rates tend to be high among students of humanities and arts and low among teacher training students
The most critical obstacles to study ing abroad are the additional financial burden and the separation from partner, children, and friends
slightly lower among women. There are also countries in which the shares for both realised and planned foreign enrolment periods are higher among women (Croatia, Ireland, and Latvia) and countries in which this is the case among men (Sweden). Regarding the realisation of internships abroad, no cross-country pattern is visible concerning sex differences. However, the share of students who followed a language course abroad is very slightly higher among female students in the striking majority of countries (Table A10.2). This arguably has to do with the strong overrepresentation of women in the humanities and arts ( Chapter 4), where comparatively many students of languages tend to complete a language course abroad.
Foreign enrolment rates and plans differ markedly by field of study. Students of humani- ties and arts seem rather likely to gain foreign enrolment experience during their studies. In contrast, the foreign enrolment rates among students of engineering and in particular among students of teacher training and education science are comparatively low.
In most countries, both the share of students having realised and the share of stu- dents still planning an enrolment abroad are higher among students of humanities and arts than among students of engineering and among students of teacher training and education science (Figure 10.3).
The potential foreign enrolment rate of students of humanities and arts exceeds 40 % in a narrow majority of countries and 50 % in 10 countries. In contrast, the potential foreign enrolment rate is higher than 40 % among students of engineering only in seven countries and among students of teacher training and education science only in four countries.
In the – albeit small – majority of countries, students of engineering have a slightly higher foreign enrolment rate than students of teacher training and education sci- ence. In the large majority of countries, the share of students still planning to study abroad is higher among students of engineering than among students of teacher training and education science.
The foreign enrolment rate of students in teacher training and education science is comparatively high (more than 10 %) in Norway, Finland, France, Montenegro, and Malta. In Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, teacher training and education is the field in which students have the highest average foreign enrolment rate of all fields, even compared to fields not shown in Figure 10.3 ( DRM, subtopicK.4).4
Obstacles to enrolment abroad
Which are the major obstacles deterring students from a temporary enrolment abroad? And how does the perception of obstacles differ between countries? Figure 10.4 pro- vides answers to these questions. It presents shares of students with neither study abroad experience nor plans who assess certain aspects as (quite) big obstacles to studying abroad. Judging by unweighted cross-country averages of student shares considering aspects (quite) big obstacles, the most critical of the selected barriers are the associated additional financial burden (63 %) and the separation from partner, chil- dren, and friends (47 %). These are followed at a much lower level by insufficient for- eign language skills (29 %), expected problems with the recognition of credits gained abroad, and a lack of information provided by the home institution (each 22 %).
4 For a more detailed analysis of EUROSTUDENTV data on the foreign enrolment rates of students in teacher training and educa-
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Figure 10.3
Foreign enrolment rates and plans by field of study Share of students (in %)
Data source:EUROSTUDENT V, K.4. No data: Teacher training and education science: PL. Too few cases: Teacher training and education science: LV, RO; Teacher training and education science, students who have not been enrolled abroad but plan to enrol abroad: ME.
EUROSTUDENT question(s): 4.1 Have you ever been enrolled abroad as a student in higher education?
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT survey conventions: AT, CH, FI, FR.
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT standard target group: DE, GE, IT.
a) Humanities and arts
b) Engineering, manufacturing and construction
c) Teacher training and education science
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % NO FI IT SI EE DK DE RO LV AT NL SE CH FR IE ME CZ MT LT PL HU RU HR AM GE BA SK RS UA 24 23 20 20 19 17 16 16 15 15 12 12 12 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 5 5 3 3 2 1 16 22 18 24 44 27 20 46 19 11 27 20 20 44 28 56 33 50 32 29 43 48 46 62 59 50 29 37 36
students who have been enrolled abroad students who have not been enrolled abroad but plan to enrol abroad
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % NO FI IT SI EE DK DE RO LV AT NL SE CH FR IE ME CZ MT LT PL HU RU HR AM GE BA SK RS UA 10 12 10 10 11 12 4 6 3 8 4 12 5 7 4 3 5 5 4 2 2 5 1 5 3 3 1 2 2 22 20 14 17 37 24 16 31 9 11 20 23 23 39 16 48 28 55 32 24 30 26 37 54 51 44 26 27 27
students who have been enrolled abroad students who have not been enrolled abroad but plan to enrol abroad
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 % NO FI IT SI EE DK DE RO LV AT NL SE CH FR IE ME CZ MT LT PL HU RU HR AM GE BA SK RS UA 14 17 3 3 8 3 7 8 5 5 4 11 9 22 4 14 6 4 6 1 1 3 4 2 3 3 10 16 7 10 27 14 10 9 10 8 9 10 15 15 40 22 19 37 31 42 30 31 19 31 33
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Figure 10.4
Selected obstacles to enrolment abroad
Share of students who have not been enrolled abroad and do not plan to enrol abroad considering selected issues as (quite) big obstacles (in %)
Data source:EUROSTUDENT V, K.15. No data: AT, IT, lack of information: DE.
