The analysis of migration trends in the 21st century reveals that educational migrations concerning mainly university students are one of the fastest developing forms of international mobility of people. The international character of higher education is nothing new. In fact, we can say that it has been an integral part of the European idea and tradition of higher education since the establishment of the first universities back in the 11th and 12th century. However, in recent years we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of people starting education at foreign universities. In 2002, there where 2.5 million international students, while in 2017 this number reached as many as 5.3 million [OECD, 2019a: 231].
This unprecedented, quantity-wise, intensification of student migrations has been reflected in the development of research, increased number of publications, and the elaboration of new theoretical approaches to this phenomenon. Source literature confirms that research on student migration should take into account the gender criterion. This idea is supported by, inter alia: Scott L. Thomas and Mary E. McMahon [1998]; Randi I. Kim and Susan B. Goldstein [2005]; Mark H. Salisbury, Paul D. Umbach, Michael B. Paulsen and Ernest T. Pascarella [2009]; Mark H. Salisbury, Michael B. Paulsen, Ernest T. Pascarella [2010]; Kaylee Hackney, David Boggs and Anci Borozan [2012] or Evie Browne [2017]. The latter, however, stresses that there are still significant gaps in knowledge about the relationship between gender, education and migration [2017: 3].
Article presents different approaches towards studying abroad amongst pupils, who graduated in 2020 from one of the best Polish secondary schools, III Liceum Ogólnokształcącego im. Marynarki Wojennej RP (III LO, the Polish Navy High School No. 3) in Gdynia. It is based on the results of the research entitled “Gdynia Three and what's next? Emigration Educational Plans of Graduates of High School No. 3 in Gdynia” which was carried out in 2020 by the Emigration Museum in Gdynia.
The project, executed in the form of a case study, aimed to learn about the educational plans of high school graduates, who intended to study abroad, and the main conditions associated with these intentions. Specific objectives covered such issues as: recognisisng the reasons and personal motivations that made the pupils decide to study outside of Poland; identifying personal experiences, which favour education abroad; recognising preferred destinations of educational migration; recognising the conditions of the decisions to leave Poland in the context of the pupils’ life circumstances, systemic solutions and plans for the future concerning personal as well as professional life; collecting information on potential private and professional plans after graduating from studies abroad; as well as determining the identity, which is being shaped, of the secondary school graduates, who have decided to study abroad.
The results of the project confirm that there are clear differences between female and male graduates both in their approach to studying abroad as well as in their migration strategies.