Academic mobility of Ukrainian students: intentions, involvement and obstacles

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УДК 37.014.24

Director of Social and Humanitarian Research Institute, V. N. Karazin

ACADEMIC MOBILITY OF UKRAINIAN STUDENTS: INTENTIONS, INVOLVEMENT AND OBSTACLES

Kizilov Oleksandr

Bologna process has a significant impacton modernization andtransformationof higher educationand the development ofour state. Integration of Ukraineinto the Bolognaprocess which has being carried outsince 2005 will allow to improve the quality of education, will enable exchange at thestage of trainingbetween universitiesin different countries and willcontribute to the growthof professional training,as well as will addressthe issue of recognitionof Ukrainian diplomasabroad [1].

One of important elements ofthis process is students'academic mobility. Mobilityenriches nationalculture andincreaseseducational and professionalexperience of itsmembers. Academic mobility is asignificant factor of systemic changethrough directdissemination of experience.Growing importanceof this factorwas recognized by the adoptionin 2001of recommendations for increase of mobility for individual relatedto education andskills development by European Parliamentand the Council of Europe.

Importance ofacademic mobilityin European Unionhas been increasing since mid-80s, and nowadays it is one of the keys statements of education development strategyfor the periodup to 2020. Through itsmobility programs,the European Unionsupports exchange ofinnovationsand expertise, contributes tocreation ofeducational networksand mobilityof people involved inresearch and educationalactivities [2; 4].

There are several definitionsof academic mobility. Someexperts in thefield of international educationunderacademicmobility understand limited in timeperiod of student's study in a country where he is not a citizen.In this case mobility is finished when the studentreturnsto his/her native country after completion ofstudies abroad.In this case, however,the term "academic mobility"does not reflect theprocessof migration fromone country to another. According to other sources, academic mobilityis an opportunity for students to define theireducational trajectory, to choosesubjects within the educational standards, courses and educationin accordance with theiraptitudesand aspirations [6; 8].

Important factors that make academic mobility interesting for students are reputationandstatus ofuniversities; content of education programs; attractiveness ofintellectual, culturalandpolitical climatein the country ofintendedlearning;certaineasiness of accessto higher educationabroad; common language and religion ofthe host country; political stability andsecurity;geographical proximityandpresence (sometimes) ofrelativesand friendsin the countryof study. Except for this, among the factors that push young peopleto goto study abroad are: limitedinternal educational capacityin the countryof origin; absence of some professionsor theirunavailability on the market;method of financingandthe cost of education(especiallyformiddle-classstudents); opportunitiesfor part-and full-time employment while studyingabroad; language of education; internationalqualifications reputation; status and prestigeof educationabroad;prestigeof the host countryandinterculturalexperience; enhancecareer opportunitiesand favorableeconomic impacton the labor market; immigrationmotivation andimpactof immigration policy.

Academicmobility of studentscan take many forms: entering a universityin another countrytocompletea full program and to get a degree; participation in short-termexchange programs; language programsdeveloped byuniversitiesin partnership; programsof joint degreesordouble degrees.

According toEuropean experts, international studentmobility inthe last 30 yearshas increased significantly: from0.6 millionstudentsin1975to 2.7million in2005. From 1995the number of foreignstudentsin Europe was doubled.It is projected thatinternational studentmobilityin2020will reach5.8 millionpeopleand 8million by 2025[5].

Academicmobility of students is a priorityin the developmentstrategyofmodernhigher education.Thus, increasing of the flowof all types ofstudent mobility in many countries becomes the objectof a state policy. It is important tonote that different countriesare unequallyinvolved in the processesof academic mobility. In the scientific literature countries could be divided into donor countries and recipient countries - depending on their contribution to the international academic mobility. Recipient countriesmainly receive mobile studentsfrom around the world, and the donor countriesare those who sendtheir studentsto study to other countries.Amongdonor countries,China should be mentioned first of all.Chinesestudentslearnpracticallyall over the world, their numberreachesone million people, but no matter what countrythey have learned in, they support the interests of China. Except for this, studentsfrom South Korea andIndia and mostof Arab and African countries could be mentioned. Among CIS countries, Russian Federation ranksamong therecipient countriesonlyat tenth place. This country actively engages not only representatives of Afro-Asian region, but also students from the former SovietUnion [1].

