Literature Review on Factors Affecting Student Migration

This literature review discusses the factors affecting student migration based on four research articles. It highlights common and different findings, managerial implications, and limitations for future research.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Review
Total Word Count: 1500
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Common Findings across the Four Articles...........................................................................3
Different Findings across the Four Articles...........................................................................3
Managerial Implications.........................................................................................................4
Limitations and Scope for Future Research...............................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Professional Accounting is a series of techniques and processes that are used to
measure identify and convey the economic details that the user finds useful in making a
certain decision (Deegan 2013). Accounting is considered as the language of business. The
main purpose of this subject is to measure the business activities, process these informations
by making reports and further delivering these findings to the stakeholders or the decision
makers. Therefore, accounting is a language of the financial decision. The subject of
accounting dates back to a long period. From the ancient civilizations of Babylonia, Greece,
China and Egypt traces can be found of people involved in this subject. Even in that period,
people used to keep records of the cost of materials, labours that were used in the building of
supermassive structures like that of the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. Lucas Pacioli a
mathematician was the first man to provide a description of the double entry book keeping.
The work was published in1994. With the passage of time, the corporate market grew beyond
imagination. The expansion of the industries like that of the railways, communication, steel
lead to further development of the topic. The managers of these industries were required to
make various accounting procedures for the welfare of these industries. Further, the
government takes responsibilities of various sectors like education, healthcare, economic
planning. For this also accounting is very necessary. Nowadays accounting is necessary in
every field in order to make profitable economic decisions. . Thus, to make a better
management of the various financial aspects of life like that of income tax, loans,
investments, one needs a very good understanding of the topic of accounting. The person
having a good understanding of the language will have an upper hand in the economy and
will be able to make profitable decisions for the industry.

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Discussion
The article published by Chew and Croy (2011) assess various factors that are related
to the migration of students to a different country. Other articles that are taken into
consideration are the articles published by Mihi-Ramirez and Kumpikaite (2013), King and
Raghuram (2013) and Doyle et al. (2010).
Common Findings across the Four Articles
The articles published have some similarities to each other. Cost of studying abroad is
a major factor for each of these articles. The per capita income that a family earns serves as a
major factor for the cost of studying. If the per capita income of the family of the student is
low then it is very difficult for the student to study abroad. Another factor that is considered
in all the papers is the issue of cultural barrier. The ability of the foreign students to adapt to
the new culture is a factor for the migration of foreign employees. The student must be able
to adjust to the new environment or else it will be very difficult for the foreign student to
carry on. Further, the quality of the study in the foreign university is also considered as a
major factor for the immigration of the students. The level of education needs to be very high
so that a foreign student takes into account the possibility of studying in that particular
institute. Moreover, the course content also is an important factor. The syllabus or the
structure of the course needs to be very precise. By precise it is meant that the syllabus must
cover all the advanced as well as the traditional topics that needs to be incorporated in the
real life situation analysis.
Different Findings across the Four Articles
Several factors have been discussed in each of the articles other than the above said
factors. One of the most important factor that is discussed in the first article is the increase in
the knowledge of the student and the desire to explore other cultures. Student must possess

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the desire to increase the knowledge and have a liking towards the exploration of the new
culture. Further, personal security is also a major concern for the exchange students. The
country must be able to provide proper protection to these students (Chew and Croy 2011).
Nobody would consider going to a country where crime rates are high to pursue higher
studies. Proximity to home is also a factor that might influence the student. However,
researches have shown that this factor is not that much important with this respect. In one of
the research papers, it is argued that the lack of information among the students is also a
factor that is responsible for the migration. This case is acute in New Zealand where overseas
participation rate is quite low. Another interesting factor that is discussed in the paper is the
loneliness feeling of the exchange student (Doyle et al. 2010). Further more emphasis should
be given on the question of how the student migrates rather than why the student migrates
(King and Raghuram 2013). Another important factor that is discussed in the above article is
that the students not only think of education but also of family planning. Researches show
that most of the migrant students after completing their education try to find a job and further
think of a family. Therefore, the above said point is also an important criterion.
Managerial Implications
Considering the managerial implications, the accountant should have fluency in
communication. The accountant should be profound in the ability to present the topic, listen
effectively, and discuss the topic and defending their views (Siriwardane and Durden 2014).
Another important factor is the inability of the accountants to present their papers properly.
The literature reviews provided by the accountants are very poor. The communication skills
of these accountants are limited only to certain geographical areas. By communication skills,
both the oral communication skills as well as the written communication must be high among
the accountants. The accountants might have very extensive knowledge about the topic but
may be unable to express their feelings due to lack of written communication knowledge.

