Evidence-based approach in Erasmus+
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Erasmus+ staff mobility motivations, impact, recognition and satisfaction – an exploratory study of post-mobility survey responses By Queenie K. H. Lam
1. Introduction In the European context, the Erasmus+ mobility has been the main driver of internationalisation processes over the past three decades, setting in motion the development of a wide range of services, activities and strategies that led to an increasing professionalisation of international co-operation in higher education. Both student and staff mobilities have been financially supported by the programme, which in the 2014–2020 period was extended to cover partner countries worldwide. The Erasmus+ plays a key role in supporting staff mobility, which is less known than its student mobility component. Moreover, there is much less research on staff mobility compared to the student mobility part of the programme1. Although there is a vast amount of data and information collected on an annual basis on staff mobility via the Erasmus+ Participant Reports, which mobile individuals funded via the programme must fill in, little has been done with the data on either the EU level or the national level. In light of this, nine Erasmus+ national agencies from nine programme countries came together and commissioned the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) to carry out an exploratory data mining study covering almost the entire programme period (2014–2019) in 2020 to assess: → the potential of this dataset for a better understanding of Erasmus+ staff mobility
Queenie K. H. Lam holds a Bachelor’s degree in translation, a Master’s degree in communication and one in higher education research and development. She occasionally serves as an independent expert for the European Commission and as a reviewer for academic journals. She has been working for the Brussels-based Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) since 2010. First, responsible for a mixed portfolio of project development, policy research and membership services. At present, she is responsible for consultancy services for ACA members. Her core expertise lies in international higher education marketing, branding and strategising.
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To date, staff mobility has been covered in the two Erasmus(+) Higher Education Impact Studies conducted in:
Commission. The latest one for 2019 and its statistical annex are stored at: bit.ly/3ahYzrp and bit.ly/3AnXGYI.
KEYWORDS Erasmus+ staff mobility, data analysis, motivation, impact, recognition,
Occasionally, further analysis is pursued at the national level.
satisfaction
2014 (bit.ly/3mRretl) and 2019 (bit.ly/3llwYM8). These studies give some first insights into the added value of the programme on mobile staff’s personal development, teaching and employment. Also, a snapshot picture of staff mobility flows in higher education is given in the annual Erasmus+ reports published by the European
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