesh specially in private or corporate sector. Salary structure and fringe benefits are very poor. Promotion, upgradation and salary revision not always based on performance rather based on relationship or top management interest. Public sector faced more discrimination. Health safety and security measures are neglected every sector.

Poor education system: Absence secular education rather seen different like English medium, Bangla medium, Arabic medium, British curriculum, etc. There is session jam, different academic calendar for different universities, teacher and student politics, admission system etc. ragging, quality of education many more issues exist with education system and decreased the education system rather than previous.

Besides those the other factors are people mind setup and labor division, societal conservativeness (female), poor law and enforcement.

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26 5.1.3: Pull Factors of Host Country:

The major pull factors of the host country:

Easy application process and visa processing: The application process is very easy their asking information and documents are uniform and minimum. The documents apply for all Swedish Universities with a single account. Application fee is affordable and admission process is quicker.

The visa acceptable rate is very high and process is appreciating.

Reputation and Ranking of Universities: The Swedish Universities are famous for their history and reputation. The universities are leading not only in Europe but in the world with their high ranking.

The education system very advanced and structured with unique standard. The academic environment and research platform is recognized internationally.

Job opportunity and Residing in Europe: The Swedish government provide opportunity to the migrant’s students to work as a part time worker along with their study. The policy is favorable to the students, if they meet the pre-requisite criteria, they can go to the job market after completing their education and provide job visa too. Thus, they become economically sound rather than home country and steps to achieve permanent residency and settled here as well.

Society without discrimination and labor division: The Swedish government maintained a uniform society where every single individual treated equally despite their race, religion, origin, nationality, color, gender, identity. The safety and services provided uniformly based on their eligibility. The people respect all jobs equally. These are very essential for bearing a healthy mental health which is attracted the migratory students consider their study and future destination in Sweden.

The remarkable other pull factors are sound environment with peaceful life. Social security, western openness with better life and enjoy freedom of own life etc.

5.2: Experience in Sweden after Migrating (Research Question 2):

5.2.1: Common experiences observed positively:

The best thing in Sweden experienced by the Bangladeshi students was the social safety and security. The life is very safe and secured anybody can move anywhere anytime despite the age,

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27 gender, race, dignity, color, identity without any fear and tension. Which is a dream in Bangladesh but opposite phenomenon exists there. Swedish people are very descent and humble in behavior and open mind. They very sincere about the schedule and time management. They are very cooperative to the international students. They don’t interfere others personal matter which is a big challenge in Bangladesh.

Another catchy observation was absence of corruption or can say zero corruption in everywhere and every services. They are very fair providing services and cooperation as well as systematic without discrimination. The other positive impression are Swedish calmness and peaceful life, natural beauty of snowfall and northern light Aurora and enjoying weekend party. unique education system, job facilities and satisfaction, etc.

5.2.2: Common experiences observed negatively:

Before migrating in Sweden every student had adequate information about Swedish weather culture and people most of them were matched but few were mismatched and experienced negatively. Harsh weather with heavy snow and cold is one of those. Their understanding was might cold and tough weather but the experience was very tough when they observed longtime dark and everything covered with heavy snow even the roads gone under snow for a long time.

Kommun people were struggling to make it communicable but couldn’t manage at desired level.

Life became stagnant in a snow world and managing normal was a dream and long waiting for a sunny day. As inhabitants of warm country that was really a tough time for all Bangladeshi students in Umea.

Besides that, the living cost in very high comparing to Bangladeshi context the apartment rent is equivalent to a monthly salary of a first-class government employee though the apartment accommodation was not as desired. The other daily commodities are ten times costly than the home country. Few other negative experienced were keeping awaiting long que for services, conservativeness in making friendship, getting work permit and VISA etc.

5.2.3: Challenged Faced:

The most challenging issue for Bangladeshi students in Umeå was language proficiency. Though they were well informed about Swedish language but their perception was that as a European country they might saw English everywhere. But the reality there were mare scope of getting

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28 English rather everything written in Swedish everywhere like billboards, buses, trains, airports, roads, shopping malls, advertisement etc. Even in University notice board there is few chances of getting a notice written in English. As international students it was a challenging experience.

Because in Bangladesh the scenario is different and people are not well spoken at English but those materials are widely used everywhere in English. Everybody beard a mindset that jobs specially a part time are available but they experienced the reverse scenario. Though some odd jobs according to Bangladeshi context are available but academic backed jobs are too tough. Moreover, every Swedish job requires language proficiency.