In Ukraine,academic mobility programsare being implementedfrom the end of1990scausing very controversial feedbacks of the academic community. However, Ukraineis not involved into the numberof universally recognizedimporting/receiving countries.Yearsof political and economic instability and low living standards make our country lessattractive forstudents from other countries, and especiallyfrom Europe, Japan, USA, and Canada.In conditions when the best Ukrainianstudents would leavefor studyandtraining abroad,

Ukrainian universitiesare replenishedby very poorlytrainedandmotivatedstudentsfrom Africa,Asia, the MiddleEast, whichposes serious challenges tothe educational systemof Ukraineand reducesthe quality of learning.

Thus, modernhighereducation system in Ukraineshould consider academicmobility as strategicobjectiveof its internationalinterests and, in this connection, to develop ways to converteducation abroadinto an integral componentof higher within the concept ofmodernization of higher education, and toprovide:awareness ofstudentsabout the content ofeducation in theuniversitiesabroad;integration ofstudy abroadwith the education programsof higher education anduniversityinfrastructure;supportof collaborationbetween universities, leading to obtainingjoint degreesand other forms ofautomaticrecognition [7].

Student mobility is one of the key topics in European higher education policy. Thus, there is a great interest in data on student mobility. Simultaneously, awareness of unequal chances of participation has risen, which is why also the interest for subjective and structural obstacles to mobility is increasing.

Let us consider the results of one of such surveys in order to identify how widespread are the intentions of Ukrainian students to study abroad are; which countries are most attractive for them and what are the main obstacles on the way to obtaining education abroad. This survey is a part of international research project «Eurostudent» which itself is a good example of international cooperation in the field of higher education.

«Eurostudent» is a network of researchers and data collectors, representatives of national ministries and other stakeholders who have joined forces to examine the social and economic conditions of student life in higher education systems in Europe. The start of «Eurostudent» can be traced back to the 1990s. In 2012, the fifth round of «Eurostudent» started with 27 participating countries from a broad geographical spectrum. The participants span from Norway in the north all the way to Malta in the south and from Portugal in the west to Armenia in the east. This means that the «Eurostudent» data set covers most of larger Europe [13].

The «Eurostudent» approach is based on the conviction that cross-country comparisons facilitate learning about strengths and weaknesses or simply idiosyncrasies of national higher education systems and - thereby - help countries to see their own higher education system in a new light.The «Eurostudent» data set uniquely covers all aspects of student life in European higher education. In the fourth round of «Eurostudent», more than 200,000 students were surveyed.

The main aim of the «Eurostudent» project is to collate comparable data on the social dimension of European higher education. It focuses on the socio-economic background and on the living conditions of students, but it also investigates temporary international mobility. In this, it differentiates the information by policy-relevant student characteristics such as social background, age, transition route into higher education and study intensity.The project strives to provide reliable and insightful cross-country comparisons. It does this through coupling a central coordination approach with a strong network of national partners in each participating country. In this way, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the respective national frameworks in international comparison can be made. The primary users of the findings from «Eurostudent» are higher education policy-makers at national and European level, researchers in this field, managers of higher education institutions and students all over Europe.

Since 1990s there were four wavesof survey conducted inmorethan thirty European countries.The fifthwave ofthe programwas completedin 2014. Ukrainefirst joinedthis programisthe fifthwave.In Ukraine, thestudy was coordinated by Social and Humanitarian Research Institute of V.N.KarazinKharkiv National University under the leadership of the rector of the university, doctor of sociological sciences, academician of NAS of Ukraine Professor VilBakirov and with the support of the Ministry of Educationand Science ofUkraine and Sociological Association ofUkraine. The survey in Ukraine took place between Marchand May2014and was conducted in 42 higher education institutions in thirteenregionsof the country (Kiev, Lvov, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Donetsk, Lutsk, Zhitomir, Lugansk, Poltava, Kherson, Chernovtsy, and Sumy).Studentswere surveyedusing printed questionnairesin classroomsduring or after classes.Total number of students who participated in the survey is3696. The survey involvedstudents of1-5coursesof various disciplines. The proportions of students to bequestionedin differentareasin publicand privateuniversities,as well as thevariousdepartments were determined according tonational statistics.Specificuniversityanda group of studentsto be interviewedwere selectedrandomly. The survey involvedonlyfull-time students.