EUROSTUDENT question(s): 4.9 To what extent are or were the following aspects an obstacle to studying abroad for you?
Notes: Students assessed possible obstacles to studying abroad on a five-point scale ranging from “no obstacle” to “big obstacle”. The figures show how large a share of students considered certain aspects to be either (4) “quite big” or (5) “big” obstacles. Data for NL stem from the 2014 and not from the 2013 national student survey.
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT survey conventions: CH, DE, DK, FR, RU.
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT standard target group: DE, GE, IT.
a) Additional financial burden
b) Separation from partner, child(ren), friends
c) Insufficient skills in foreign language
d) Problems with recognition of credits gained abroad
e) Lack of information provided by home institution
100 80 60 40 20 0 % IE ME HR PL HU EE MT SI DE AM RS LT GE BA DK SK UA FI NL NO RO FR LV CH CZ SE RU 80 80 79 76 75 72 72 70 68 67 66 66 64 64 62 61 61 61 60 59 59 58 51 48 47 43 42 100 80 60 40 20 0 % IE ME HR PL HU EE MT SI DE AM RS LT GE BA DK SK UA FI NL NO RO FR LV CH CZ SE RU 47 48 44 60 55 62 59 49 48 53 47 42 32 47 52 54 31 59 53 61 37 38 38 26 49 50 28 100 80 60 40 20 0 % IE ME HR PL HU EE MT SI DE AM RS LT GE BA DK SK UA FI NL NO RO FR LV CH CZ SE RU 49 17 21 51 58 28 14 26 17 43 26 37 53 21 11 38 39 33 25 17 26 41 25 10 31 9 17 100 80 60 40 20 0 % IE ME HR PL HU EE MT SI DE AM RS LT GE BA DK SK UA FI NL NO RO FR LV CH CZ SE RU 20 21 45 35 38 17 17 39 36 34 27 22 27 30 14 29 19 22 9 15 22 10 18 17 25 14 16 100 80 60 40 20 0 % IE ME HR PL HU EE MT SI DE AM RS LT GE BA DK SK UA FI NL NO RO FR LV CH CZ SE RU 37 32 43 36 40 15 26 24 26 31 29 35 27 19 20 19 22 27 13 25 23 11 10 14 9 12
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EU programmes constitute the main route to study abroad
In all EUROSTUDENT countries but Latvia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Swe- den, and Russia, at least 58 % of students without foreign enrolment experience consider an additional financial burden a (quite) big obstacle to studying abroad (Figure 10.4a).
The separation from partner, children, and friends is considered a (quite) big ob- stacle to enrolment abroad by relatively large shares of students (at least 59 %) in Poland, Estonia, Malta, Finland, and Norway (Figure 10.4b). This share is com- paratively low (32 % or less) in Georgia, Ukraine, Switzerland, and Russia. These findings reflect that students in the former countries tend to be older on average and more likely to already have children, while the average age and share of students with children tend to be rather low in the latter countries ( Chapter 4).
The share of students regarding insufficient foreign language skills as a (quite) big obstacle to an enrolment abroad is relatively high (at least 49 %) in Ireland, Poland, Hungary, and Georgia and relatively low (less than 15 %) in Malta, Denmark, Swit- zerland, and Sweden (Figure 10.4c). With regard to this aspect, the degree of varia- tion across countries, as measured by the standard deviation (not shown in Figure 10.4), is particularly high.
Problems with the recognition of credits gained abroad are a (quite) big obstacle for relatively large shares of students (more than 30 %) in Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Germany, and Armenia and for rather low shares of students (15 % or less) in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, France, and Sweden (Figure 10.4d).
A lack of information provided by the home institution is a (quite) big obstacle for comparatively large shares of students (at least 35 %) in Ireland, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, and Georgia and for relatively low shares of students (15 % or less) in Es- tonia, Norway, Latvia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Russia (Figure 10.4e).
Overall, Figure 10.4 illustrates that students tend to perceive the selected aspects as (quite) big obstacles to studying abroad relatively frequently in Ireland, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, and Armenia and relatively less frequently in Latvia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia.
Organisation of enrolment periods abroad
As Figure 10.5 shows, there is a substantial degree of variation in how students organ- ise foreign enrolment periods.
The share of students who realised their enrolment period abroad through an EU programme amounts to at least 80 % in Lithuania, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
In France, Denmark, Armenia, Montenegro, Georgia, Norway, and Russia, compara- tively large shares of students (more than 30 %) organised their foreign enrolment using other (usually national) programmes.
The share of students enrolling abroad temporarily without a programme is com- paratively high (at least 40 %) in Italy, Malta, Sweden, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herze- govina, Russia, and Serbia.
Overall, EU programmes constitute the main route to studying abroad. In the majority of countries, they are used by more than half of the students who enrol abroad tempo- rarily. Judging by unweighted averages across countries, an enrolment abroad outside
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and means from Public sources parents, family, or partner tend to be the primary sources of funding for enrolments abroadof a mobility programme is the second most frequently chosen solution, followed by foreign enrolment through another programme.
