Paper/Proposal Title

Perceptions of Young African Scholars’ Migration from Africa to the Global North: A Case of Selected Kenyan Universities

Presenter/Author Information

Anne DavidFollow
Enock Magack Masaki, Daystar UniversityFollow

Location

M2300

Start Date

November 2023

End Date

November 2023

Keywords

Migration, Young African Adults, Perceptions, Global North

Abstract

As the old adage says, ‘East or West Home is best’, that may not be so true for the young African adult. Despite Africa being a very rich continent in its culture as well as physical resources and beautiful weather to a large extent, most of the African youth who live in Africa always dream of a life abroad. So much so that the thought of migrating to the West, either the United States of America or Europe seems to offer the once in a life time solution to all their problems. This is so real that many risk death in high seas and sadly, thousands of Africans from Sub-Saharan African have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life. The documented statistics paint a grim picture of the many that die in their quest for seeking greener pastures. The study will investigate the Perceptions of young African scholars’ migration from Africa to the global North: A case of selected Kenyan Universities. Therefore, answering research questions on students’ perceptions on why they migrate from Africa to the global north to join higher learning institutions, factors influencing their preferences in selecting higher learning institutions in the global North as opposed to the ones in Africa and what experiences in schooling do these university students have. This phenomenological research will adopt the explanatory sequential design after conveniently sampling the universities under study with a set of open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured in-depth interviews. The study intends to inform the reasons as why young scholars migrate from African universities to those in the global North. The results can challenge education policy makers, university leadership, pedagogy, curriculum design and financial or mentorship support for the growth of young and promising scholars in Africa.

Author/Speaker Biographical Statement(s)

Ms. Anne Mwende David Communications Lecturer, Daystar University, Department of Strategic and Organizational communication Nairobi, Kenya Anne David is a media practitioner and environmentalist who graduated with a double major (Media and Public Relations in communication), and a Master of Arts in Media studies. Her vision and goal in life is to create awareness on environmental conservation through afforestation and creation of green spaces in major cities as well as small towns and villages. She also has an interest in the area of rural-urban migration and how to mitigate it by making the environment better. Her vision and goal in life is to cause an impact in organizations through Green Corporate Social Responsibility and especially in organizations through excellent service delivery and environmental conservation. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral studies at Daystar University in Corporate Communication with her focus being on Climate Change and Green Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)). She has edited several books and curriculums across the board due to her interest as a writer and prowess of the English language. She aspires to impact the climate possibility by planting millions of trees in Kenya and sensitizing Organizations as well as individuals to plant trees as well. Enock Masaki Magack Enock Magack is a PhD student at Daystar University. His research interests revolve around digital media and user satisfaction on how audiences use social media to counter misinformation, the adoption of digital media in economic, political, and cultural engagement. His recent publication was on the uses and gratifications of LinkedIn as a communication tool. His current research trajectories touch on the role social media plays in the proliferation of youth languages and further their usage by corporates in their communication strategies. His interest is also on how organizations and audiences have used Twitter (hashtags) in countering misinformation. His interests interrogate factors influencing migration and adoption of journalists to government communication officers. He is a pragmatist and therefore interested in both qualitative and quantitative approaches. He holds a master’s degree in communication studies focusing on Digital Communication at the United States University of Africa (2020) and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from St. Paul’s University (2016) both in Nairobi, Kenya. He also volunteers to do vox-pops for the leading radio station in Kenya – Citizen Radio for a show that is aired from 1:00pm-4:00pm leading several discussions centering on digital experiences.