From ‘academic concern’ to work readiness: student mobility, employability and the devaluation of academic capital on the year abroad

Abstract

This article suggests that a process of de-academisation is discernible in the way the Erasmus year abroad is promoted, organised, supervised and evaluated. The article argues that rather than being a product of students’ consumerist rationalities, this process is produced within the conditions of the managerialised and under-resourced university. This process is underpinned by institutional discourses and practices that devalue academic capital, in line with the employability agenda and the corporate critique of higher education as outdated and too abstract for the real world. Based on a qualitative study conducted in Ireland, the article uses a Bourdieusian lens to examine the de-academisation of study abroad and the field–habitus clash experienced by participants. Finally, the article draws attention to the implications of this neutralisation of academic capital in a context where academic credentials are increasingly devalued in the labour market.

Keywords:

• Academic capital
• academic identity
• employability
• Erasmus
• graduate capital
• student mobility

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Dr Theresa O’Keefe and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. Funding from the National University of Ireland is gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Industry placements are also offered under the Erasmus umbrella but the article focuses on study abroad.

2. The study received ethical approval from the funding body and participating institutions; participants gave informed concern and all have been fully de-identified.

3. Academic progress was the third most cited reason to go abroad for the questionnaire respondents, in line with findings from other surveys of Erasmus participants (for example, European Commission 2014).

4. As noted by Bunce, Baird and Jones (2017) in the UK context, policy shapes students as consumers; it is not the case that the so-called student-consumer shapes policy.

5. Twenty-five of the 110 questionnaire respondents reported that the year abroad was not beneficial to their academic progress (but generally beneficial and enjoyable in other ways). The reason most frequently given was inadequate module content.

Additional information

Funding

Supported by National University of Ireland.