On a quest for social mobility: The high-risk educational strategies of Indian medical students in Georgia

Introduction

The post-Soviet republic of Georgia, with a population of approximately 3.7 million, has become an increasingly popular destination for international students. In the academic year 2008/2009, just 500 international students were enrolled in Georgian higher education institutions. In the 2023/2024 academic year, Georgia hosted 30,700 international students, representing a 22.5% increase compared to the previous year. ¹ India has played a significant role in this expansion. In 2024, 16,093 Indian students were enrolled in Georgian universities – a nearly 169% increase from 2020, when 5992 Indian students pursued higher education in the country. ²

What attracts Indian students to Georgia? Most of these students enrol in Georgian medical colleges. Their growing presence in this post-Soviet country reflects the unprecedented rise in competition for medical degrees among aspiring doctors in India (Roy et al., 2022). The post-liberalisation expansion of India’s middle-class has increased educational ambitions, especially among its emerging segments, who face immense pressure to secure stable and prestigious careers (Cherian and Irudaya Rajan, 2024; Fernandes, 2006). The growth of higher education in India has not always led to better employment outcomes or real socioeconomic mobility, particularly for those from marginalised or lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Consequently, for individuals whose educational and class ambitions remain unfulfilled within the domestic system, international educational migration has become an increasingly appealing option (Yang, 2018b). Moreover, for many aspiring doctors, pursuing medical education in India remains an unattainable goal. Over the past 5 years, the number of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) qualifiers – the standardised exam for undergraduate MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) admissions in India – has nearly doubled, increasing from approximately 670,000 out of 1.4 million registered candidates in 2020 to around 1.3 million out of 2.3 million in 2024. Despite this growth, the success rate has remained relatively stable at about 54% (SD: 3.4), resulting in a rapidly expanding pool of qualified candidates. ³ With only 22,000 additional seats in undergraduate MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) programmes during the same period, increasing from 80,000 to 109,000, competition has intensified sharply, making it more difficult to secure admission even for high-scoring candidates near the qualifying threshold. Moreover, tuition fees at privately funded colleges in India can amount to as much as 13. 3 million INR (around 180,000 USD) for the full course, which is often unaffordable for the average Indian (Roy et al., 2022). Securing confirmed places in medical colleges abroad – often at a fraction of the cost of private institutions in India – has motivated many Indian students to pursue educational opportunities outside their home country (Khan, 2022), including in less conventional study destinations such as Georgia.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at different times between 2021 and 2024, this article examines the hopes, aspirations, and (high-risk) educational strategies of Indian medical students in Georgia. These MBBS students belong to India’s aspirational middle-class (Gupta, 2020), yet most do not come from internationally oriented families with a tradition of medical professionals. Their decision to pursue education in Georgia is shaped by a desire for social mobility and a stable livelihood back in India. A central argument of the article is how the planning of educational routes and destinations is deeply intertwined with social class and the distribution of various forms of capital at the start of the journey (Becker & Worm, this collection). As Lipura and Collins (2024) observe, students from a growing range of socioeconomic backgrounds are engaging in overseas study in ways that are less directly linked to the credential-driven logic traditionally associated with international student mobility. Although the pursuit of upward mobility frequently drives migration, its outcomes are often uncertain and unpredictable (Villares-Varela & Low, this collection). This article argues that students and their families, with limited familiarity with international education systems, are especially vulnerable to uncritical reliance on advice and to potential exploitation by education brokers.

The study underscores that the pursuit of social mobility among Indian medical students abroad is characterised by significant uncertainty and should be understood as a high-risk educational strategy. The risks are particularly acute because, despite investing 6 or more years in Georgia, obtaining a medical licence is not guaranteed. For the majority of students who intend to return to India, a mandatory screening test for foreign-trained doctors – notoriously known for its low pass rate – poses an additional structural hurdle. However, even after successfully passing this test, doctors with foreign qualifications from certain countries often face discrimination and exclusion within the Indian medical profession (Jha, 2018). Consequently, these students’ narratives are not straightforward stories of upward mobility or assured success. Rather, they reflect a complex interplay of hope, ambition, and the persistent tension between potential advancement and the prospect of profound setbacks.

Towards a broader conceptualisation of international student mobility

Between 2001 and 2018, the number of young people studying abroad more than doubled, from 2.1 million to 5.5 million (Császár et al., 2023). Alongside this shift, studies on international student mobility have increased significantly, and greater nuances have emerged regarding what defines an international student. Earlier research (e.g. Murphy-Lejeune, 2002; Waters, 2006) portrayed international student mobility as a ‘light’ and privileged form of migration, mainly undertaken by individuals from elite backgrounds seeking social and cultural capital. This view corresponds with a wider perception of youth in wealthy Western nations, where travelling among young people is often linked to a delayed transition into adulthood (Amit, 2011).

