Internationalisation and forced migration are rarely thought about as related phenomena in higher education (HE) literature. Internationalisation is associated with movement, choice and brand recognition, and used in international rankings methodologies as a proxy for quality. Forced migration is associated not only with movement, but also with lack of choice, containment, or ‘stuckness’. Some scholars have called for a rethinking of ‘the international’ through attention to students as mobile agents, and international study as situated within broader mobile lives. Our study responded to these calls through exploring the educational biographies of 37 international and refugee-background women students based in two universities: 21 in New Zealand and 16 in Bangladesh. Ten of the women were from refugee or refugee-like backgrounds, while the remainder were international students. The women’s accounts revealed the complex ways in which circumstances shaped their educational journeys similarly and differently. One woman represented mobility in relation to autonomy and choice; but most emphasised relational webs as shaping their access to and experiences of international study, and post-study aspirations. In this paper, we draw on selected narratives to illustrate the range of ways in which family and/or community members appeared in women’s accounts of their education journeys: as a source of (1) sustenance and support; (2) inspiration and motivation; and (3) obligation, and sometimes regulation. We conclude by suggesting that attention to the affective and embodied entanglements that shape students’ international study journeys might inform new ways of thinking about both ‘the international’ and higher education more broadly.

国际化和强迫移民很少被认为是高等教育（HE）文献中的相关现象。国际化与运动、选择和品牌认知相关，并在国际排名方法中用作质量的代表。强迫迁移不仅与迁移有关，而且与缺乏选择、遏制或“停滞”有关。一些学者呼吁重新思考“国际化”，将学生视为移动代理人，并将国际学习置于更广泛的移动生活中。我们的研究通过探索两所大学的 37 名国际和难民背景女学生的教育传记来回应这些呼吁：21 名在新西兰，16 名在孟加拉国。其中十名女性来自难民或类似难民的背景，而其余的是国际学生。这些女性的叙述揭示了环境以相似和不同方式塑造她们的教育旅程的复杂方式。一名女性代表了与自主权和选择权相关的流动性；但大多数人强调关系网络塑造了他们获得国际学习的机会和经验，以及学习后的愿望。在本文中，我们利用选定的叙述来说明家庭和/或社区成员出现在女性教育历程中的各种方式：作为（1）维持和支持的来源；(2) 灵感和动力；(3) 义务，有时是监管。