Evidence-based policy in Erasmus+
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Global Mindedness survey: Do mobility periods change the way students engage with difference? By Irma Garam Irma Garam
Abstract The article examines the main findings from the Global Mindedness Survey carried out in Finland in 2013–2016. The aim of the survey was to measure students’ attitudes and possible change in them during a study abroad period. The findings reveal that it is difficult to show clear change in attitudes. Students heading abroad are very open-minded and flexible with their attitudes already before the period abroad.
works as a research manager at the Finnish National Agency for Education. She is responsible for analyses and data on internationalisation that help the Agency to develop international cooperation in higher education. She has coordinated
Background Every year, thousands of students in higher education head abroad for an exchange or a traineeship. The funding programmes supporting internationalisation regard the usefulness of the mobility period for students’ studies and future career as particularly important. Studying abroad promotes students’ development in many ways, but we know less about what happens to students’ attitudes. Today, as the atmosphere for discussions in many European countries has become more tense and divides people into supporters and opponents of internationality, it is increasingly important to look at the impacts of internationality and especially at attitudes. Here, the attitudes people take to different perspectives and the discussions they engage in across cultural boundaries are significant background factors. The Centre for International Mobility’s (CIMO, currently the Finnish National Agency for Education) Global Mindedness survey was carried out in Finland between 2013 and 2016 to examine the impact of mobility periods on students’ attitudes. The Global Mindedness survey measured how students engage with difference and what kind of changes take place during their mobility periods. To obtain material for a comparison between students who headed abroad and those who studied only in Finland, after the pilot stage the survey was also extended to students who did not go abroad.
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several evaluation and assessment projects on internationalisation. Her main areas of expertise are international mobility flows, institutional internationalisation processes, internationalisation strategies and assessment and evaluation methodologies.
KEYWORDS
international mobility,
impact, attitudes, higher education students
