Being forced? Getting far? Speaking the language? What matters in the process of going abroad as a student?

Abstract

Student mobility is a common phenomenon in Luxembourg, as almost every student spends a period abroad before graduating. Based on material from this “hyper-mobile” academic context, we will focus on the first phase of going abroad. First, we will analyse how the idea to study abroad is related to different notions of forced or non-forced mobility. Second, we will turn to the choice of destination, focussing on geographical distance and language distance between the country of origin and the place of destination. Geographical distance is not a goal as such but is a proxy for other dimensions, e.g. greater distance can be equated with a wish to try out new things and start a new life phase while shorter distance emphasises strong embeddedness in pre-existing social ties and obligations. In terms of language, students mostly choose countries where one of Luxembourg’s official languages is spoken (either because they have mastered it or because they would like to improve it for professional reasons), and countries where an additional language can be learnt or practised. Our results show that studying abroad is not the decision of a moment, but rather a process embedded in students’ past, present and future as well as in their social surroundings.

A határon átnyúló tanulmányi célú ingázás mint az intergenerációs társadalmi mobilitás eszköze

“…Az interjúkból az is kiderült, mint arra több tanulmány rávilágít (például Dustan, Ngo 2017;Marina 2014;Honvári 2012;Kmiotek-Meier, Karl 2017;Orraca et al 2017;Valle, Danitza 2015), hogy a gyermekek külföldi taníttatása jelentős plusz kiadást jelent az érintett családok számára, amit nem mindenki tud felvállalni. Ugyanakkor az intergenerációs társadalmi mobilitást jól mutatja, hogy azok a szülők, akik gyermekük ausztriai taníttatása mellett döntenek, minden rendelkezésre álló eszköz igénybevételével, közvetlen pénzbefektetéssel igyekeznek gyermeküket előnyös társadalmi helyzetbe hozni, "határozottak és elszántak abban, hogy a lehető legtovább (…) vállalják az iskoláztatást" (Andor, Liskó 1999, 41.…”

Structural framework conditions and individual motivations for youth-mobility: A macro-micro level approach for different European country-types

“…(vcESy03, 55; Spanish VET-student who moved to Malta) We also discovered variances across modes of mobility and countries, which cannot be excluded from the discussion. For example, for many students from Luxembourg, going abroad is perceived as 'youth normative', since it is an obligatory part of their studies (Kmiotek-Meier & Karl, 2017). For German VET-students, motivations that are directed to learning and vocational improvement (such as language learning) did not dominate the decisions to become mobile which might be traced back to the fact that they did not feel a `biographical need` to move due to their stable vocational situation and positive career prospects.…”

Capturing agency in different educational settings. A comparative study on youth perceptions of mobility-framing structures

“…The three mobility settings differ greatly in terms of institutional/legal standards and frameworks. Student mobility in Luxembourg is forced (Kmiotek-Meier & Karl, 2017), resulting from a long tradition of student mobility, and is generously supported by the state. VET mobilities of German apprentices are largely designed as short-term group mobilities and are managed institutionally, in order to harmonise them with the rigid, standardised German VET system.…”

“…HE student mobility (outgoing students from Luxembourg) In Luxembourg, one can speak of a national tradition of educating young people abroad (Kmiotek-Meier & Karl, 2017;Kmiotek-Meier et al, 2018). Mobility is written into the tertiary education trajectory.…”