Migração internacional com fins de estudo: uma análise contextual do perfil dos estudantes estrangeiros no Brasil no período recente

Abstract

Migrations can be motivated by the desire of people to carry out their life projects, including the need to acquire new knowledge and experiences. In this sense, migrations for the purpose of studying appear as a growing movement, although in Brazil it is still timid when compared to other countries. This study sought to understand why students migrate to Brazil in search of higher education training since Brazil is not a country recognized for attracting international students. There are public policies to encourage migration to study in Brazil that favors the exchange of students to our universities. However, these policies did not have the necessary reach to make Brazil a country with a great power of attraction for international students. This research carried out a descriptive analysis of microdata from the Higher Education Census from 2015 to 2018, presenting the sociodemographic profile of foreign students and the data regarding the insertion of these students in Brazilian higher education. It was found that several factors influence the migration to study in Brazil, in which we highlight diplomatic and cooperation agreements, the linguistic question, the geographical question, historical relations, cultural proximity, the Amnesty Migration Law, the formation of social networks, and human development. Foreign students who migrate in search of study in Brazil encounter difficulties of all kinds, but strive to complete their undergraduate course, since for many people in developing countries the best option to improve their life opportunities is to get out of their hometown (UNDP, 2009). Foreign students who migrate in search of study in Brazilian higher education come from developing countries that have a lower HDI than Brazil, and this is the opportunity to change the course of their lives for many of these students.