ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the pursuit of higher education as a means to emigration is itself a risky endeavour, particularly in the pre-departure phase of emigration, where individuals mobilise resources to seek opportunities overseas. It also focuses specifically on the pursuit of nursing degrees among Filipino college students in the mid-2000s, when news of openings in the US led to a sudden rise in the number of nursing students and the proliferation of private nursing schools in the Philippines. Caught in the migration trap, nursing graduates said they became depressed with their situation, having to continue with the difficulty of clinical rotations and board exam reviews amidst such career uncertainty. Few students wanted to practice as nurses in the Philippines given the low wages and deplorable working conditions within local hospitals. The chapter examines the risks and costs of increasing one's employability, or the "professional and personal capacity to maximise one's employment potential".
