Professor Maia Chankseliani
Professor of Comparative and International Education, Department of Education
Professor Maia Chankseliani is a leading expert on higher education and international development. Her research informs policy discussion and institutional practice across the UK, Europe, the USA, Central Asia and the Caucasus, East Asia and the Gulf. She is available for media commentary and interviews on international student mobility, higher education reform, universities and public policy, and how education systems shape inequality, opportunity, and social change.
Academic profile
About
Maia Chankseliani is Professor of Comparative and International Education at the University of Oxford. Her expertise focuses on the public role of higher education and international education in social, economic and political development.
She is widely recognised for her work on international student mobility and its long-term societal effects, higher education reform and governance, research capacity and knowledge production, and the public responsibilities of universities.
Her research informs policy discussion and media commentary across the UK, Europe, the USA, Central Asia and the Caucasus, East Asia and the Gulf.
She regularly provides expert commentary, analysis and interviews on higher education and international development.
Expertise
- Higher education and international development
- International student mobility and its societal impact
- Higher education reform and governance
- Research capacity and knowledge production
- Universities, public policy, and geopolitics
Selected publications
- Internationally educated health professionals and health-system change: A global qualitative study (Global Public Health, 2026)
- What we stand to lose when foreign students are seen as a threat (Nature, 2025)
- International Mobility and World Development: Estimating the System-Level Impact of ECA and International Exchanges (University of Oxford, 2025)
- International student mobility and poverty reduction: A qualitative study of the mechanisms of systemic change (World Development, 2025)
- International study and democratic consciousness: From formation to engagement (International Journal of Educational Development, 2025)
- International student mobility and poverty reduction: A cross-national analysis of low- and middle-income countries (International Journal of Educational Research, 2024)
- Who funds the production of globally visible research in the Global South? (Scientometrics, 2023)
- What Happened to the Soviet University? (Oxford University Press, 2022)
- Higher education and the Sustainable Development Goals (Higher Education, 2020)
- People and policy: A comparative study of apprenticeship across eight national contexts (Doha, Qatar: World Innovation Summit for Education, 2017)
Media experience
Professor Maia Chankseliani has extensive media experience, including interviews with outlets such as Times Higher Education, University World News and Radio Liberty. Her research and commentary have been featured in international publications and platforms, covering topics like international student mobility, higher education policy and research capacity. Maia has also authored opinion pieces for The Conversation and other outlets, providing expert insights on global education and development issues.
Recent media work
- Russian students ‘told not to consider UK’ amid ‘hostile climate’ (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- ‘Steep competition’ as Central Asia emerges as branch campus hub (Times Higher Education, 2025)
- Gaza conflict: should Israel face more academic boycotts? (Research Professional, 2025)
- The blockage of international student mobility has led to changes in global knowledge production (Chinese Social Sciences Today, 2025)
- International student mobility reduces global poverty, new study reveals (The PIE News, 2024)
- Tbilisi State University: Students and Protests (Radio Liberty, 2024)