A growing body of research calls for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of student migration and the social origins of international students on the move. Scholars (Baas, 2010; Ginnerskov-Dahlberg, 2021; Gopinath, 2015; Lin, 2023; Thieme, 2017; Valentin, 2012) suggest that international student mobility has become an increasingly attractive pathway for middle-class youth in pursuit of improved career and life opportunities. According to Sancho (2023), international education is often less prestigious than it is commonly perceived to be. For many students and families across Asia, education abroad serves as an escape from the intense competition for admission to local colleges and universities. Sancho argues that educational migration is frequently driven by a fear of academic and professional failure at home – failures that could jeopardise the ability to secure or sustain middle-class status within their societies. A similar pattern has been found among students from South Asia studying in post-Soviet countries (Hladchenko, 2021; Nefedova, 2021) who usually do not originate from the elite and use studies abroad as a backup plan after failing to enter desirable educational programmes in their home countries.

While increasing attention has been paid to the mobility patterns of the burgeoning global middle-classes (Robertson and Roberts, 2022), localised and diverse expressions of class status remain underexplored in terms of their impact on international student mobility (Tuxen, 2022). Focusing specifically on the Mumbai context in India, Tuxen (2022) demonstrates how the value of international education is perceived, embodied, and differentiated within the complex class hierarchies of the urban upper-middle-class and elite. Tuxen highlights a distinction between two social groups: ‘The South Bombay elite’ engage with international education to maintain their privilege, using the prestige of studying abroad to solidify their status and prepare for adult life in the same elite circles in India. In contrast, ‘suburban strivers’ pursue international education for upward mobility, seeking a transformative experience by allowing them to acquire ‘better education, better jobs and therefore better lifestyles and livelihoods’ (Tuxen, 2022: 96). Thus, the latter group are not part of the traditional elite who mainly travel for education; rather, the primary value of international education is related to an economic imperative. The mobility of the suburban strivers, Tuxen (2022) argues, furthermore, comes with the risk of downward mobility if they fail to establish a life abroad. Some of the returnees even discovered that their foreign qualifications were not as highly valued in the Indian job market as anticipated. This observation aligns with Robertson and Roberts (2022: 2) point that the relationship between social and spatial mobility is complex and unevenly experienced across various groups within the broader spectrum of ‘the middle’. Even for those who, by certain measures, are considered more privileged, the experience of mobility has become increasingly marked by precarity.

In line with Tuxen’s observations, it is essential to emphasise that the middle-class in India is not a homogeneous group; instead, it consists of different class fractions that have responded in varied ways to social and cultural changes, educational opportunities, and, more broadly, the process of globalisation. Gupta (2020) argues that the Indian middle-class comprises two main groups: first, a long-standing, intergenerationally privileged, mainly upper-caste group of families that played a vital role in post-independence economic development; second, a newer, diverse, and highly aspirational group that is upwardly mobile, consumer-focused, and has greatly benefitted from the expanded market economy and its labour demands. Furthermore, as Becker and Worm (this collection) remind us, class should be understood as a relational concept (see also Dickey, 2016), highlighting the importance of recognising the contradictions inherent in class positioning across different regions or scales. This perspective underscores the dynamic and context-dependent nature of social class, suggesting that its significance and expression can vary across geographical and social contexts. As previously noted, the Indian students involved in this study describe themselves as occupying a position that is ‘in the middle’ of Indian society. According to Donner (2011: 3), ‘there is no doubt that ever more Indians are publicly identifying and presenting themselves as “in the middle,” that is, between the “poor” and the “rich”’. It is also important to recognise that the students’ self-classification as ‘middle-class’ does not imply belonging to the wealthier segments of the global middle-classes. Instead, these students find themselves situated within a socioeconomic stratum that is far from being financially secure. As will be elaborated throughout this article, this positioning significantly contributes to the precariousness and risk characterising their educational journeys, strategies, and their families’ investments.

Analytical framework: mobile livelihoods and risk-taking

To understand the strategies of Indian students in Georgia, this article draws on research related to livelihood and migration (e.g. Olwig and Sorensen, 2003; Olwig and Valentin, 2015). Livelihood refers to the strategies individuals, often within the context of their household, actively use to improve and maintain their well-being and standard of living (Valentin, 2012). The concept of mobile livelihoods, as described by Olwig and Sorensen (2003: 9), extends the notion of livelihood beyond its traditional economic and material aspects, including not only the acquisition of essential resources for survival but also the pursuit of culturally shaped aspirations, such as preferred occupations and lifestyles. Mobile livelihoods involve ‘the various practices involved in “making a living”, as well as the social relations that facilitate these practices, in the different contexts where they occur’ (Olwig and Sorensen, 2003: 9). Drawing on the work of scholars such as Sancho (2023) and Valentin (2012), this article approaches education as a long-term, often collective strategy aimed at securing sustainable livelihoods. Valentin (2012) integrates a comprehensive understanding of education with a transnational perspective on migration, analysing how educational strategies are incorporated into the mobile livelihoods of young Nepalese migrants in India. ‘A focus on the role of education as part of mobile livelihoods’, Valentin (2012: 440) contends, ‘enhances our understanding of the social processes through which migrants are actively engaged in acquiring new knowledge and skills as they seek social mobility’. In this context, the pursuit of education as part of a mobile livelihood intersects with broader dynamics of social stratification, where access to education and its benefits are considerably mediated by one’s social class. Social class, understood as a position within a hierarchical structure of economic, cultural, and social capital (Bourdieu, 1984), influences the strategies for upward mobility both within and across national borders. An individual’s class position shapes the resources they can access, the social networks they can utilise, and consequently, the educational opportunities available to them. This interaction highlights the vital role of class in shaping the opportunities and constraints inherent in the mobile livelihood strategies of students and their families. Moreover, class plays a central role in shaping what is considered symbolically valuable (Bourdieu, 1984). In the Indian context, both class and caste strongly influence which professions are regarded as prestigious (Dickey, 2012). An aspirational hierarchy places medicine at the top (Mathew, 2022), making education in fields like medicine and engineering a key component of social aspirations and mobility strategies for the Indian middle-class. This is driven by the widespread belief that such education secures a privileged place within the occupational hierarchy (Gupta, 2020; Yang, 2018b). The symbolic capital attached to becoming a doctor carries particular weight for aspirational middle-class families, especially within certain caste groups and more marginalised communities (Wilson, 2011).

