Mutually Reinforcing Precarity: Financial Dependency and Queer Identity in the Life of an International Student

Abstract

This article examines the intersecting challenges of sexual identity negotiation and financial dependency through the case study of Emmanuella, a Nigerian student in Canada who is “outed” to disapproving parents who they rely on for financial support. Emmanuella’s story illustrates how the aspiration for authentic self-expression is constrained by the pragmatic need to maintain familial funding, critical for academic continuity and future autonomy. Their experience reveals how international student mobility can generate intertwined forms of precarity, whereby queer identity management hinges on economic reliance, making both mutually reinforcing pressures.  Through this narrative, I underscore the need to consider the relational and affective dimensions of international education for queer international students —particularly how reciprocity, obligation, and familial dependence shape migration trajectories and daily negotiations. I also highlight how the tactics Emmanuella employs to navigate this situation operate within neoliberal modes of individualized and entrepreneurial self-preservation. By situating queer identity within the structural dynamics of international student life, this study advances a more complex, intersectional understanding of transnational educational mobility.