Happy Birthday Erasmus

“I am a citizen of the world, my homeland is everywhere, or rather I am a foreigner everywhere.” Erasmus von Rotterdam around half a century ago.

The European community action scheme for the mobility of university students, also known as Erasmus, enables mostly young people, students, to gain the experience of living and studying abroad. Since 2014 it forms part of the Erasmus+ (2014-2020) EU programme with an overal budget of €14,7 billion, which supports education, training, youth and sport in Europe with the aim to reduce unemployment, promote adult learning, encourage young people to take part in European democracy, support innovation, cooperation and reform as well as promote cooperation and mobility with the EU’s partner countries.

In 2017, the programme celebrates its 30th anniversary, looking back on three decades of support for more than nine million students, trainees, volunteers and academic staff to go abroad. The programme is celebrated as one of the most successful ones of the European Union. Studies confirm that mobile students have better employability skills, e.g. five years after graduation, the unemployment rate of young people who studied or trained abroad is 23% lower than that of their non-mobile peers. Mobile students are half as likely to experience long-term unemployment. Additionally, former Erasmus students stated that they perceive an improvement of their transversal skills when they return – to name just a few positive aspects.

Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy belong to the top five destination countries for mobile students. Reasons to choose the destination are the universities programme or the language skills, but also the geographic location. This leads to critique about the programme. In the eyes of society “being on Erasmus” is also connected to an easy way of living, a semester term made for partying and drinking all together. Beach and sun are more promising than rain and cold. Within the university life the international students often form a separate group. Missing contact to local students is claimed. Being the ones coming and going each semester, just staying for a certain time, makes it difficult to get in contact with local students having their own daily routine and friends already set. Friendships are more likely built within the international students group. But even within this group there might be sub-groups: “the Germans”, “the Italians”, “the Russians”, to name a few examples. Groups of students with the same national background, staying together, talking in their native language and kind of ignoring the intercultural approach, repelling and annoying the others with their behaviour.

Going abroad with the European Voluntary Service, another part of the Erasmus+ programme, volunteers are obliged to participate in accompanying seminars before, during and after their services talking about expectations and experiences, learning about intercultural competence and cultural differences. Own experiences studying abroad, realizing a variety of stereotypes and misbehaviour, made me wonder, why there is no such seminar for ongoing Erasmus students to raise awareness for these sensitive topics in order to contribute to broaden student’s minds – a first step to become a citizen of the world.

Author: Leonie Sägemüller