Giornate di Studio sulla Popolazione (Popdays), Giornate di Studio sulla Popolazione 2019

Font Size: 
The Geography of Italian Student Mobility: a Network Analysis Approach
Silvia Columbu, Mariano Porcu, Isabella Sulis, Maria Prosperina Vitale

##manager.scheduler.building##: Velodromo - Bocconi University
##manager.scheduler.room##: N06
Date: 2019-01-26 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Last modified: 2018-12-26

Abstract


The study of the push and pull factors which drive students' flows in Italy is a key asset for the redefinition of university curricula, the implementation of policies to boost attractiveness and the allocation of public financial resources to universities. In the present contribution we aim at discovering the characteristics of the network trajectories of the university student migration flows by considering a network analysis approach.

Using information provided by the Italian National Student Archive on cohorts of students enrolled for the first time at the university in a.y. 2011-12 and 2014-15, network graphical tools and measures have been used to investigate the incoming and the outgoing flows of bachelor and master degree students between territories and universities.  Starting from this kind of information the main purposes are to (1) discover the role played by each province or university computing network indexes or revealing hubs and authorities position in the network; (2) exploring the global structure of network flow between Italian universities trough clustering techniques; (3) examining each university's position in the national students exchange network and its characteristics in terms of geographical location and socio-economic conditions.


Keywords


Network analysis, student mobility, university reputation, attractiveness indicators