How and why we should encourage undergraduate geography students to participate in the Erasmus programme

Deakin, Hannah

doi:10.1080/03098265.2012.731043

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Research into international student mobility has indicated that there can be multiple reasons for students to engage in overseas study, a truism that has been supported by this research as well. On a short term scale, schemes such as the Erasmus programme (see Deakin 2012), or private partnerships between universities are often perceived to yield a number of benefits including foreign language proficiency, personal development, or enriched academic knowledge as students are exposed to new concepts and research methods (Messer and Wolter 2006;King and Ruiz-Gelices 2003;Murphy-Lejeune 2002). Indeed, many participants noted that studying in the UK gave them the opportunity to improve their English language skills, while the perceived multicultural experience would allow them to become skilled in cross-cultural communication, leading, so they desired, to greater tolerance and understanding (Brooks and Waters 2011;Brown 2009;Adler 1975).…”

Section: Choosing Overseas Study: Much More Than the Instrumentalmentioning

confidence: 99%

International student mobility: the role of social networks

Beech

2014

Social & Cultural Geography

156

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Building upon recent work on higher education mobility, this paper contends that social networks of friendship and kinship are critical determinants for students deciding to study overseas, not just, as has hitherto been suggested, a complementary factor. It uses original data collected through interviews and focus groups with thirty-eight higher education international students studying at three UK universities and argues that students who choose to study overseas do not operate within a vacuum but rather draw upon extended networks of individuals who have chosen to do so themselves or advocate studying abroad. While this encouragement may be of an explicit and unequivocal nature-telling students that they ought to study overseas-for the majority it is rather more implicit. The students interviewed invariably related that higher education overseas or mobility more generally was an accepted practice amongst their peers, thereby leading to a normalisation of the mobility process. The paper concludes that international students come to accept mobility as a taken for granted stage within the lifecourse, and, whether intentionally or not, this is often the driving force behind their decision to study overseas. emergent understanding. Their studies of, inter alia, employability and the building of social and cultural capital have advanced the field at pace. However, hitherto, considerations of how students make the decision to study overseas, and in particular how they mobilise their social networks in so doing, are underdeveloped. While past research has asserted that patterns of mobility are often shaped by the relationships between people (Brooks and Waters 2010; Szelényi 2006), we know little about how international students utilise these networks or their effects. The notable exception is Collins' study of Korean students studying in Auckland, but this focuses on the role of education agents and immigrant entrepreneurs as being "bridges to learning" in facilitating the movement of international students (2008b, pp.399) rather than on social networks per se. This paper, by point of departure, shows that these relationships are key to determining whether mobility actually takes place. It asserts that these social networks directly shape the geographies of international students by detailing how they are part of complex communities already in motion without which both shape their decision to study abroad and their place of study. In contrast to Brooks and Waters (2010), it looks at students engaging both in mobility from Western countries and mobility from the East to the West. This paper therefore represents the first dedicated, systematic analysis of these dynamics. In so doing, it does not contend that social networks are the only influence on mobility. As the international student mobility literature shows, they are influenced by an array of different factors such as the financial and cultural implications, their intended career paths and even their understandings of place (see Beech 2014). My point is that with...

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Section: Choosing Overseas Study: Much More Than the Instrumentalmentioning

confidence: 99%

International student mobility: the role of social networks

Beech

2014

Social & Cultural Geography

156

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“…Their findings are based on a survey of 247 students covering socio-economic circumstances, linguistic and mobility background and grades. Deakin (2013), Mellors-Bourne et al (2015) and Yücelsin-Tas (2013) discuss barriers to student participation, pointing to financial constraints and language as possible barriers. Botas and Huisman (2013) suggest that participation in the programme could be strengthened if more and better scholarships were offered to cover the cost of living for students abroad.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is reported that employers are frequently dissatisfied with graduates’ skills and general lack of employability (Lowden et al, 2011), with language ability often cited as one of the skills required (Ahmed, 2009) – and language ability is a skill that can be developed by student mobility (Deakin, 2013; Prodinger et al, 2012b; Yücelsin-Tas, 2013). Hinchliffe and Jolly (2011), on the other hand, based on a survey of 100 employers in the United Kingdom, claim that integrity and honesty are more highly valued by employers than any employability skill.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An appraisal of the importance of graduates’ language skills and ERASMUS experiences

Mattern

2016

Industry and Higher Education

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This article discusses the importance of graduates’ language skills and their European Regional Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS) experiences. The purpose of the research is to establish whether the potential benefits of ERASMUS participation for employability, particularly with regard to language skills, mean that organizations have a propensity to employ ex-ERASMUS students. The academic literature does not provide a conclusive answer regarding the specific benefits of student mobility participation. To test the claims that mobile students are statistically more employable on graduation, primary research was conducted on the perspectives of higher education institutions, businesses and students. The findings suggest that businesses do value language skills especially but put little emphasis on their origin.