In this study, I further examine the notion of risk-taking through the lens of Jakimow’s (2014) metaphor of ‘gambling on livelihoods’. Drawing from her research on villagers in India and Indonesia, Jakimow uses this metaphor to capture the ways individuals and households engage in risk-laden strategies to navigate uncertain futures – specifically, in her study, through their participation in commercial cultivation. Jakimow (2014: 410) writes that many villagers gambled everything they owned, pawning their jewellery, selling land, and borrowing from moneylenders and banks to increase their stakes. She notes their anxious observation of the skies, the ground, and the market, pondering whether their livelihoods would crumble with the rains or if fortune would favour them, elevating them up the social and economic ladder. Thus, risk-taking is central to the organisation of farmers’ livelihoods in Jakimow’s research. In this context, risk signifies the effort to regain a sense of agency over one’s life – a proactive measure that allows individuals to respond to an uncertain future (Jakimow, 2014: 412). Risk thereby empowers individuals and families to pursue their aspirations, fostering hope for a different future and social mobility – even if this hope coexists with the fear of negative outcomes. Hassan (2023) similarly emphasises the connection between risk-taking and class. To mitigate future uncertainty, he observes that the middle-class in Turkey engages in speculative and unpredictable economic activities, such as games of chance and entrepreneurship, moving beyond traditionally safe, rational, or secure economic pursuits. Hassan highlights how class affiliation influences risk-taking strategies, exemplified by precarious middle-class positions that prompt individuals to seek opportunities offering potential for financial growth and social mobility, even if they involve uncertainty and possible loss.

Risk-taking has also been shown to be essential among middle-class Indian students pursuing foreign education and their families (e.g. Thomas, 2017; Tuxen, 2022). In her study of Indian students in the United States, Thomas (2017: 7) underlines how ‘students and their kinship networks are bearing significant risks to invest in their human capital, a practice encouraged in a post-liberalisation India that promises economic prosperity for those who pursue their own futures with the appropriate risks and calculations’. Tuxen (2022: 103), similar notes, how ‘suburban strivers invest in international education and its anticipated outcomes, and because there is an investment, there is a risk’. In both Thomas and Tuxen’s studies, this inclination towards risk-taking is primarily driven by the desire to access broader career opportunities, enhanced lifestyles, and improved livelihoods. In this analysis, I expand on these insights by examining Indian MBBS students in Georgia from the emergent middle-classes, illustrating how pursuing a medical education involves considerable risk-taking rooted in the effort to navigate uncertain social positions in their home countries.

Research context and methodology

As highlighted, most Indian students in Georgia attend the country’s medical universities. It takes 6 years to complete a medical degree in Georgia, with annual costs ranging from 5000 to 8000 USD. In addition, the availability of many English-medium programmes and the lack of requirements for proof of English proficiency make medical education in Georgia quite accessible. At Tbilisi State Medical University alone, approximately 36% of the student body are international students, with Indian medical students forming a significant portion of them. However, in some private medical colleges, international students comprise the majority of the student population. Since these students pay fees, it is clear that medical education has become an attractive business in Georgia.

This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at various points between 2021 and 2024. To gain insight into the Indian student community in Georgia, while residing in another country, I joined various online groups on social media platforms and carried out semi-structured interviews via online platforms such as Zoom. I also conducted digital ethnography by observing interactions and discussions on Facebook and various online debate forums. These platforms served as important spaces where prospective students and Indian medical students in Georgia shared their experiences, concerns, and daily challenges. I closely followed posts, comment threads, and discussions related to life as an Indian student studying medicine abroad, paying particular attention to how students navigated issues such as academics, financial pressures, and social life. All the forums I observed were publicly accessible and did not require passwords or membership approval, ensuring that my observations were limited to open, freely available conversations. In October 2021, April 2023, and June 2024, I spent a total of 10 weeks in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. During my fieldwork there, I socialised with and interviewed Indian medical students, and I spent time at various Indian restaurants, at Tbilisi State Medical University, and in places I anticipated would be frequently visited by Indian students. To contextualise the students’ narratives, I further interviewed relevant staff members from the internationalisation department at Tbilisi State University and a private medical college. In some cases, I initiated contact with Indian students before arriving in Georgia via social media platforms, then met them in Georgia. A total of 44 students from different parts of India were interviewed, with roughly equal numbers of male and female participants. These interviews, lasting between 30 minutes and 2 hours, explored topics such as their social backgrounds, reasons for studying in Georgia, experiences of living abroad, future plans and aspirations. ⁴ In addition, social media facilitated ongoing contact with some participants, allowing me to document their journeys as they progressed. While I was able to build close relationships with some students, I remained aware that others might have withheld or moderated information during conversations. Discussing class can evoke discomfort or shame, especially when it involves financial hardship or perceived social differences (Faber, 2008). These dynamics likely influenced not only what was shared but also how it was expressed by the students.