The standard pathways to studying abroad differ slightly between Bachelor and Master students. In the majority of EUROSTUDENT countries for which the relevant data are available, the share of students who realised their enrolment abroad with an EU pro- gramme is higher among Master students than among Bachelor students (Table A10.3). In contrast, the share of students having realised their enrolment abroad without a programme is higher among Bachelor students.
Funding of enrolment abroad by educational background
Figure 10.6 shows to which extent students who have studied abroad temporarily indi- cated the four categories described above (see Methodological and conceptual notes) as primary sources of funding for their enrolment periods abroad. Judging by un- weighted averages across countries, public sources (40 %) and means from parents, family, or partner (36 %) are the primary sources of funding for studying abroad, fol- lowed by income from jobs (14 %), and other sources (10 %). However, a more differ- entiated analysis shows that funding solutions vary strongly across countries.
In Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Georgia as well as in Switzerland and Italy, means from parents, family, or partner were the primary source of funding for more than half of all students who studied abroad. In contrast, the parents, family, or partner were the primary source for less than 25 % of students with foreign enrolment ex- perience in the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway, in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), as well as in Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 %
EU programme (e.g. ERASMUS) other programme (e.g. national programme) no programme
LT SI PL RO CZ LV HU SK AT EE HR DE CH FI IT MT FR IE NL DK SE AM ME GE NO BA RU RS 95 90 84 81 80 75 74 74 65 64 60 59 58 58 56 56 54 48 45 32 27 27 21 18 17 16 13 11 5 10 8 15 22 12 15 12 23 23 18 17 19 42 40 14 39 39 36 56 34 41 34 34 57 50 74 5 5 6 11 5 3 14 11 23 13 17 23 25 23 2 4 32 13 16 32 17 39 38 48 49 27 37 15 Figure 10.5
Organisation of (most recent) enrolment abroad Share of students who have been enrolled abroad (in %)
Data source:EUROSTUDENT V, K.9. Too few cases: UA.
EUROSTUDENT question(s): 4.5 Within which of the following organisational frameworks was your study abroad organised?
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT survey conventions: DE, FR.
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Although familial support is not always the pri- mary source, many students receive at least some support from their relatives in most countries
Relatedly, the share of students whose primary source was a public one is rela- tively high (above 60 %) in Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Lithua nia, and Norway and particularly low (15 % or lower) in Russia, Switzerland, and Croatia.
With more than 20 %, the share of students whose primary source for their enrol- ment abroad was income from jobs is comparatively high in Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland.
Besides analysing students’ primary source of funding, EUROSTUDENT data also il- lustrate from which sources students drew at least some money for financing their stay abroad. This perspective reveals that although familial support is not always the primary source of funding (Figure 10.6), it nevertheless seems to be quite important for financing periods of study abroad. In the large majority of countries, the share of students who utilised means from their parents, family, or partner to fund their enrol- ment abroad exceeds 60 % (Figure 10.7).
This share is even higher than 80 % in Slovakia, Russia, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. In contrast, it lies below 50 % in the Nordic countries Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Students in the Nordic countries are arguably less dependent on familial support because they have access to relatively generous and internationally portable support schemes. They also tend to be older ( Chapter 4), therefore more likely to have an own income, and thus less dependent on relatives and partners ( Chapter 7).
Figure 10.6
Primary source of funding for (most recent) enrolment abroad Share of students who have been enrolled abroad (in %)
Data source:EUROSTUDENT V, K.10. No data: DE, RS. Too few cases: BA.
EUROSTUDENT question(s): 4.6 Which of the following sources did you use to fund your study period abroad and which one of them was your primary source of funding?
Notes: The considered sources for funding an enrolment period abroad were aggregated as follows: parents/family/partner; income from job(s) (= income from previous job + income from job during studies abroad); public sources (= regular grants/loans from home country + special grants/loans from home country for
going abroad + study grants/loans from host country + EU study grants), other (= funds from private businesses/NGOs + other source).
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT survey conventions: AT, CH, FR, IT, NO.
Deviations from EUROSTUDENT standard target group: DE, GE, IT. 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 %
parents/family/partner income from job(s) other public sources
RU CH IT AM UA GE AT FR SK IE MT PL NL ME HR RO SE EE HU SI DK LV CZ FI LT NO 83 62 62 61 61 56 49 47 44 40 39 37 36 34 30 28 22 22 21 19 17 14 14 13 13 7 5 10 21 20 21 26 28 35 54 22 31 47 35 20 15 62 36 57 64 63 32 78 67 53 76 60 16 17 5 6 7 27 7 12 2 6 16 35 2 16 3 12 5 16 24 18 4 6 53 2 34 12 3 35 16 14 7 31 2 2 16 5 18 10 8 6 12 8 11 8 4 5 23 17 0.3 15.7