Research on the effects of student exchange programmes has a long tradition (see overview in Pettigrew, 2004). Both individual and institutional effects of exchange activities have been investigated for a long time. Regarding the individual effects, there is much more empirical data with regard to the effects on personal development than with regard to professional aspects (Thomas et al., 2001). Focussing on the effects on personal development, the evidence suggests a big potential for the development of cultural enhancement, personality development and foreign language proficiency (Kehm, 2005; Maiworm, Steube & Teichler, 1993; Byram & Dervin, 2008). Focussing on professional aspects, existing evidence deals principally with economic aspects such as employments of former exchange students or their salary compared to professionals without international experience (Messer & Wolter, 2007). However, in many areas there is still no systematic approach to the question of how and which professional competencies may be developed in an international student exchange.

The symposium aims at bringing together researchers that deal with issues of international exchange in higher education from different fields. It intends to identify blind spots in the research on individual effects of international exchange by exploring how exchange experiences affect identities (paper 1), how they contribute to the development of international perspectives in education (paper 2) and of teaching-specific competencies (paper 3).

References

Byram, M. & Dervin, F. (eds.)(2008). Students, staff and academic mobility in higher education. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Kehm, B. M. (2005). The contribution of international student mobility to human development and global understanding. US-China Education Review, 2(1), 18-24.

Maiworm, F., Steube, W. & Teichler, U. (1993). Experiences of Erasmus-students 1990/91. Kassel: Wissenschaftliches Zentrum für Berufs- und Hochschulforschung der Universität Kassel.

Messer, D. & Wolter, S. C. (2007). Are student exchange programs worth it? Higher Education, 54(5), 647-663.

Pettigrew, T. F. (2004). Intergroup contact. Theory, research, and new perspectives. In J. A. Banks & C. McGee Banks (Hrsg.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (S. 770-781). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Schuerholz-Lehr, S. (2007). Teaching for Global Literacy in Higher Education: How Prepared Are the Educators? Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(2), 180-204.

Thomas, A., Kammhuber, S., Chang, C. & Ehret, A. (2001). Evaluation der langfristigen Wirkungen des deutsch-japanischen Studienprogramms für Fachkräfte der Jugendarbeit oder: Lohnt sich der ganze Aufwand? Regensburg: Institut für Kooperationsmanagement der Universität Regensburg.