VIRMOBS

The health crisis has had a significant impact on student mobility worldwide, accelerating the emergence of virtual mobilities, either as substitutes or complements to physical mobility abroad. These offer students a new perspective on international experience, leading us to rethink the concept of mobility to include virtual or hybrid forms. However, the opportunities and experiences of international students engaged in distance online education are insufficiently understood. The VIRMOBS project will be the first significant comparative study of the dynamics underlying the virtual mobilities of international students enrolled in distance online higher education programmes in the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. These countries are among the top six destinations for international students globally. Despite this, their recruitment strategies differ, providing ideal conditions for a comparative study. The UK implemented differentiated fees for international students as early as the 1980s and is currently the most marketised system. In contrast, France followed a logic of soft-power until the 2000s and applied differentiated fees for non-EU students only in 2020, with a renewed emphasis on selective immigration principles and labour market adjustment. Canada occupies an intermediate position, employing international strategies focused on recruiting foreign students to generate income and also to alleviate demographic decline, with variations between provinces. Virtual mobilities raise essential questions regarding learning, cultural experience, social inclusion, quality assurance, the value of credentials, funding, and environmental impact reduction. While on the surface, these educational innovations seem to reduce spatial barriers, promote intercultural dialogue, and have potential for social inclusion, they must be carefully examined and evaluated. They may indeed create new inequalities among international students, with significant variations based on gender, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds ; and only superficially erase borders, leaving intact the obstacles faced by those in the Global South in their education and physical migration projects. The project will compare the institutional dynamics and policy choices underlying the development of virtual mobilities within and between Canada, France and the UK. It will employ a sociohistorical methodology to examine the phenomenon at macro level. At meso level, the fieldwork will focus on three case-study universities in each country and their online programmes taken by international students, in order to better understand the implementation and operational strategies supporting these programmes. At micro level, the methodology will combine a questionnaire and biographical interviews with international students enrolled on the selected programmes. By combining mixed-methods approaches and adopting an international comparative perspective, the project will provide conceptual clarity and an in-depth understanding of this rapidly growing phenomenon. VIRMOBS will assist institutions in supporting their international students taking online distance education programmes and provide a foundation for policymakers to better consider virtual student mobility in public policies, including those related to funding, immigration, and accreditation.