Migration and educational projects online Cover Image

Migration and educational projects online
Migration and educational projects online

A topic modelling approach of discussions on social media groups

Author(s): Helena Gertz Dedecek, Florian Süsser
Subject(s): Media studies, Communication studies, Migration Studies
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Fakulta sociálních věd
Keywords: razilian migration; latent ties; migrant’s online communication; migrant’s media user; transnational education;

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the prevalence of topics relating to education in information exchanges on Facebook groups of Brazilians who live in – or wish to migrate to – Germany. Against the background of mediatisation theory, social networks and transnational education research, we conducted an explorative quantitative study based on a text-as-data approach. Con- cretely, we collected posts from 14 migrant groups and analysed them using topic model- ling. Our results reveal that vocational education and training (VET) are prevalent in these debates and topics associated with language learning and certification. We contend that latent ties (Haythornthwaite, 2002) on migrants’ social networks are relevant in migratory pathways involving education – regardless of educational level.

  • Issue Year: 16/2022
  • Issue No: 02
  • Page Range: 236-256
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: English