ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the conceptual lenses for approaching student mobility comprehensively from a theoretical standpoint. It proposes a fourfold conceptual diagram to account for the variables characterising student mobility in European post-secondary education. This conceptual diagram is organised into four macro descriptors which also correspond to the chapter sections: Learning domains abroad, Variables informing study abroad, Global student dynamics and higher education internationalisation and Long-term impact of study abroad. An important aspect of global student dynamics is the reliability of the indicators measuring cross-border student flows and the extent to which these figures account for the different types or modalities of student mobility. Economic effects on host communities are considered, although this type of impact appears to be less frequently documented in the education abroad literature. The attention to the city in student mobility research and scholarship may be related to the shift in the ways space is theorised in student migration literature and how migration flows link distinctive places.
