Abstract
This study examines factors that deter students in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands from studying abroad. Using an adaptation of the Rubicon model of action phases, the path to gaining study abroad experience is conceptualised as a process involving two thresholds: the decision threshold and the realisation threshold. Theoretical predictions drawn from rational choice, migration and reproduction theories are integrated into this framework. On the basis of nationally representative and internationally comparable student survey data, logistic regressions are calculated for the two thresholds. Five implications for higher education policy are derived: First, the fact that there are various obstacles to studying abroad means that some students may face multiple disadvantages and might therefore need additional support. Second, mobility schemes might have to reflect better that obstacles at the decision threshold differ from obstacles at the realisation threshold. Third, the self-perpetuating nature of mobility makes the moments of political intervention crucial. Fourth, the similarity of obstacles between countries suggests certain supranational initiatives. Finally, the achievability of the European mobility targets could be discussed, as increasing mobility and creating equitable access to it might be conflicting goals.
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Notes
The four components guide the identification of obstacles to ISM. The rational choice model is not applied formalistically, in the sense that assumed costs of studying abroad are subtracted from the product of expected benefits and the self-assessed probability of realising the benefits.
The samples include national and foreign students at ISCED-97 level 5A, who are residents and completed their prior education in the country where they were surveyed. Students at distance universities or universities of the armed forces were excluded.
The German dataset captures plans for ISM undifferentiated by type and thus not with specific reference to periods of enrolment abroad. Therefore, the share of students planning to study abroad is overestimated. This shortcoming was judged as tolerable presuming that factors deterring students from studying abroad do not differ drastically from factors inhibiting other types of ISM.
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for funding the Steeplechase project, which this article is based upon. For their support in calculating the regression models, I owe special thanks to the international project partners: Jakob Hartl and Martin Unger (Austria), Christoph Gwosć, Dominic Orr, Elke Middendorff and Björn Huß (Germany), Bas Kurver and Froukje Wartenbergh-Cras (the Netherlands), Michał Miszkowski (Poland) and Sarah Gerhard Ortega (Switzerland). Finally, I thank two anonymous reviewers, Claudia Finger and especially Kristina Hauschildt for valuable comments on earlier versions of this article.
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Netz, N. What Deters Students from Studying Abroad? Evidence from Four European Countries and Its Implications for Higher Education Policy. High Educ Policy 28, 151–174 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2013.37
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2013.37