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“…Bununla birlikte özellikle uluslararası literatür incelendiğinde ulusal literatüre kıyasla Erasmus programına ilişkin çok daha farklı konularda araştırmaların yapıldığı görülmektedir. Bunlar arasında örneğin, öğrencilerin Erasmus programına katılma nedenlerinin incelendiği (Juvan & Lesjak, 2011), yurt dışında yaptıkları çalışmalardan beceri kazanma ve kişisel gelişim bağlamında nasıl yararlandıklarının incelendiği (Jacobone & Moro, 2015), Erasmus programına katılmalarını engelleyen unsurların incelendiği (Cairns, 2017), programdan nasıl faydalandıklarının ve akademik hareketliliğin değerine ilişkin görüşlerinin incelendiği (Salajan & Chiper, 2012), etkin vatandaşlığa ilişkin görüşlerinin incelendiği (Golubeva, Parra ve Mohedano, 2018) ve hareketlilik programlarına öğrenci katılımının nasıl artırılabileceğinin incelendiği (Deakin, 2013) çalışmalar bulunmaktadır. Ulusal literatürde Erasmus programına ilişkin yapılan araştırmaların daha çok programın öğrencilerin farklı boyutlarda gelişimlerine yönelik katkısını ve öğrencilerin programa ilişkin algı ve beklentilerinin neler olduğunu ortaya çıkarmaya odaklandığı görülmektedir.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

The problems that students participating in erasmus programme encountered and their solutions: a phenomenological study

Çepni¹,

Aydın²,

Kılınç³

2018

HIG

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Bu araştırmada Erasmus Değişim Programı kapsamında lisans öğreniminin belli bir dönemini yurt dışında geçiren öğrencilerin yaşadıkları sorunlar ve bu sorunlara yönelik çözüm önerileri incelenmiştir. Nitel araştırma yöntemi ve durum çalışması deseninde kurgulanan bu çalışmaya Karabük Üniversitesi'nde herhangi bir lisans programına kayıtlı olup bu süreçte Erasmus Değişim Programı ile belli bir süre yurt dışında öğrenim görmüş olan toplam 13 öğrenci katılmıştır. Araştırmanın katılımcılarının belirlenmesinde ölçüt örnekleme, maksimum çeşitlilik örneklemesi ve kolay ulaşılabilir örnekleme birlikte kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri araştırma grubu tarafından hazırlanan yarıyapılandırılmış bir görüşme formu ile toplanmış ve toplanan veriler içerik analizi ve betimsel analiz yoluyla çözümlenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçları katılımcıların önemli bir kısmının Erasmus programını kaçırılmayacak bir fırsat olarak gördüklerini, süreçte en fazla barınma ve kültürel sorunların yaşandığını, yaşanılan sorunların çözümünde arkadaş desteğinin önemli olduğunu, Erasmus sürecinin daha etkili olması için daha fazla kaynak sağlanması ve öğrencilerin yabancı dil seviyesinin yüksek olması gerektiğini ve Erasmus programının en fazla öğrencilerin vizyonlarına, dil becerilerine ve kişisel becerilerine katkı sağladığını düşündüklerini göstermektedir. Araştırma sonucu ortaya çıkan bulgular ilgili literatürle ilişkili bir biçimde tartışmaya açılmış ve araştırma sonuçlarına dayalı olarak bazı öneriler sunulmuştur.

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How and why we should encourage undergraduate geography students to participate in the Erasmus programme

Cited by 11 publications

References 26 publications

International student mobility: the role of social networks

International student mobility: the role of social networks

An appraisal of the importance of graduates’ language skills and ERASMUS experiences

The problems that students participating in erasmus programme encountered and their solutions: a phenomenological study

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