Georgia (not) on my mind

Although medicine has traditionally been associated with an overrepresentation of individuals from upper-class backgrounds and significant levels of social reproduction (Börjesson et al., 2016), most of the students in this study were on track to become the first doctors in their families. Anita, a first-year medical student, proudly stated that she, ‘if God wills’, would become the first medical doctor in her family. Rajesh, a second-year student, also emphasised the absence of doctors in his family: ‘No, no, no, in my family there is no doctor’. These statements reflect a shared theme of ambition and breaking new ground among the students, all holding onto the hope of becoming the first in their families to pursue a career in medicine. The students exemplify what Gopinath (2015) describes as ‘emergent mobility’, referring to their origins in India’s rapidly expanding global middle-class, which has historically lacked such opportunities. Although the students identified as middle-class, it was, as indicated, clear that many originated from more precarious positions within the broader spectrum of ‘the middle’.

Since none of the students had cleared the NEET exam with a sufficient score, studying medicine in India was not an option. To obtain the goal of becoming a medical doctor, they consequently had to go abroad. Because they were not a part of an affluent global middle-class, they were excluded from what many of them regarded as better and more prestigious educational migration opportunities in ‘the West’. Thus, they have the financial resources to invest in education in a more commercialised international market; however, they often lack the social, cultural or economic capital needed to gain admission to prestigious universities (Ginnerskov-Dahlberg and Valentin, forthcoming). Financial considerations – specifically, Georgia’s reputation as an affordable destination – were a crucial, if not the primary, factor influencing students’ choice of study location. We sense this in the quote by Viraj: ‘I researched about Russia, I researched about Ukraine, I researched about Georgia, as it was the most financially available option available to my family’. Many students preferred to stay in India, believing that the medical education available at home was superior to the training provided in Georgia. In line with studies on student flows from South Asia to Russia and Ukraine (Hladchenko, 2021; Nefedova, 2021), the Indian MBBS students would have chosen study destinations in Anglophone countries or Germany had they had sufficient funds.

The majority of the students came from families with little firsthand experience with international mobility. Some students referenced friends or relatives who, like themselves, had chosen to pursue medical education in a post-Soviet country; however, these individuals were predominantly peers from the same generational cohort. While the parents played a pivotal role in motivating the students to pursue medicine abroad (as discussed in the following section), they were simultaneously unable to guide them in choosing a study destination and between educational institutions (see also Yang, 2018a). We sense this in a quote by Jai:

I’m the first person [in my family] who studies medicine. For me, it was very hard because none of my relatives studied medicine. So I had to find a way by myself – I took lots of information from the Internet as well as from my seniors at the university.

Turnbull (2026) introduces the concept of ‘migration literacy’ as a key component of mobility capital. This encompasses an individual’s ability to understand and navigate migration legislation and related documentation, as well as to independently manage the administrative processes required by migration governance systems. According to Turnbull, migration literacy is a critical competency for potential migrants, largely shaped by their educational background and, by extension, their social class. A lower level of migration literacy increases individuals’ dependence on others – whether paid intermediaries, friends, acquaintances, or community organisations – to initiate, plan, and oversee the migration process. Because the students and their families exhibited a low level of migration literacy, they were heavily dependent on resources such as the Internet and education agents when making decisions regarding studying abroad. As will be elaborated upon in the subsequent discussion, this dependency rendered them particularly susceptible to exploitation by education brokers.

Education brokers (or agents) play an increasingly important role in facilitating and shaping global student flows (Luk and Yeoh, 2024). Since the early 2000s, state-affiliated and unaffiliated intermediary organisations or student migrant agents have dominated the Indian migration market (Rajan and Cherian, 2024). All students in this study came to Georgia via education agents based in India. Some educational agencies have developed a reputation for being predatory. They build their reputation by emphasising high-quality service, leveraging extensive rural networks and widespread advertising (Rajan and Cherian, 2024). Moreover, they take advantage of the precarious situations of families and their ‘migration illiteracy’ by portraying migration as a pathway to empowerment, financial stability, and modernity – appealing to the aspirations of those seeking a better future. The enticing narratives promoted by educational agencies undoubtedly encourage students and their families to take more risks, often leading them to overlook or underestimate potential structural barriers. While browsing the Internet, I came across several warnings urging students to carefully and critically assess the information provided by education agents. ⁵ Indeed, several of the students reported that they had been scammed by educational brokers, leading to significant financial losses. Manish, a first-year medical student, fell victim to a scam perpetrated by an educational agent, resulting in a loss of 12,000 USD. The agent had taken the hostel fees in advance but failed to provide the promised accommodation. Consequently, Manish was forced to secure alternative housing independently in Tbilisi. This experience not only imposed a significant financial burden on him but also added considerable stress to his transition as a student in a new city.