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Communication skills is an important example of the soft skills that an accountant must
possess. Another important soft skill that the accountants must possess is the social skills (De
Villiers 2010). The definition of soft skills is quite different in the sense that they keep
varying with respect to the domain of the work. Moral and ethical values that includes cross
cultural awareness as well as an appreciation, code of conduct, which must be very
professional in nature, decent work ethics, diversity management, honesty and integrity are a
part of the soft skills that an accountant must possess. Self-management is also an important
factor with this respect. Self-confidence is very important. Time management, self-regulation
and self-assessment along with a proper work life balance are the desired features that an
accountant must possess. In addition to these, the accountant should be responsible in nature,
must have personal values, adaptive to the changes in the work place. The accountant should
be profound in writing CV and should have the tendency to learn new things and upgrade the
existing skills. Soft skills also include task-setting skills, strategic thinking, cognitive skills,
and decision-making skills. In addition to these, the accountants must possess teamwork and
leadership skills. The accountant must have decision-making skills should be able to manage
groups and participate in-group works and must possess social skills and the willingness to
overcome failures. Further, they must possess technical skills, which are the hard skill. They
must be profound in dealing with information intelligently. The technical skills also include
strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, providing analytical solution using advances tools,
resource allocation techniques. These hard skills will enable the accountants to analyse a
subject more closely and efficiently. The above said soft skills and hard skills are very much
desired in an accountant in the present days.
Limitations and Scope for Future Research
The research articles that were discussed in the previous sections have several
limitations. The most important limitations that the research was organised based on different

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countries. Moreover, when the sample size of the students was chosen it was from a distinct
university. The cultural barrier and the language problem exists only in non-English speaking
nations like that of the Latin America or the Asian countries. Further, the students of New
Zealand face the problem of the lack of awareness. These sort of problems are not common to
all. The articles possess these major limitations. Therefore, because of these limitations there
exists a future scope for study relating to this matter. The future research can be conducted
using a larger sample. Other universities should be taken into consideration. More emphasis
should be made on the questionnaires that are given to the sample. In some cases, it may be
found that the cultural barrier is not significant in nature. Another area of concern will be to
understand the proper process of decision making among the foreign students and to examine
the selection of the destinations by the students. To conclude the future research should try to
analyse the development of the chosen destination and the relationship of the educational
institute. These must include the communication messages and the members who are
included in that communication.

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References
Chew, A. and Croy, W.G., 2011. International education exchanges: Exploratory case study
of Australian-based tertiary students' incentives and barriers. Journal of Teaching in Travel
& Tourism, 11(3), pp.253-270
De Villiers, R., 2010. The incorporation of soft skills into accounting curricula: preparing
accounting graduates for their unpredictable futures. Meditari Accountancy Research, 18(2),
pp.1-22.
Deegan, C., 2013. Financial accounting theory. McGraw-Hill Education Australia.
Doyle, S., Gendall, P., Meyer, L.H., Hoek, J., Tait, C., McKenzie, L. and Loorparg, A., 2010.
An investigation of factors associated with student participation in study abroad. Journal of
Studies in International Education, 14(5), pp.471-490.
King, R. and Raghuram, P., 2013. International student migration: Mapping the field and new
research agendas. Population, Space and Place, 19(2), pp.127-137.
Mihi-Ramirez, A, and Kumpikaite, V 2013, 'The Whys And Wherefores Of Student
International Migration: European And Latin-American Economic Perspective', Economics
& Management, 18(2), pp. 351-359
Siriwardane, H.P. and Durden, C.H., 2014. The communication skills of accountants: what
we know and the gaps in our knowledge. Accounting Education, 23(2), pp.119-134.