TY - JOUR
T1 - Sliding doors
T2 - strategic ambiguity in study visas to South Africa
AU - Lee, Jenny J.
AU - Paulidor, Kopgang
AU - Mpaga, Yann Axel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 Society for Research into Higher Education.
PY - 2018/11/2
Y1 - 2018/11/2
N2 - This study sought to investigate international students’ experiences with the study visa immigration policy in South Africa. The theoretical framework utilized to investigate international students’ experiences with the study visa process is ‘strategic ambiguity,’ defined as deliberate ambiguous statements and positions for the accomplishment of goals. In the case of study visas, a country provides written immigration requirements, but there is considerable discretion by its many actors, conceptualized in this study as ‘street-level bureaucrats,’ in regard to how the application components are interpreted and processed. The international students’ reported experiences were uneven and varied, without clear patterns by country of origin, university, or students’ backgrounds, suggesting the metaphor of sliding doors to indicate that not all encountered major obstacles in the same way, but rather largely attributable to unforeseeable luck. The study has implications on how strategic ambiguity occurs in immigration policies and procedures with varied experiences and outcomes for those who apply.
AB - This study sought to investigate international students’ experiences with the study visa immigration policy in South Africa. The theoretical framework utilized to investigate international students’ experiences with the study visa process is ‘strategic ambiguity,’ defined as deliberate ambiguous statements and positions for the accomplishment of goals. In the case of study visas, a country provides written immigration requirements, but there is considerable discretion by its many actors, conceptualized in this study as ‘street-level bureaucrats,’ in regard to how the application components are interpreted and processed. The international students’ reported experiences were uneven and varied, without clear patterns by country of origin, university, or students’ backgrounds, suggesting the metaphor of sliding doors to indicate that not all encountered major obstacles in the same way, but rather largely attributable to unforeseeable luck. The study has implications on how strategic ambiguity occurs in immigration policies and procedures with varied experiences and outcomes for those who apply.
KW - International staff
KW - international students
KW - role of higher education
KW - student experience
KW - student migration
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U2 - 10.1080/03075079.2017.1296825
DO - 10.1080/03075079.2017.1296825
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85014578973
SN - 0307-5079
VL - 43
SP - 1979
EP - 1992
JO - Studies in Higher Education
JF - Studies in Higher Education
IS - 11
ER -