Social media influencers can widen access to study abroad

In recent years, social media has transformed how prospective international students access and imagine study abroad.

One particularly striking development is the rise of a new kind of study abroad advisor: international students and graduates who have built large followings on social media through the content they create on studying abroad, drawing on their first-hand experiences.

These content creators have become prominent ‘study abroad influencers’, shaping prospective international students’ aspirations and abilities to study abroad.

I am researching the impact of such study abroad influencers on Indian student migration to Germany. The number of Indians studying in Germany has risen sharply, making Indians the largest group of international students at German universities. German public universities, which constitute the majority of higher education institutions in the country, charge low or no tuition fees, even for international students.

Furthermore, many have begun offering masters courses in English. This makes Germany a relatively accessible international study destination for Indian students. However, unlike universities in countries with marketised higher education systems – which rely on international fee income – German public universities typically do not partner with education consultants or agents in India to recruit students or market themselves at education fairs.

In this context, Indian study abroad influencers are playing a key role in promoting Germany as a study destination to prospective international students.

Bringing student life alive

I conducted a digital ethnography of one of the first study abroad-focused YouTube channels run by an Indian. Launched by Bharat Chaudhary during his time as a masters student at a German university, the channel aims to encourage and assist others in India to pursue higher education in Germany. It now has nearly 400K subscribers and has been viewed close to 40 million times.

Many of Bharat’s videos provide viewers with accessible explanations of the German higher education system, the distinctions between different categories of universities, how to shortlist universities and courses and how to prepare university and visa applications.

Bharat also brings alive what student life in Germany could look like by taking his viewers on virtual tours of universities and student accommodation, trips to the supermarket and visits to Christmas markets and other festivities.

Additionally, he collaborates with Indian study abroad YouTubers in other countries, making videos that compare their respective study destinations in terms of quality of education, cost of living, job prospects, quality of life and pathways to permanent residence. Bharat actively engages with his viewers, often producing videos that address their questions and suggestions.

Trust-building

Through his videos, Bharat also regularly gives viewers glimpses into his personal life. Viewers meet his wife, hear about the couple’s story and are taken along to birthday and family celebrations.

By getting to know Bharat in this way, his viewers have come to see him as a trustworthy friend and guide – and his study abroad-focused videos as providing reliable and accurate information. Many affectionately refer to Bharat as ‘Bhai’ (elder brother in Hindi) and praise him for supporting them in the way an elder sibling would.

Bharat is widely credited with helping his viewers better understand the German higher education landscape, inspiring and motivating them to seriously consider study in Germany (in some cases instead of another country) and demystifying the application process.

Comments like the following frequently appear on his YouTube channel: “Because of you only I dreamed about Germany… will meet you there… very soon,” and “Thanks for all your work … you are one of the big reasons Indians move to Germany.”

Some viewers have even shared that their parents became supportive of them studying in Germany after watching Bharat’s videos and visiting Germany virtually through his channel.

Social networks

While my research has focused, so far, on study in Germany, there are also Indians – and international students from other countries – making highly-viewed social media content about many other study destinations, both established and emerging.

Academic research shows that a prospective international student’s social networks can significantly impact whether they decide to go abroad to study and their choice of study destination.

The social networks to which a person belongs are closely linked to their socio-economic position. Those from more privileged backgrounds are more likely to know people with experience of an international education, which can give them access to insider information on study abroad and encourage and even normalise such educational mobility.

For those without transnational networks, embarking on study abroad can be more challenging and may feel daunting. Study abroad influencers may then be helping to democratise access to study abroad through acting as a virtual ‘elder sibling’ or friend, providing prospective international students with the social and cultural capital necessary for successful student migration – resources that many might otherwise not be able to access.

A new form of education consultancy

Alongside social networks, education consultants or agents are widely acknowledged as playing a pivotal role in facilitating international student mobility. Study abroad influencers may be seen as representing a new form of education consultancy, drawing on strategies of monetisation which characterise the influencer industry.

For example, over the period of my fieldwork, Bharat partnered with a range of organisations and companies that offer products and services relevant to Indian students in Germany – from health insurance to language learning resources – making videos about these products and services for his channel.

In addition, Bharat himself offers a range of paid products and services, including an online course on applying to German universities and a German language course.

Given the increasingly significant impact of study abroad influencers on prospective international students’ aspirations, decision-making and access to an international education, a focus on these new intermediaries is crucial for understanding contemporary student mobilities.

Dr Sazana Jayadeva is a Surrey Future Fellow in the department of sociology at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, and an associate researcher at the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies in Germany.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.