significantly in Nepal. This trend is reflected by the increasing numbers of No Objection Certificates by the Ministry of Education. On one hand, the number of universities and academic institutions has added gradually across the country which demonstrates the expanding access to higher education in Nepal. On the other hand, there is a growing trend of student migration and decreasing enrollment in academic institutions, which has flashed debate in the social sphere regarding the increasing foreign migration of Nepalese students. Despite this trend, there is limited research on the migration aspirations of current university students. Understanding these aspirations is essential to know the present and future situation of student migration from Nepal. Based on migration transition theories (de Haas, 2010; de Haas et al., 2019, 2021; Skeldon, 2012; Zelinsky, 1971) – argue that migration aspiration is an integral component of social transformation – this research tries to understand the situation of migration aspiration among the university students.
This study applied a cross-sectional and descriptive research design. We used a multistage stratified sampling method to select the sample campuses from seven major universities. These universities were further stratified by geographical location and affiliations, resulting in 11 strata for campus selection. From these strata, 32 campuses were randomly selected based on the proportion of total enrollment in the universities. A class was selected deliberately from each campus with the class having at least 20 students. Data were collected by grouped questionnaire methods from 770 valid responses and analyzed by descriptive and bivariate analysis.
The finding of the study shows that 6 in 10 of the respondents expressed a desire to migrate abroad, driven primarily by aspirations for further education (72.7%) and employment opportunities (27.3%). There was a significant association between current job status and migration aspirations (p = 0.003). Similarly, student-perceived satisfaction showed a significant association with migration aspirations (p = 0.002) in which dissatisfied (from campus or university academic environment, teaching pedagogy, facilities, and service quality) expressed higher migration aspirations (66.8) than the satisfied students (56.1). Migration aspirations were highest among students from the Agriculture and Forestry University (73.0%) and lowest among those from Nepal Sanskrit University (24.3%). Discipline or subject also played a critical role, with the highest aspirations observed among students in Agriculture (73.0%), Health Science (69.2%), and Science and Technology (68.3%), particularly in technical subjects compared to general subjects.
The findings of this research support migration transition theories, indicating that the social transformation of Nepal, such as the increased in higher education enrollment, may widen the aspiration-opportunity gap, resulting in higher migration aspirations among the students. Findings also indicate that migration aspiration is closely related to the student’s employability, satisfaction, and subjects related to technical fields. Nepalese universities and concerned authorities need to facilitate job placement opportunities and improve student satisfaction for student retention at the universities according to students’ changing aspirations. Further research is needed to incorporate different dimensions of social transformation to link with student migration aspiration in Nepal.