A recent article in Education Times highlights this pattern of exploitation, specifically among Indian MBBS students in Georgia, noting how many study-abroad agents and counsellors have exploited students and their families by withholding important information about the rules, regulations, and laws of foreign countries (Gupta, 2024). These agents offer incomplete details, falsely assuring that the medical education they promote aligns with the National Medical Commission’s guidelines in India. Several students in this study argued that they had been misguided and provided with inadequate information by education agents and, as a result, made poor educational choices. For example, Mohandas, a fourth-year medical student, came to Georgia after having studied medicine in China, which he was forced to abandon due to his limited proficiency in the Chinese language. Mohandas’ mother worked as a housekeeper, and his father as a farmer. Navigating an international landscape of education was, therefore, something completely new for his family. When asked why he did not enrol in an English-medium programme in China, he replied:

So, in China, there are two types of universities: Main medical universities and traditional Chinese medical universities. I joined a traditional Chinese university because we were not informed before by the consultants.

Mohandas’ failed Chinese adventure – resulting in the ‘loss of a lot of money’ – was ultimately the consequence of insufficient ‘migration literacy’ (Turnbull, 2026), characterised by a lack of informational capital regarding the migration destination, which made him follow the advice of education agents blindly. His relocation to Georgia was also based on advice from education agents in India: ‘I did some personal research through my contacts and met consultants in India, so after getting all the information, I thought Georgia is the best option we have right now’. Returning to India without a medical degree was, in Mohanda’s words, ‘not an option’, as it would render both his efforts and his family’s substantial investment futile.

The lack of informational capital about study destinations seemed to be a widespread issue among students. While planning their educational journeys, several students explained how education agents often minimised factors such as Georgia’s non-membership in the European Union (EU), while simultaneously emphasising the country’s perceived ‘Europeanness’. Some initially believed that Georgia was an EU member, and they were consequently taken aback when they realised this was not the case. Upon arriving in the country, they even questioned whether Georgia should be considered part of Europe since it did not meet their expectations of what a European country is in terms of living standards. Kanan admitted that he knew nothing about the universities in Georgia and that, like most students, he was led to his current university by an educational agency. He explained that he would have preferred to study at a ‘better’ university in Tbilisi if he could choose again. Anita, who arrived in Tbilisi a few months before our conversation, described how she learned about Georgia through an agency in Mumbai run by a medical doctor. The fact that the agency was run by a doctor made her feel confident about her decision. Both testimonies highlight the point by Cherian and Irudaya Rajan (2024) that India’s educational migration infrastructure plays a crucial role in shaping, regulating, and limiting prospective students’ choices regarding destination countries, host institutions, and academic disciplines.

Huang and Yoon (2024), in their study of Asian middle-class students in Germany, note that all the students expressed a positive impression of the country and its educational quality, primarily attributing this to Germany’s strong international reputation. In sharp contrast, most Indian students in this study appeared to have minimal knowledge of Georgia and its educational system. Similar to Yang’s (2018a: 700) study of Indian medical students in China, the students’ choice of destination country and institution, rather than being the outcome of ‘an informed, calculative and careful decision’, was often made in a ‘haphazard waped by elements of chance and contingency’. Indeed, the students’ upbringing and social positioning in India appear to be imperative for grasping how they end up in Georgia. As emphasised, their navigation in the global educational landscape was very much in the hands of Indian education agents, and, besides the information which they could get from intensive ‘Google’ling’, it was also the education agents who delivered the primary narrative of both Georgia and the country’s educational institutions to the students. It is furthermore noteworthy that few of the students seemed to have a comprehensive idea of the symbolic value of a Georgian university degree and how it would be received in India or another destination. Although Veda, a female student, emphasised her desire to attend a university that offers ‘valid degrees and is recognised worldwide’, it was at the same time evident that her grasp of the practical and symbolic reach of a Georgian medical degree seemed limited.

Parental influence and livelihood aspirations

Despite internal differences, Gupta (2020) states that all socioeconomic segments of the Indian middle-class invest heavily in their children’s education. In a study of young Indian women studying in Canada, Walton-Roberts (2015) demonstrates how parents play a crucial role in both the decision-making processes that lead young women to pursue nursing, but also their broader migration strategies. Similarly, Cherian and Irudaya Rajan (2024), in their study of Indian middle-class student migrants, highlight how all the parents interviewed, regardless of their educational backgrounds, showed a clear awareness of the importance of migration and the social status it could confer on their families. Although the families of the students in this study may have offered limited practical guidance in selecting a study destination, they nonetheless played a critical role in the students’ decision to pursue medical education and to do so abroad. According to Adi, studying medicine in Georgia is ‘all about the family’. There are examples of students initially opposed to studying medicine, such as Siddharth, who explained: ‘I’m here in Georgia to outlive my parents’ dream of becoming a medical doctor’ (see also Walton-Roberts, 2015). In Laila’s case, it was her mother who first encouraged her to pursue a career in medicine, even though she ran a small business and had no personal or professional connection to the medical field. She explains,

My mother always wanted me to be a doctor. Since I was born, she always wanted me to be a doctor. She wanted me to do service to the people. Yeah . . . It is very prestigious to be a doctor in India. Parents consider this as some holy grail or something that their son or daughter is a doctor or an engineer. It’s like a big step for them.