Talking about their intentions to continue education, majority (61%) of Ukrainian student noticed that most likely they will continue education in Ukraine and around 6% are going to continue education abroad. The rest are not sure about their plans for future yet. Those students who plan to continue education abroad, when talking about the country where they would like to study in the future, most frequently mention Poland (15%), Germany (11%), USA (8%), Austria (7%), United Kingdom (7%), Australia (5%0, France (4%), Russian Federation (3%), Canada (2%), China (2%), and Czech Republic (2%).

Table 1. Answers distribution to the question: «Where do you plan to continue studying?», % in groups

Figure 3. Answers distribution to the question: «Within which of the following organizational frameworks do you plan to organize your temporary study abroad?» (N=1072)

All students, despite their intention to study abroad, were asked to estimate main obstacles that make it difficult for Ukrainian student to practice obtaining of education abroad. According to survey results, we can note that the main reason why students do not plan to study abroad is the additional financial burden which this education would cause for them (53%). Also nearly one third of the respondents noted that their language skills (33%) are not sufficient for studying in another country. Among the other important obstacles: organizational difficulties related to necessity to obtain a visa and to prepare all the other documents for this (32%). For nearly a quarter of respondents it is difficult to separate with their families and relatives (24%).

Mentioned obstacles could be divided into six dimensions of obstructions to enrolment abroad. Four groups of obstacles lie on separate dimensions, which are financial issues, personal reasons, problems regarding studies at home and insufficient language skills. The remaining two groups of obstacles - problems resulting from access barriers to the host country and organizational issues - point in the same direction and can therefore be seen as highly correlated.Denmark, Sweden and Norway as representatives of the Scandinavian countries, show highest values on the personal dimension, though Norwegian students tending to rate financial issues higher than other Nordic countries. In these countries financial or organizational issues are stated by a far smaller share of students than in other countries, mostly in Eastern and Southern Europe. Compared to other countries in the «Eurostudent» IV network, the conclusion thereof would be that in Northern Europe structural barriers to enrolment abroad are smaller. This goes along with a high enrolment rate in those countries. In relation to other countries, Croatian, Austrian and Swiss students report obstacles related to their studies more often than other obstacles. Those countries have a comparably high share of students that passed an internship abroad (which was not subject to the questions on obstacles) [13]. academic mobility educational study

Additional financial burden

Insufficient skills in foreign language

Problems with access regulations to the preferred country (visa, residence permit) Separation from partner, child(ren), friends

Lack of information provided by my HEI institution

Lack of motivation

Insufficient marks for studying abroad

Limited admittance to mobility programmes (of home/host institution)

Problems with recognition of results achieved abroad

Low benefit for my studies at home

Figure 3. Answers distribution to the question: «To what extent are or were the following aspects an obstacle for studying abroad to you?» («big obstacle» + «rather big obstacle» in %) (N=3696)

Difficult integration of studying abroad into the structure of my home study programme

Loss of paid job

Another trend observed is that structural or organizational problems as well as too little language skills or financial obstructions are reported more often in Eastern and Southern European countries. In Spain and Portugal, but also Slovenia, limited access to mobility programs is stated as an obstacle by about 1/3 of non-mobile students, which is the highest share among «Eurostudent» IV countries. Spanish and Slovakian students remarkably frequently report insufficient language skills as hindering for their enrolment plans. In Estonia and Slovenia about 3A of non-mobile students assess the additional financial burden of an enrolment period abroad to be an obstacle to mobility. The conclusion that can thus be drawn is that students in those regions are likely to face structural barriers to mobility that lie within the education system, as well as financial obstructions. This interpretation is also supported by a relatively low enrolment quota especially in Eastern European countries [16].

Coming to conclusions, we can note that despite international academic mobility being an important feature of development of higher education in the world nowadays, level of involvement of Ukrainian students into this process if relatively low. Comparing to other European countries, majority of Ukrainian students do not understand the benefits of international academic mobility and do not feel ready to practice it. Lack of financial resources as well as lack of motivation and language skills are main reasons that support such opinion.

