
{"id":21610,"date":"2010-11-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-16T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=21610\/"},"modified":"2017-01-21T04:07:31","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T04:07:31","slug":"stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Love and chance encounters. These are what bring international students to Denmark. And love and chance encounters are what are making them stay here to start a career afterwards.<\/p>\n<p>This is the short version of research in progress at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Geography and Geology, presented at <a href=\"node\/8106\">a symposium on parallel language policy last week. Ana Mosneaga has carried out in-depth interviews with 41 foreign students and graduates, probing their decision to study abroad, why they chose Denmark, and their thoughts about pursuing a career here. <\/p>\n<p>As Ana Mosneaga explains, politicians tend to think of foreign students as \u2018brains on the move\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe traditional conception is the push and pull model, which tends to explain academic mobility in terms of economic factors such as differences in income. But this can only partly account for  various patterns of academic mobility today. In reality it comes down to chance encounters and opportunities,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h2>Girl or a job<\/h2>\n<p>As one Chinese student, who is quoted in the study, puts it: \u00bbMy parents divorced. I felt stressed in the family and wanted to go somewhere to improve my life\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>Once here, finding a boyfriend or girlfriend is a major factor in student decisions to stay.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI came here initially with the intention of going back to Holland, but I also know that I\u2019m going to study here at least two years, so there is a good chance that I find something that keeps me here. Either a girl, or a job. If that happens, I might stay here. If it doesn\u2019t happen, I\u2019d probably go back\u00ab says a Dutch male student.<\/p>\n<h2>I\u2019m here! Take me!<\/h2>\n<p>Officially, policymakers hope that elite migrants and highly qualified students will choose to live and contribute to Danish society. But Danish policies to cherry-pick the most highly-educated and ambitious elite students from abroad are doomed to fail unless they also take into account the so-called non-monetary factors.<\/p>\n<p>People are not simple, argues Ana Mosneaga based on the results so far. The change of status from student to career in Denmark is dependent upon the student passing a multiple of barriers that have nothing to do with money.<\/p>\n<p>A female American pharmaceutical student quoted in the study has a mentor from the Danish company Novo Nordisk. She points to the closed Danish labour market when it comes down to hiring for real jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt is a disadvantage not being fluent in Danish. I have been told that if a foreigner and a Dane are equally qualified the Dane will get the job which can be a bit of a frustration. Especially when I hear all the time that \u2018we need international people to stay and work in science\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019m here! Take me!\u00ab<\/p>\n<h2>Permanent resident or strong CV<\/h2>\n<p>Even for those lucky enough to get a job, the barriers to a successful career in Denmark continue, especially for those who are successful in their field.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf I stay I\u2019m eligible for permanent residency but then I\u2019m staying here at this level. Is that enough for me? That\u2019s the question,\u00ab an Iranian man with a PhD in Veterinary Science, quoted in the study, reflects:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSo either I stay here and get stability or go to the US and get stability in the future through a stronger CV. That\u2019s my dilemma\u2026\u00ab .<\/p>\n<h2>Elite policies ineffective<\/h2>\n<p>Ana Mosneaga\u2019s research indicates that a government policy to attract certain ideal types is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n<p>To attract the most skilled migrants, Ana Mosneaga says, \u00bbtargeting certain types like, for example professionally-oriented globalists, is difficult, if not completely ineffective. Instead, the study points to the fact that job opportunities after graduation are the most important factor, as are encounters with &#8216;special others&#8217;\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"node\/4192\">Read an earlier University Post profile of Ana Mosneaga and her work here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>miy@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay in the know about news and events happening in Copenhagen by <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\">signing up for the University Post\u2019s weekly newsletter here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For students, the decision to come to Denmark, to stay here, or to leave again is a complex one. But it is mostly about personal relationships<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For students, the decision to come to Denmark, to stay here, or to leave again is a complex one. But it is mostly about personal relationships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3872\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"headline\":\"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":674,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/11\\\/ana2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/11\\\/ana2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/11\\\/ana2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/11\\\/ana2.jpg\",\"width\":3872,\"height\":2592,\"caption\":\"Ana Mosneaga has looked into why students choose to come, stay, or leave Denmark\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"University Post\",\"description\":\"Independent of management\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\",\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/migrated_articles\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery","og_description":"For students, the decision to come to Denmark, to stay here, or to leave again is a complex one. But it is mostly about personal relationships","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3872,"height":2592,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/"},"author":{"name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"headline":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/"},"wordCount":674,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/","name":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-21T04:07:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","width":3872,"height":2592,"caption":"Ana Mosneaga has looked into why students choose to come, stay, or leave Denmark"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stay or leave Denmark? It is a lottery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606","name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/migrated_articles\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":21611,"id":21611,"title":"ana2","filename":"ana2.jpg","filesize":830705,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/stay-or-leave-denmark-it-is-a-lottery\/ana2\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"Ana Mosneaga has looked into why students choose to come, stay, or leave Denmark","caption":"Ana Mosneaga has looked into why students choose to come, stay, or leave Denmark","name":"ana2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":21610,"date":"2017-01-19 18:04:59","modified":"2017-01-19 18:05:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":3872,"height":2592,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-480x321.