Special issue: Middle-class Indian students: Migration recruiters and aspirations

This paper explores the perspectives and hopes of the Indian middle class regarding international migration, specifically focusing on educational mobility. It discusses the obstacles that students encounter in a fluctuating economy, their dependence on family resources and financial support for studying abroad, as well as the importance of social networks. Furthermore, it analyses how social media platforms aid migration and addresses the influence of privatisation and global mobility on student decision-making. The paper also highlights Indian students' desires to embody ideal neoliberal characteristics to secure prestigious employment while fulfilling cultural expectations within middle-class households. Additionally, it investigates how migration facilitation and migrants' actions contribute to new migration routes. The research contextualises these changes in students balancing conflicting pressures and ambitions across different locations with cosmopolitan migrant ideals at its core.