The academic mobility of Lithuanian students: trends, experiences and challenges

Abstract

The international academic cooperation between higher education institutions and the encouragement of academic mobility have become one of the priorities of Lithuania’s higher education policy, consistently with the European Bologna process and the Lithuania Progress Strategy 2030 approved by Lithuanian Government in 2012. Lithuanian higher education institutions encounter the challenge to promote student mobility with the aim to develop students’ cultural awareness, transferable competences and, most importantly, to strengthen students’ employability. The student mobility strategies, accordingly, have to emphasize the study quality as defined in the document Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. As the official statistical data reveals quite steady growth in outgoing student numbers in Lithuania, the mobility rate is still insufficient. The paper aims to explore the empirical findings on the experiences of outgoing students with the focus on their intentions for educational mobility, their expectations, and the factors influencing their satisfaction with study quality. Methods: statistical analysis, descriptive and factor analysis using SPSS 19.0 version. The empirical findings highlighted that the majority of respondents are satisfied with their academic mobility in foreign countries. Teaching quality, career prospects, increased employability possibilities, learning – oriented environment and the organization of study process were listed as the main elements that effect students’ satisfaction on studies and internship. The analysis of statistical data and empirical study results implied the discussion on the challenges for Lithuanian higher education for promoting high quality student mobility. Keywords: mobility ; academic mobility ; students ; higher education institutions ; Lithuania.