The Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Student Mobility from the Perspective of Education Economics

This paper is to explore the challenges the student mobility will face under the fourth industrial revolution from the perspective of education economics. The Fourth Industrial Revolution affects not only economic activities such as production, sales, and consumption, but it also has an impact on education. Few previous studies, however, have explored the influence on international student mobility in the higher education sector. How does the Fourth Industrial Revolution change the cost-utility structure of studying abroad? What challenges do higher education institutions face? This paper analyzes the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by employing an economic theoretic model. Some of the socio-economic changes caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as an increased global knowledge stock, increase demand for study abroad, while others including knowledge that rapidly becomes obsolete and the relatively high costs of studying abroad, reduce it. Higher education institutions not only face risks but also have opportunities in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The key to their success is in providing more opportunities to develop the non-cognitive skills necessary for jobs that machines cannot do.