International student mobility and poverty reduction: A qualitative study of the mechanisms of systemic change

International student mobility is widely regarded as a means of knowledge acquisition, yet its broader implications for poverty reduction remain underexplored. As governments impose new restrictions on mobility and geopolitical tensions reshape migration flows, understanding the developmental role of returnees is increasingly urgent. Drawing on 143 interviews with mobile and non-mobile “change-agents” across 57 countries, this study examines how returnees contribute to systemic change through four interrelated mechanisms: agency and reflexivity, knowledge translation, transnational social relations, and civic understanding. However, fragmented implementation systems, politically conditioned bureaucracies, and institutional scepticism toward externally informed ideas constrained returnees’ initiatives. Using Critical Realism, Transnationalism, and Transformative Learning Theory, this study emphasizes the complex, negotiated nature of mobility-driven development. The findings highlight the need to move beyond individual skill development in policy and research, calling for policies that strengthen institutional absorptive capacity and sustain transnational collaboration. At a time when geopolitical tensions and visa restrictions are altering mobility patterns, this study contributes to debates on migration, development, and education by demonstrating that returnees act not merely as knowledge transmitters but as strategic agents of structural adaptation. Their ability to translate global insights into locally meaningful reforms has implications far beyond the brain drain discourse, offering a critical perspective on how higher education, migration, and development intersect in an era of rising global fragmentation.