Another interesting challenge they never thought might face in Sweden that was getting desired accommodation which required to had an account was a must and wait for long que.

5.2.4: Skills considered as an advantage in Sweden for a migratory student:

Language proficiency is very necessary in Sweden. Though people are very good at communicating through English but Swedish is used everywhere. So getting a job specially a Swedish job this Swedish language is considered the most effective skills. Driving skills considered second most desired competency for getting a Swedish job which required a B category license. But international driving license worked for getting a part time job like food delivery which is a good opportunity managing livelihoods as an international student. Besides those two skills some technical skill like IT, graphic design, programming, mechanical then language barrier considered less. In Sweden professionalism and concern on time management is very urgent for the job security otherwise it would be cause of job loss. In Bangladesh people less concerned about punctuality.

5.2.5: Impact of Covid-19:

5.2.5.1 The Covid-19 impact on academic life: Covid-19 depriving the normal academic physical classes, interacting and learning with teachers and classmates. The respondents were missing international vibe and diversified international students at the live campus. They had to stay themselves out of the campus which was beyond their expectations. They were missing the active library study, group study, welcoming fair, job fair, buddy program and many more co-curriculums activities. Online Zoom classes are not that much interesting and interactive, sometimes it was

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29 very monotonous and boring to sitting in front of the laptop long time. Moreover, zoom classes were considered feels like YouTube classes and it decreasing the quality of education.

5.2.5.1 The Covid-19 impact on daily life: Respondents were feeling mentally stressful as because they were bound to stay long time at room and unable roaming outside, meeting friends and people like normal life. Sometimes talking hold day with people back in home it felt like physically staying in Sweden but mentally in home country. As tuition payee students everybody was looking for a part time job to manage the livelihoods but due to Covid-19 is very hard to get a part time jobs which is depressing and frustrating.

6. Discussion

As the nature of choosing a higher education institution for higher study is complex (Briggs, 2006;

Soutar & Turner, 2002), a lot of push and pull factors are found. Among those the major push factors from the home country were social insecurity, people’s perception to labor division, corruption, law and order, job scope and satisfaction, crimes, conservativeness and social discrimination, adverse urban life and family issues influences as well as personal career motivation acted main force to migrate in Sweden. Host country’s academic reputation, cultural difference and geographical distance from home country, living cost, tuition fee, program suitability are the pull factors indicated by Lam et al. (2011) which make the destination more preferable. Sweden as a receiver country there are a lot of attractiveness and pull factors which include social security, calmness and peaceful life, highest quality of education system with world ranked public renowned universities, easy application process with comparative less tuition fees, favorable visa processing, recognition of the western degrees and diversification of advanced knowledge. The interaction of push and pull factors impacts the decision of students for higher education abroad (Mazzarol and Soutar, 2002). To decide higher education destination, reputation of educational institutions plays a crucial role (Krampf & Heinlein, 1981; Mazzarol, 1998; Bourke, 2000; Gutman & Miaoulis, 2003). Though Umea is located in northern Sweden with harsh weather, the reputation of Umea university and its international fame encourage them to migrate here as their study destination. To be specific, as students are not satisfied with the quality of education in their own country, they look for better quality of higher education (Lee, 2017).

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30 It is obvious that Bangladeshi students belong to different cultures, languages and religions which vary from Sweden. Students expect to have new cultural experience (Nilsson,2015). After migrating the students experienced the real Swedish life, society and culture. Contact with local culture is very important for international students for studying abroad (Cheung et al., 2011). By the influence of push and pull factors, Bangladeshi students arrive Sweden with certain expectations. The availability of job opportunities and the possibility of emigration is included in expectations (Bodycott, 2009). If the expectations and choices, set before leaving domestic country, are fulfilled then it is a satisfying experience for the students (Arambewela & Hall, 2009;

Arambewela, Hall & Zuhair, 2006) which make the students to settle in the host country.

Bangladeshi students’ first-hand experience of Swedish life, society and culture influence their future plan regarding career and life. The absence of labor division and equal respect to all people despite their race, origin, religion, ethnicity and gender, diversified culture of cross continent, calm and peaceful life and the social security inspire them most to led them plan to stay in Sweden as their future destination. Though the study expenses and living cost is comparatively higher than the other European countries and obviously very high compared to Bangladesh. Again, the students are considering the expenses as an investment so that after completing academic education they will manage a job and thus secure their life in Sweden and their future generation.

