Page 5 - euroguidance-insight-newsletter-2014-autumn

more students they send out. These include, for example, the UK, France, Spain and
Denmark. Also Sweden is considered as a net importer but with more balanced levels.

Countries located in the southeastern and northeastern parts of Europe have more outgoing
than incoming students, making them net exporters. Smaller countries such as Malta, Iceland
and Ireland are also net exporters.

Why the imbalance?

The reasons for the unbalanced flow of internationally mobile “Financial
students in Europe are several. A country's relative GDP turns out to issues are the
be very important for student mobility. Students from countries with
lower GDP (for example, in the South and East) tend to study more main obstacle
often in countries with higher GDP (for example, countries in the north
and west) than vice versa. In addition, language plays an important for European
part, with highly unbalanced incoming mobility flows to countries with students.”
English as the official language.

Economy the biggest obstacle

When looking closer at the personal barriers to international mobility, financial issues are the
main obstacle for European students. The economy tends to be more significant for students
from lower social groups. These are also more often choosing a short stay and practical
training rather than studies. The differences in social background are of bigger importance for
young students who are more dependent on family and state aid. The effect of social
background is weaker among the elderly (30 +) students. There personal circumstances
(family / partner / children) are a major obstacle. In northern European countries, students
often stated personal reasons as barriers to study abroad, while financial and structural
barriers had less significance.

Overall, one can see that it is mainly students with a low educational background, students
with late transition to higher education and students with disabilities who are the most under-
represented in the group of internationally mobile students in Europe.

Read more in
the report
‘Student Mobility
in the
EHEA’ (pdf):

http://www.equi.at/
dateien/
Student_mobility_i
n_EHEA.pdf

Nina Ahlroos
Euroguidance Sweden!

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