Tendency towards international migration: The case of Ferdousi University's students in Mashhad

This study primarily aims to examine the main patterns and determinants associated with tendency of university students toward international migration. This tends to be a critical issue in contemporary Iran as the country holds a very young age structure and witnesses an increasing trend of university-educated youth bulge. The discussion of this article is based on a survey, which includes 320 students of Ferdousi University in Mashhad. According to the preliminary results of this study, about half of these university students tend to migrate. This general pattern, however, is substantially affected by such demographic determinants as age, gender, and marital status. Moreover, the multivariate results of this study have explored that the tendency towards international migration is significantly associated with the sense of security and safety, religiosity, national identity, and economic motives. In sum, the results of this study accord with the pull-push theory of Lee (1966) and provide further evidence to support the United Nations’ (2002) studies, suggesting that the tendency of young people towards international migration is mainly associated with more and better occupational and educational opportunities.