Exploring the Influence of Personal Motivations, Beliefs and Attitudes on Students’ Post-Graduation Migration Intentions: Evidence from Three Major Romanian Universities

Abstract

Nowadays, when there is much concern about the demographic decline of Europe and the stringent need for public policies that support intelligent, sustainable, and inclusive growth in times of population ageing, this study aims to validate several hypotheses regarding the post-graduation migration intentions of students in economics. To analyse these intentions in the context of Romanian yearly increases of out-migration flows to Western countries, the answers to the questionnaire used for this study were obtained from three important Romanian universities. Using georeferencing, neural networks-based data mining, and two types of regression analysis, the results represent a relevant contribution to the limited body of literature. They empirically show that motivations and attitudes towards a meritocratic environment for professional advancement, and individual freedom are positive key factors for students’ migration intentions after graduation. In addition, the paper emphasises the secondary role of religiosity and intergenerational transfer of parental migration experience. It also finds that, although the income level has some influence on these intentions, its role is far less important than the one emphasised in the specific literature, which leads us to the conclusion that non-economic motivations matter more than the economic ones for the potential decision to migrate after graduation.