References

1. Astakhova V. Main trends in the development of academic mobility of Ukrainian students: /Conf. on int. scientific-practical. conf., Hark. humanitarian. Univ «Nar. Ukr. Acad.» Nov. 16-19. 2010 / Valentina Astakhova // Newi Kolegium. - 2011. - № 2. - S. 7-10.

2. Bologna processes: main principles of entering the European educational area / V. Zhuravsky, M. Zgurovsky. - K.: IVTS Publishing house «Politehnika», 2002 - 200 p. 4. Brazhnik E. Prospects for the development of higher education in European countries and in Russia in the context of the Bologna Process / E. Brazhnik // Philosophical Age. Almanac. The history of the university education in Russia and international traditions of education / Ed. T. Artemyeva, M. Mikeshin. - St. Petersburg, 2005 - T. 2.- issue. 29 - S. 100 - 113.

3. Orr (2012): Mobility is not for all - An international comparison of students' mobility aspirations and perceptions of barriers to temporary enrolment abroad. In: Wachter, B. et al.: Tying it all together. Excellence, mobility, funding and the social dimension in higher education; Bonn: Lemmens.

4. Angelika Grabher Petra Wejwar Martin Unger Berta Terzieva. Student mobility in the EHEA. Underrepresentation in student credit mobility and imbalances in degree mobility. Analytical report. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna. January, 2014. - 156 p.

5. Centre for International Mobility, Swedish Council for Higher Education, & Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education. Living and learning- exchange studies abroad: A study of motives, barriers and experiences of Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish students. Sweden: Edita Vastra Aros, Vasteras -2013.

6. Geven, K., & Attard, A. Time for Student- Centered Learning? In A. Curaj et al. (eds.), European Higher Education at the Crossroads: Between the Bologna Process and National ReformsDordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London: Springer Netherlands, 2012 -. P. 153-172.

Abstract

The articleconsiders the concept ofacademic mobility, its role in the formation ofa common educational area, conditions of activation of the academic mobilityof students,as well asthe main obstacles ofits development. The results of international research project»Eurostudent» in Ukraine are presented. According to the survey results, experience ofparticipation of Ukrainianstudentsin programsof international academic mobility are presented;plans for furtherstudy abroad, as well as the main factorsand constraintsthat do not allowthis are discussed.

Keywords: international academic mobility, common educational area, Ukrainians students, educational programs of the European Union

У статті розглянуто поняття міжнародної академічної мобільності студентів, її роль у формуванні єдиного освітнього простору, причини, що сприяють активізації академічної мобільності серед студентів, а також основні перешкоди на шляху її розвитку. Міжнародну академічну мобільність визначено як інтеграційний процес у сфері освіти, який надає можливість студентам та іншим учасникам освітнього процесу брати участь у різноманітних навчальних та навчально-дослідницьких програмах, які проводяться в університетах та навчально- дослідницьких центрах в інших країнах світу. Наводяться результати нещодавно проведеного дослідження українських студентів, яке відбулося у межах міжнародного дослідницького проекту «Євростудент». Встановлено, що міжнародна академічна мобільність є не дуже поширеною серед українських студентів у першу чергу через брак коштів, організаційного досвіду та знання мови. Поїздки з метою навчання за кордон українські студенти здійснюють за власний рахунок або за рахунок батьків, закордонних фундацій та організацій тощо. Ті студенти, які мають досвід міжнародної академічної мобільності, переваги надають країнам Європи та освітнім програмам Європейського Союзу.

Ключові слова: міжнародна академічна мобільність, єдиний освітній простір, українське студентство, освітні програми Європейського Союзу

В статье рассматривается понятие академической мобильности, ее роль в формировании единого образовательного пространства, причины, способствующие активизации академической мобильности среди студентов, а также основные препятствия на пути ее развития. Приводятся результаты исследования, проведенного в Украине в рамках международного исследовательского проекта ««Евростудент» об опыте участия украинских студентов в программах международной академической мобильности, планы относительного дальнейшего обучения за рубежом, а также выделены основные факторы, препятствующие их реализации.

Ключевые слова: международная академическая мобильность, единое образовательное пространство, украинское студенчество, образовательные программы Европейского Союза

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