Mobility as "becoming': a Bourdieuian analysis of the factors shaping international student mobility

This paper unpacks the meanings and implications of the mobility of international students in vocational education - an under-researched group in the field of international education. This four-year study found that transnational mobility is regarded as a resourceful vehicle to help international students become' the kind of person they want to be. The paper justifies the value of re-conceptualising student mobility as a process of becoming'. Mobility as becoming' encompasses students' aspirations for educational, social, personal and professional development. Theorising mobility as becoming' captures international students' lived realities and has the potential to facilitate the re-imagining of international student mobility with new outlooks. By theorising mobility as becoming', this research suggests the importance of drawing on the integrated and transformative nature of Bourdieu's forms of capital in understanding the logics and practice of the social field - international student mobility.