Contributing Factors to Migration Growth Among Iranian Students: Drivers of Migration to Malaysia

• Published in: Journal of international migration and integration Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 757 - 770
• Main Authors: Kazemi, Ali, Baghbanian, Abdolvahab, Maymand, Mohammad Mahmoudi, Rahmani, Hojjat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.08.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Academic staff; Age groups; Brain drain; Colleges & universities; Companies; Cost of living; Cronbach's alpha; Data processing; Demography; Education; Educational technology; Emigration; Employment; Fees & charges; Freedoms; Graduate students; Immigration; Immigration policy; Intellectuals; International cooperation; Labor market; Labor migration; Leadership; Legislators; Mathematical analysis; Migration; Motivation; Policy making; Political factors; Politicians; Politics; Population Economics; Questionnaires; Reliability; Religion; Religious activities; Religious leaders; Research methodology; Respondents; Social interaction; Social Sciences; Sociology; Sociopolitical factors; Students; Tuition; Undergraduate students; Iran; Malaysia; Iran; Migration; Push-pull factors; Emigration; Immigration; Malaysia; Student
• ISSN: 1488-3473; 1874-6365
• DOI: 10.1007/s12134-018-0567-z

It is estimated that almost 244 million people have migrated around the world for a variety of complex reasons. For some, (tertiary) education has been the primary motivating factor. Countries that experience a brain drain as a result of migration may suffer a population and cultural loss. Iran is believed to suffer from such a brain drain in their skilled-labour market, otherwise known in many areas as education immigration. This study was undertaken to explore why Iranian students emigrate to Malaysia and what are the most common causes of migration growth that have accompanied this trend. A descriptive analytical research method, cross-sectional in nature, was applied. A sample of 250 Iranian post-graduate and undergraduate students—who were studying in Malaysia—was selected randomly to participate in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was adapted to collect data, which was tested for validity and reliability based on the research scholars’ advice and calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ( α  = 0.90). ‘SPSS’ v. 19.0 was used to analyse the data. The significance level was set at 0.05. In total, 219 questionnaires were completed. The majority of students (73.5%) were male, and most of them (62.1%) belonged to the age group of 25–30 years. Nearly 65% of the students had been living in Malaysia for 3 years or more. Low tuition fees and living costs (68%), exceptional educational technologies at Malaysian universities (54.3%), the existence of international companies in Malaysia (65.3%), easy entry to Malaysian universities (70.3%), high rankings of Malaysian universities in the world (58%) and greater freedom in social interaction for respondents compared to Iran (49.3%) were the most compelling reasons for these students’ emigration to Malaysia. Further analysis revealed that Iranian students’ intention to emigrate to Malaysia was significantly correlated with socio-political factors and religious concerns in Iran, reasonable tuition fees in Malaysia and access to advanced technologies and international cooperation in Malaysia. Other contributing factors included the simple process of obtaining an entry visa and subsequent resident visa or work permits for Malaysia and the high rankings of Malaysian universities among international institutions ( P value < 0.001). Concern over the issue of immigration continues to mount confounding and challenging legislators, politicians, community leaders, policy-makers and academics to develop solutions to overcome it. In the case of Iran, authorities are required to focus on the big picture of the immigration process and should explore the extent of the challenges Iranian students face. They need to secure the employment of graduates produced by educational institutions to ensure their country does not continue to experience brain drain. A more unified effort is required to stop the brain drain by establishing high-tech, affordable and accessible universities in Iran and offering more freedom in the areas of politics, social and religious activities.