Re-rigging a flagship: the Mexican Government's CONACYT scholarship programmes and the contested worth of sponsored international student mobility.
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| Title: | Re-rigging a flagship: the Mexican Government's CONACYT scholarship programmes and the contested worth of sponsored international student mobility. |
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| Authors: | Saling, Kieve Stone1 (AUTHOR) saling@kth.se |
| Source: | Policy Reviews in Higher Education. Mar2026, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p24-52. 29p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Scholarships, *Student mobility, *Foreign study, *Education policy, *Human capital, *Postsecondary education, *Educational outcomes |
| Geographic Terms: | Mexico, Sweden |
| Abstract: | This article examines the Mexican government's recently curtailed CONACYT international scholarships and its sponsored masters' students who studied in Sweden between 2013 and 2020. It contrasts CONACYT's human capital theory-based justifications with the experiences of ten sponsored alumni and indicators covering eighty-five such alumni from major Swedish universities. Employing a framework from the economics and sociology of conventions, it highlights institutional stability challenges involving scholarships amidst varying conceptions of worth and changing societal conventions. Findings show that participants express the value of their education and view possibilities for 'giving back' in ways that clearly differ from CONACYT's stated aims – and in ways that do not depend upon physical return. Further analysis indicates under 20% of this group of alumni has returned to Mexico. Non-return had been a widely acknowledged but under-enumerated and nebulous issue which CONACYT previously dismissed. Recent research firmly establishes non-return as a significant fact. This study complements such findings, and using a novel framework, demarcates incoherence, tensions and criticism of CONACYT's rationales in relation to the institution of 'scholarships' in Mexico. It thereby provides insights into CONACYT's recent radical reform and identifies potential snares for programmes using similar rationale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Policy Reviews in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 192981988 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Re-rigging a flagship: the Mexican Government's CONACYT scholarship programmes and the contested worth of sponsored international student mobility. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Saling%2C+Kieve+Stone%22">Saling, Kieve Stone</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> saling@kth.se</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Policy+Reviews+in+Higher+Education%22">Policy Reviews in Higher Education</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p24-52. 29p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scholarships%22">Scholarships</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+mobility%22">Student mobility</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+study%22">Foreign study</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Education+policy%22">Education policy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+capital%22">Human capital</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Postsecondary+education%22">Postsecondary education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+outcomes%22">Educational outcomes</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mexico%22">Mexico</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sweden%22">Sweden</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: This article examines the Mexican government's recently curtailed CONACYT international scholarships and its sponsored masters' students who studied in Sweden between 2013 and 2020. It contrasts CONACYT's human capital theory-based justifications with the experiences of ten sponsored alumni and indicators covering eighty-five such alumni from major Swedish universities. Employing a framework from the economics and sociology of conventions, it highlights institutional stability challenges involving scholarships amidst varying conceptions of worth and changing societal conventions. Findings show that participants express the value of their education and view possibilities for 'giving back' in ways that clearly differ from CONACYT's stated aims – and in ways that do not depend upon physical return. Further analysis indicates under 20% of this group of alumni has returned to Mexico. Non-return had been a widely acknowledged but under-enumerated and nebulous issue which CONACYT previously dismissed. Recent research firmly establishes non-return as a significant fact. This study complements such findings, and using a novel framework, demarcates incoherence, tensions and criticism of CONACYT's rationales in relation to the institution of 'scholarships' in Mexico. It thereby provides insights into CONACYT's recent radical reform and identifies potential snares for programmes using similar rationale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Policy Reviews in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=192981988 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/23322969.2025.2546332 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 29 StartPage: 24 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Scholarships Type: general – SubjectFull: Student mobility Type: general – SubjectFull: Foreign study Type: general – SubjectFull: Education policy Type: general – SubjectFull: Human capital Type: general – SubjectFull: Postsecondary education Type: general – SubjectFull: Educational outcomes Type: general – SubjectFull: Mexico Type: general – SubjectFull: Sweden Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Re-rigging a flagship: the Mexican Government's CONACYT scholarship programmes and the contested worth of sponsored international student mobility. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Saling, Kieve Stone IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 23322969 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 10 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Policy Reviews in Higher Education Type: main |
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