As we sense in Laila’s quote, becoming a doctor is not just seen as a career, but as a prestigious and almost sacred goal. Manish presented a similar analysis to Laila and viewed this pattern of parental influence as a reflection of wider societal expectations:

In India, you have two choices: either you become an engineer or a doctor. Most parents in India are hardworking, middle-class individuals who typically earn no more than around 10,000 USD a year. All they want is for their children to achieve financial security by becoming doctors or engineers.

Manish’s statement highlights the strong societal and parental pressures influencing career choices in India, especially for middle-class families. It reflects deep-seated cultural and economic factors where education, particularly in fields such as engineering and medicine, is seen as a pathway to secure employment and social mobility. Rohan had never even considered studying medicine until the day his father approached him about studying abroad in that field. To fund his son’s stay in Georgia, his father volunteered to travel outside India, specifically to Saudi Arabia, where he worked long hours at an airport handling luggage. Rohan’s education in Georgia thus required significant sacrifices – not only from him but also from his entire family. Nevertheless, he saw his father’s gesture as an investment in the family’s future, since Rohan believed it was his duty to care for his parents after graduation and to lead a life with greater financial stability.

Thus, above all, the desire to study medicine was driven by the goal of ensuring a stable livelihood in India for themselves and their families (Olwig, 2003; Valentin, 2012). In this sense, the students in this study are similar to Tuxen’s (2022) ‘suburban strivers’, who, similarly, pursue international education as a means of upward mobility, aiming for a transformative experience that enables them to access better education, secure higher-paying jobs, and ultimately improve their lifestyles and livelihoods. However, the students in this study also differ from Tuxen’s group in several ways: One, they are not from the elite or upper-middle-class. Akin to the student migrants in Sancho’s (2017) study, the majority of my interlocutors belong to the more precarious segments of India’s emerging middle-classes. Second, in contrast to Tuxen’s suburban strivers, most students did not envision long-term migration abroad. For most students, studying abroad was viewed as a temporary strategy (Sancho, 2017), with the ultimate goal of returning to India. Among the students and their families, there was a strong belief that a medical degree was key to leading a comfortable life in India. This supports Wilson’s (2011: 188) point that in India, there is a prevailing belief that engineers and doctors naturally go on to lead fulfilling lives: ‘It is widely assumed that doctors and engineers effortlessly proceed to establish successful careers and marriages and generally lead happy lives after graduation from college’. As indicated, educational mobility was less about reproducing existing privilege (Waters, 2006) but was viewed as essential for achieving class-based personal ambitions and broader social responsibilities at home (Sancho, 2017: 515) and fostering a sense of intergenerational progress (Jakimow, 2016). Adi and Sanjay, who both described their families as lower middle-class in an Indian context, were highly articulate on this matter: They hoped that their studies in Georgia eventually could help their families lead what they termed ‘a good life’ (Jakimow, 2016; Tuxen, 2022) – thereby also indicating that their families, at present, were not fully content with their lives and positioning within Indian society. Kanan, a master’s student in his third year, explained that Indian students in Georgia generally come from middle-class backgrounds, with many of their families facing economic difficulties and struggling to make ends meet. His parents had never travelled outside India’s borders, and he described how the awareness that his family was suffering financially put much pressure on him to succeed. Rajesh grew up in a modest household in India, where both his parents were public-sector teachers. He was certain that a career in medicine would offer him access to a lifestyle that had long been beyond his family’s reach. He explained: ‘In India, if you are a doctor, the people respect you, you can earn lots of money, and it’s a very respectful job in India. It’s very popular to study medicine in India’. Rajesh’s statement highlights how the medical profession, in his eyes, not only constitutes a pathway to financial success but also a deeply valued and esteemed career – a ‘respectable livelihood’ (Olwig, 2003).

The students’ narrations underline Thomas’ (2017) point of how foreign education for many middle-class Indian families in search of upward mobility creates indebted individuals: ‘Their networks’ engagement in risk-bearing acts to collectively invest in the aspirational dimension of students’ educational trajectories produced the expectation and pressure for reciprocity among these students’ (Thomas, 2017: 1879). As Rohan’s example above clearly illustrates, the parents’ support should be viewed as a form of gift-giving practice, wherein no explicit expectation of payment is established, however, future acts of reciprocity by the international students are anticipated (Thomas, 2017: 1879).