7. Conclusion and Recommendations:

7.1 Conclusion:

Despite the tuition fees introduced by Sweden for the non-EU and the third country students after 2010, Bangladeshi students remains attracted to Sweden because of certain reasons. The chronological order of students’ decision for higher study includes deciding to study abroad rather than at home which is influenced by “push factors”, then choosing the country dominated by the

“pull factors” and finally selecting a particular institution which is dominated by additional “pull factors” that make the institution more preferable (Chen, 2007; Mazzarol &Soutar, 2002).

Introduction provides the objectives of the research which discuss about the factors influencing Bangladeshi students migrated in Sweden and specially in Umea along with their experiences gathered during their current academic period. Through the qualitative approach and the interview

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31 with five Bangladeshi students of Umea University a good number of factors were shared by the respondents which were analyzed and discussed to address the student’s migration from Bangladesh. The result of the study shows that better and secured life, higher education and international degree, professional integrity, high standard of education, possibility of settling in Europe etc. mainly motivate the Bangladeshi students to study in Sweden. It finds out unemployment, job opportunity, corruption, political unrest, social insecurity, discrimination etc.

as the major the push factors for Bangladeshi student which make them to leave the home country.

In addition, better career prospects, improvement of language skills, experience of a different culture among others (Lam et al.,2011) cannot be ignored behind students’ decision making.

Strategies, measures and tools taken by the universities and Swedish government to actively recruit international students and welcome them in Sweden (ENM Sweden 2018:3) including scholarships and grants, different projects, extended visa etc. play important role behind third country students choosing Sweden for higher studies. The study points out that easy application process, reputation of university and standard of education, social security, peaceful environment, equal opportunity, easy visa process etc. play as the main pull factors for Bangladeshi students to choose Sweden as their destination. Western life standard, absence of discrimination and labor division, possibility of permanent residency are also some factors mentioned by the participants. These factors both clearly are related to the expectation and experience of the students studying in Sweden which may impact the future planning of their life and career. Though the students face some challenges during living in Sweden. It is very common that students may find alienated and outsider in the host country. Some of their important values are likely to be ignored in the host country and vice versa (Huang, 2008). Language, weather, food, culture, high living expenditures, time variation, introvert people etc are some challenges mentioned by the participants. However, the overall experience of the Bangladeshi students in Sweden is positive and up to their expectations. If the expectations and choices, set before leaving domestic country, are fulfilled then it is a satisfying experience for the students (Arambewela & Hall, 2009; Arambewela, Hall & Zuhair, 2006). To overcome the challenges, the respondents mention some recommendations which includes Swedish language proficiency, driving, technical knowledge, positive attitude towards all jobs, professionalism and punctuality. Mastering these skills can help the students to adjust with the new socio-cultural condition which may cause the self-realization of themselves. Studying abroad

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32 may appear as a self-realization project for the student which can make them more open-minded (Kennedy, 2013).

To conclude it can be said that the push factors of home country and the pull factors of host country facilitating a positive trend of student’s migration from Bangladesh to Sweden. Moreover, the personal motivation of students for western life, academic and professional degree, Sweden’s welcoming and favorable migration policies to the international students are also dominants to choose study here and migrate for settled down after completing their study.

7.2 Recommendations:

To improve the positive impression and strengthen the student migration as well as uphold the existing strong relationship between Sweden and Bangladesh, some recommendations could consider. According to my personal observation while conducting the in-depth interview with the students I felt and realized the following recommendations can contribute

• There is a huge information gap between the perception of the students, their parents and the relatives about the western life and culture than the reality. To minimize the gap and provide a realistic scenario the government of Bangladesh and Sweden jointly can conduct sharing and information dissemination session with them while they selected in Swedish Universities and decided to study and migrate.

• Lack of proper information many potential students cannot able to migrate though they are brilliant and can contribute a diversification and innovation. Government of Bangladesh can open a student help desk like manpower under ministry of education. So that interested students can get adequate information and support to find out right place to shine their expected education and career.

• To emphasize not only English language proficiency but also a minimum Swedish language too. Though the medium of education in master’s level is English but the daily life in Sweden everywhere Swedish is commonly used even the notice and information in the university also provided in Swedish.