Evidence-based approach in Erasmus+
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Impact of student mobility for placements on competencies, studies and employability By Melissa Bekaert, Jan Ceulemans, Petra Gillis, Frederik Van Crombrugge, Yves Beernaert, Magda Kirsch
1. Rationale An essential and unexplored dimension in higher education concerns the impact, role and relevance of placements or traineeships abroad, better known as student mobility for placements (SMP)1, funded by European educational programmes and introduced in 2007. Erasmus was the first mobility programme in education to be presented (1987) and is the one best known to the general public and the media. However, initially, it only funded studying at higher education institutions abroad. Until 2007, traineeships in higher education, local and international, were mainly organised in universities of applied sciences. The international placements were funded by the European education programme Leonardo da Vinci, by the placement provider or by the students themselves. However, in 2007, the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) introduced international traineeships in Erasmus, the higher education subprogramme of LLP (Decision No 1720/2006/EC of The European Parliament and of The Council, 2006). Having been introduced in 2007, it is now possible to assess the long-term impact of these traineeships. Epos, the National Agency for the Erasmus+ Programme in Flanders (Belgium), has set up a research project on international placements based on a survey and interviews with students and commissioned Educonsult to assist in the research. The main aims are to determine which competencies the students and recent graduates have acquired during their traineeship abroad and whether the placement impacted their further studies and employment. The full results of this study (Kirsch & Beernaert, 2021) were published in February 2021 by Epos. References to Erasmus mobilities in the press and social media are often limited to studying abroad, while traineeships abroad are
Melissa Bekaert she graduated with a Master’s degree in educational sciences in 2019. She is working at Epos vzw – the National Agency for the Erasmus+ Programme in Flanders (Belgium) since 2020. As an executive officer of Flemish and European funding, Melissa works on the selection process of Erasmus+ applications and the implementation of the lifecycle of ongoing projects. She is also active in the research and publication field.
KEYWORDS
student mobility,
competencies, training, 1
The term “traineeships” is used in more recent texts.
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