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":321,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-1280x857.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":857,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1371,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-290x194.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":194,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-700x469.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":469,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-990x663.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":663}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"For students, the decision to come to Denmark, to stay here, or to leave again is a complex one. But it is mostly about personal relationships","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Mike Young","contributor_title":"&nbsp;","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Love and chance encounters. These are what bring international students to Denmark. And love and chance encounters are what are making them stay here to start a career afterwards.<\/p>\n<p>This is the short version of research in progress at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Geography and Geology, presented at <a href=\"node\/8106\">a symposium on parallel language policy last week. Ana Mosneaga has carried out in-depth interviews with 41 foreign students and graduates, probing their decision to study abroad, why they chose Denmark, and their thoughts about pursuing a career here. <\/p>\n<p>As Ana Mosneaga explains, politicians tend to think of foreign students as \u2018brains on the move\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe traditional conception is the push and pull model, which tends to explain academic mobility in terms of economic factors such as differences in income. But this can only partly account for  various patterns of academic mobility today. In reality it comes down to chance encounters and opportunities,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h2>Girl or a job<\/h2>\n<p>As one Chinese student, who is quoted in the study, puts it: \u00bbMy parents divorced. I felt stressed in the family and wanted to go somewhere to improve my life\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>Once here, finding a boyfriend or girlfriend is a major factor in student decisions to stay.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI came here initially with the intention of going back to Holland, but I also know that I\u2019m going to study here at least two years, so there is a good chance that I find something that keeps me here. Either a girl, or a job. If that happens, I might stay here. If it doesn\u2019t happen, I\u2019d probably go back\u00ab says a Dutch male student.<\/p>\n<h2>I\u2019m here! Take me!<\/h2>\n<p>Officially, policymakers hope that elite migrants and highly qualified students will choose to live and contribute to Danish society. But Danish policies to cherry-pick the most highly-educated and ambitious elite students from abroad are doomed to fail unless they also take into account the so-called non-monetary factors.<\/p>\n<p>People are not simple, argues Ana Mosneaga based on the results so far. The change of status from student to career in Denmark is dependent upon the student passing a multiple of barriers that have nothing to do with money.<\/p>\n<p>A female American pharmaceutical student quoted in the study has a mentor from the Danish company Novo Nordisk. She points to the closed Danish labour market when it comes down to hiring for real jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt is a disadvantage not being fluent in Danish. I have been told that if a foreigner and a Dane are equally qualified the Dane will get the job which can be a bit of a frustration. Especially when I hear all the time that \u2018we need international people to stay and work in science\u2019 \u2013 I\u2019m here! Take me!\u00ab<\/p>\n<h2>Permanent resident or strong CV<\/h2>\n<p>Even for those lucky enough to get a job, the barriers to a successful career in Denmark continue, especially for those who are successful in their field.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf I stay I\u2019m eligible for permanent residency but then I\u2019m staying here at this level. Is that enough for me? That\u2019s the question,\u00ab an Iranian man with a PhD in Veterinary Science, quoted in the study, reflects:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSo either I stay here and get stability or go to the US and get stability in the future through a stronger CV. That\u2019s my dilemma\u2026\u00ab .<\/p>\n<h2>Elite policies ineffective<\/h2>\n<p>Ana Mosneaga\u2019s research indicates that a government policy to attract certain ideal types is doomed to fail.<\/p>\n<p>To attract the most skilled migrants, Ana Mosneaga says, \u00bbtargeting certain types like, for example professionally-oriented globalists, is difficult, if not completely ineffective. Instead, the study points to the fact that job opportunities after graduation are the most important factor, as are encounters with &#8216;special others&#8217;\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"node\/4192\">Read an earlier University Post profile of Ana Mosneaga and her work here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>miy@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay in the know about news and events happening in Copenhagen by <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\">signing up for the University Post\u2019s weekly newsletter here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":48,"name":"Politics","slug":"politics","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":48,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1035,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11485,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/ana2-1280x857.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21610"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38067,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610\/revisions\/38067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}