Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies
School of Social Sciences
ZHCES Seminar Series
The Expansion of South-to-South International Student Mobility: Implications for India
Prof. Mayumi Ishikawa
Professor Emeritus and Affiliated Researcher, Institute for International Initiatives, University of Osaka, Japan
Visiting Professor, ZHCES, JNU
Abstract: An increasing number of international students are choosing destinations in the Global South. South-to-South educational mobility is not new but has received limited scholarly attention due to assumptions that frame Western destinations as inherently superior. Yet South-to-South educational mobility makes significant contributions to human capital and professional development, serving both growing middle-class families across Indo-Pacific and students from less privileged backgrounds. The study is based on ethnographic research conducted between 2023 and 2025 at three Asian international universities in Malaysia. It examines three forms of transnational undertakings: Muslim human resource development and alliance building, a Chinese branch campus serving ethnic Chinese communities in Malaysia and beyond, and bilateral cooperation in medical education between India and Malaysia. Together, these universities constitute a distinct infrastructure of South-South educational mobility, providing a viable alternative to dominant West-bound mobility pathways. The internationalization of higher education is increasingly rearticulated by local and regional needs and priorities. The global higher education landscape is rapidly evolving, with institutions and actors in the South gaining visibility and influence.
Bio: Dr. Mayumi Ishikawa is professor emeritus and affiliated researcher in social anthropology at the Institute for International Initiatives, the University of Osaka, Japan. Her research interests include the globalization of higher education and ethnographic studies of universities, the internationalization of higher education, educational migration of students and scholars, higher education and science policy, world university rankings and the emergence of hegemony in academia, and power in the construction of knowledge, focusing on Japan, East and Southeast Asia.
DATE: 9th Sept. 2026 (Wednesday)
TIME: 03.00pm
Venue: #207, SSS-II
(All are Welcome)