Abstract
Decisions are typically influenced by students’ social characteristics, particularly their social class. An increasing number of students within the European Union and more widely are being given the opportunity, as part of a higher education degree programme, to study for a period (usually between one term and one year) abroad. There are many theories of decision-making that have informed work on international student mobility, such as: ‘rational choice theory’, ‘expectancy theory’, and the ‘theory of planned behaviour’. Students are shaped by their social class and family background and gender, amongst other factors. Extant research has provided clear evidence of the significant impact a student’s social class and family background can have on a decision to move abroad for part of a degree programme. Decisions about whether or not to move abroad for part of a higher education programme are also informed by the wider economic and political context in which both institutions and individuals are situated.