This paper deals with the topic of students' abroad experience during study and aims at analysing how the study abroad decision gets influenced by social background and ethnicity. The hypothesis is that students whose parents have a degree of higher education themselves do more often spend time abroad during study than those with parents that do not own a degree of higher education. This is due to the fact that parents with a degree of tertiary education are more likely to have higher earnings and can financially support their children.
Universities encourage their students to participate in exchange programs and offer the impression that an exchange semester is an urgent part of study to get the most favorable jobs. The number of students that have spent time abroad during study has increased within the past years. In the year 2008 103.000 German students have studied at an university in a foreign country, this is an increase of 13 % compared to the data from 2007. The increase is even higher when looking at the development between 2001 and 2008, during this period of time the data even show an increase of 93 %. But there's still evidence that a gap remains between students with different social backgrounds in the likeliness to take part in exchange programs.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical and Empirical background
3. Hypotheses
4. Data,Variables and Method
5. Results
5.1 The influence of social background and ethnicity
5.2 Applying control variables
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines how personal factors, specifically social background and ethnicity, influence the probability of students participating in study abroad programs, aiming to identify if structural inequalities persist in international mobility.
- Analysis of the influence of parental education on international mobility.
- Impact of ethnicity (migration background) on the likelihood of studying abroad.
- Comparative analysis between Germany, Great Britain, and Norway.
- Evaluation of the role of field of study, age, and gender as control variables.
- Identification of social inequality patterns within higher education systems.
Excerpt from the Book
1. Introduction
This paper deals with the topic of students´abroad experience during study and aims at analysing how the study abroad decision gets influenced by social background and ethnicity.
The number of students that have spent time abroad during study has increased within the past years. In the year 2008 103.000 German students have studied at an university in a foreign country, this is an increase of 13% compared to the data from 2007. The increase is even higher when looking at the development between 2001 and 2008, during this period of the data even show an increase of 93% (see Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung).
But there´s still evidence that a gap remains between students with different social backgrounds in the likeliness to take part in exchange programs. Lörz (2011) talks about a rising student mobility within the groups of students ´from academic and non-academic families between 1990 and 2005, but differences stayed. While the participation of students ´from academic households enhanced from 5% on about 14%, the participation of those from non-academic households only increased from 3% onto 7%. (see Lörz & Krawietz p.199 f.)
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the research topic regarding social inequality in international student mobility and presents the primary research question.
2. Theoretical and Empirical background: Reviews existing literature on how socio-economic status, habitus, and parental education influence the decision to study abroad.
3. Hypotheses: Formulates specific expectations regarding the positive impact of higher parental education and international family background on mobility.
4. Data,Variables and Method: Describes the usage of the REFLEX dataset and the variables selected to measure mobility, social background, and ethnicity.
5. Results: Presents the statistical findings, including the influence of independent variables and the analysis of various control variables.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes findings, confirming that social background significantly impacts study abroad participation across the examined countries.
Keywords
Study abroad, social background, ethnicity, international mobility, higher education, parental education, student exchange, inequality, socio-economic status, migration background, REFLEX dataset, academic mobility, social origin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper investigates how social background and ethnic origin influence the likelihood of students spending time abroad during their university studies.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The research covers international mobility, the impact of parental education levels, migration background, and structural barriers within higher education systems in Europe.
What is the main research question or goal?
The goal is to determine whether personal factors like social background and ethnicity create unequal opportunities for students to participate in international exchange programs.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The author uses quantitative methods, specifically regression analysis, based on the REFLEX dataset comprising students from Germany, Great Britain, and Norway.
What is the content of the main section of the paper?
The main section provides a theoretical background, outlines hypotheses based on existing literature, and presents empirical results derived from statistical models using Stata.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include study abroad, social inequality, parental education, ethnicity, student mobility, and cross-national comparison.
How does the British higher education system compare to others in this study?
The paper suggests that the effect of social background is more pronounced in Britain, likely due to the highly selective nature of its system and higher tuition fees compared to Germany and Norway.
What role does the field of study play in the final analysis?
The inclusion of the field of study as a control variable explains a portion of the variance in mobility, indicating that students in certain disciplines are naturally more inclined toward international experiences than others.
Does gender have a significant influence on the decision to go abroad?
According to the empirical results presented, gender does not show a statistically significant influence on the probability of studying abroad across the analyzed countries.
- Citar trabajo
- Annika Frings (Autor), 2013, Spending time abroad during study. The influence of social background and ethnicity, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/504015