A high-risk educational strategy

The previous section demonstrated how a medical degree in Georgia is linked to a strong hope of building a sustainable livelihood and advancing social mobility in India for the students and their families. However, it is crucial to recognise that the success of the students’ mobility project is far from guaranteed, and that ‘the road to gaining social mobility through becoming medical doctors’, similar to Yang’s (2018b: 732) observation based on his research on Indian medical students in China, ‘seems fraught with uncertainties’. This section further highlights the multiple risks associated with pursuing medical education in Georgia, framing the anticipated educational journey – from India to Georgia and back – as a high-risk strategy.

A significant structural hurdle is the fact that an MBBS degree from Georgia does not in itself guarantee the right to practise medicine in India. Foreign graduates must pass the mandatory licensing exam in India – the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) – which has a notoriously low pass rate (25.80% in 2024). ⁶ The FMGE was introduced in 2002 and is a screening test conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). ⁷ The stakes are undeniably high for the students as well as their families. Failing the FMGE could mean that 6 years of their lives, and significant (often collective) financial investment, had been spent on a degree that did not lead to employment, at least within the intended field. Most Indian students seemed aware of this future obstacle and were generally worried about passing the exam. Some claimed that they thought about the upcoming screening tests ‘every day’, and several had even hired private tutors with the sole goal of preparing them for the test. The students expressed a sense of comfort derived from the close-knit nature of the Indian community in Tbilisi and the shared experiences of being in a similar situation with a significant number of fellow Indian students. Indeed, many students lived in Indian hostels – facilities owned by Indian nationals and exclusively populated by other Indian students. They typically shared rooms and ate most of their meals together (see also Ginnerskov-Dahlberg and Valentin, 2025). However, while the students viewed the FMGE as a daunting future obstacle, few appeared to recognise the possible challenges and uncertainties that could arise even after successfully passing the exam. Although society continues to view doctors as wealthy, privileged, and successful, this perception, according to Wilson (2011), often contrasts sharply with the real experiences of many young doctors in India. In the medical field, family background and affluence play a significant role in shaping one’s ability to build a successful career. Moreover, doctors with foreign qualifications from certain countries within the Indian medical profession are often subjected to discrimination and exclusion – even after they have successfully passed the FMGE (Jha, 2018).

Another element of uncertainty concerns the financial situation of students and their families. Most students reported that their medical studies in Georgia were funded by their parents. Despite Georgia being a relatively affordable destination for medical education, nearly all of my interlocutors acknowledged that this financial commitment placed significant strain on their families. Like many other parents, Anita’s mother had taken out a government loan to fund her daughter’s studies in Georgia. Anita recounted how challenges in securing the loan had delayed her education abroad. Alongside her studies, Anita worked part-time as a waitress in an Indian restaurant to help ease her family’s financial burden. While the medical education of the female students in this study was typically funded by their families, some male students financed their studies in Georgia through government loans they had obtained on their own. Arjun, for instance, paid for his education through loans, while his parents paid for his sister’s education, who, like him, was a medical student in Tbilisi. When I asked Arjun if he felt pressured by the loans, he responded that if he thought about the loans during the night, he could not sleep – a statement indicating the profundity of his worries. Travelling to Tbilisi was undoubtedly a high-risk move, as Arjun’s ability to repay his debt hinged on the prospect of becoming a doctor or at least getting a well-paid job – something which, as described above, was far from assured despite his medical studies in Georgia. Another student, Adi, revealed that he currently had a debt of 20,000 USD, which he actively tried to avoid thinking about. The option of accepting loans to finance their education became available to Indian youth and their families following the liberalisation of the Indian economy and the global expansion of the education market (Thomas, 2017). The accumulation of student debt is increasingly presented as a liberatory act, facilitating access to opportunities that transnational educational migration offers. This growing trend enables a rising segment of the middle-class to explore educational opportunities previously out of reach (Thomas, 2017). However, as noted by Wilson (2011), many middle-class families incur substantial debt to fund degrees from private colleges, often without fully realising the potential risks and extra costs involved in securing financial returns on their investment. Jakimow’s metaphor of ‘gambling on livelihoods’ – which refers to the risk-taking behaviours of individuals and households as they confront an uncertain future – aptly encapsulates the circumstances of Indian MBBS students in Georgia. While anxiety exists across all social classes, Dickey (2012) argues that it is most pronounced among the middle-class, who, conscious of their position between the lower and upper classes, often feel subject to heightened scrutiny as they perform their social roles in public. This sense of pressure may help explain why students and their families – much like the Indonesian and Indian villagers in Jakimow’s study – are willing to risk their entire savings and even incur substantial debt through government loans in pursuit of a secure and respectable place within the social hierarchy as well as a stable livelihood. The metaphor effectively emphasises the precarious nature of such decisions, where the outcome is inherently uncertain, yet the potential rewards, such as securing a stable career and achieving upward mobility, serve as strong motivators, prompting individuals and families to accept considerable financial and personal risks. In line with Jakimow’s observation, the act of risk-taking was often accompanied by an underlying fear of potential negative repercussions, illustrating the complex psychological dynamics at play in these high-stakes decisions. For these individuals, however, studying abroad may not have seemed significantly riskier than remaining in their home country (Lee, 2025). Moreover, as noted, although the students expressed anxiety about potential negative outcomes, the combination of their own and their families’ ‘migration illiteracy’, along with the influence of education brokers, meant they did not seem fully aware of all the risks involved in pursuing a medical degree in Georgia. Consistent with Lee’s (2025) observation, students from less privileged backgrounds may be especially prone to risk-taking in their mobility decisions, given both their limited awareness of potential obstacles and the scarcity of opportunities available at home.

