International Academic Mobility in Europe, Regional Perspectives

Synonyms

Credit mobility; Degree mobility; Staff mobility; Student exchanges; Student mobility

Definition

The process of going abroad in the context of higher education, for study-, training-, and/or research-related purposes.

Introduction

International academic mobility comes in many forms and shapes, most of them not specific to Europe alone. Different categories of people within higher education can be internationally mobile: students, academic staff (professors, teaching assistants, researchers at different stages of their research career, etc.), as well as, and increasingly so, administrative staff. The purposes of such stays abroad can be multiple as well, and specific to the category of mobile individuals; students most typically go abroad to study, have a practical training period, increase proficiency in a foreign language, do fieldwork, or carry research, while academic staff, most often attend conferences, work in joint research projects, copublish, and teach. There is also...