The students’ fragile financial situation meant that many struggled to make ends meet abroad (Ginnerskov-Dahlberg and Valentin, 2025). This is illustrated by the quote of Harsha, a male medical student:

[The tuition fee] is affordable, like I belong to a middle-class family. Although it’s often a little bit tough to manage life in Tbilisi. The living of cost is high and this is an extra burden on students. The university fee, the tuition fee is ok, it’s not that high, but the living cost in Tbilisi, for me personally it’s a burden, like it’s costly.

Harsha’s statement highlights a common trend among the students, illustrating how financial issues often emerge as a major challenge, posing risks to their entire educational journey. In particular, many students seem to underestimate the true cost of living in Georgia, which intensifies their financial strain and adversely affects their well-being abroad. In addition, students’ explanations reveal the vulnerability of their plans to unexpected challenges, suggesting that their trajectories are highly susceptible to setbacks when unforeseen circumstances emerge (see also Ginnerskov-Dahlberg and Valentin, 2025). For instance, a fifth-year male medical student shared how the sudden death of his father during the pandemic upended the financial foundation supporting his education. This loss forced him to seek alternative means to finance both his studies and living expenses abroad. He managed to continue his education by combining loans with income earned as a DJ at various clubs in Tbilisi. Despite his efforts, the uncertainty of his financial situation remained a significant source of stress. This depiction of struggling Indian students was echoed by officials from Tbilisi State Medical University, who recognised the challenges many faced. As a result, the university introduced more flexible payment options, allowing students to pay their tuition in smaller instalments rather than covering an entire year’s fees upfront.

Conclusion

While the studies on international student mobility are manifold, scholars have been too focused on Westward study flow and the privilege associated with educational migration, even though there have been observed shifts away from the predominance of Western Anglophone contexts (Lipura and Collins, 2020). This also entails that existing theory, which focuses on students’ mobility decisions, is insufficient for capturing and explaining the mobility decisions of students who pursue education in destinations other than Western countries (Mulvey, 2021). Furthermore, because international students are often perceived as coming from affluent backgrounds, there is limited understanding of how educational mobility impacts less privileged groups, such as the aspiring or emerging lower-middle-class, in their pursuit of socioeconomic advancement (Yang, 2018b).

This article explores this research gap by focusing on Indian MBBS students in Georgia. For Indians whose educational and class aspirations are not sufficiently met within their home country, international educational mobility has emerged as an alternative option (Yang, 2018b). Although the majority in this study identified as middle-class in India, their financial status was modest by global standards. The students arrived in Georgia armed with the hope that an international degree would have an ‘escalator effect’ (Favell and Recchi, 2011: 53) – that is, that a spatial move would facilitate a social mobility outcome. Their journeys are, in essence, collective, driven by the hope that a medical degree would open the door to a better future – not only for the students but also for their entire families. For Indian students, educational mobility is not about maintaining existing privilege but is instead driven by class-based aspirations, including the pursuit of a secure livelihood in their home country.

The perception of Georgia as an affordable study destination played a crucial role in students’ and their families’ decision to choose it over other options. Since they do not belong to the affluent global middle-class, they are further excluded from what many of them perceived as ‘superior’ educational migration opportunities in Europe or the United States. Due to their own and their families’ limited migration literacy (Turnbull, 2026) – that is, their ability to understand and navigate migration legislation and independently handle the administrative processes required by migration governance systems – they were entirely dependent on Internet resources and education agents for assistance. Consequently, there are several examples of education agents providing incomplete or false information, which sometimes led to poor educational choices and significant financial losses.

Most students preferred to stay in India, believing the quality of medical education was superior to what they received in Georgia. From the outset, the majority were thus determined to return to India after graduation, and their mobility should be viewed as a means of avoiding the intense competition for admission to local colleges and universities (Sancho, 2023). A key point is that their educational journeys are marked by uncertainty, rendering them a high-risk strategy. Moreover, it seems that students and their families become more prone to risk-taking because they are making life-changing decisions without fully understanding the global education market. To practice medicine in their home country, they must pass the FMGE, a highly competitive screening test with a low pass rate. Nevertheless, MBBS graduates holding foreign qualifications – particularly from specific countries and regions – frequently encounter systemic discrimination and professional marginalisation within the Indian medical field, despite having successfully cleared the requisite licensing examinations (Jha, 2018). Despite investing 6 years in medical education abroad, the quest for social mobility through the attainment of a medical licence remains far from guaranteed. Echoing Jakimow’s (2014) metaphor of ‘gambling on livelihoods’, this article demonstrates how the high-risk strategies employed by these students and their families serve as attempts to reclaim agency amid structural uncertainties and the anxieties characteristic of the Indian aspirational middle-class.