Erasmus student mobility and the construction of European citizenship

Abstract

The Erasmus student mobility programme allocates three explicit objectives to the experience of spending a few months studying in another European country: (1) to benefit students educationally, linguistically and culturally; (2) to promote co-operation between institutions and (3) to contribute to the development of a pool of well-qualified, open-minded and internationally experienced future professionals [European Commission. 1996. The Obstacles to Transnational Mobility. Green Paper. http://aei.pitt.edu/1226/1/education_mobility_obstacles_gp_COM_96_462.pdf (accessed April, 2015)]. The programme has also sometimes been referred to as one of the most powerful tools of European integration. However, little research has so far been undertaken on how it may alter students’ attitudes towards aspects of European identity and sense of European citizenship. Our study investigates the extent to which the Erasmus experience affects the sense of self as European citizens of a cohort of students from the University of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). It also explores the students’ position towards the notion of European citizenship and how this relates to the development of their plurilingual competence. Two questionnaires, one before and one after the study-abroad experience, provided quantitative data while qualitative data were obtained through the analysis of discussion groups focusing on aspects of European vs. national identity and citizenship.

Keywords:

• European citizenship
• identity
• student mobility
• study abroad
• Erasmus

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to Josep M. Cots and Sònia Mas for their invaluable contribution in the data gathering, Vasilica Mocanu for their help in the elaboration of the questionnaire, the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and David Block for editorial support. Any shortcomings are exclusively our own responsibility.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Available at http://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2004-the-european-unions-erasmus-programme.html?texto=discurso&especifica=0.

2. See, for instance, http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2015/06/22/christian-europe/#.V0XTGmwaTIU and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/jonathan-wynne-jones/7601398/Europe-has-neglected-its-Christian-roots-says-Church-of-England.html.

3. In recent years, Catalonia has experienced a surge in the popular support of independence from Spain and this has created an unprecedented feeling of disaffiliation towards Spain.

Additional information

Funding

The research on which this article is based was supported by: (1) Research grant [FFI2012-35834], Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Interculturalidad, ciudadanía europea e ingleś como lingua franca: entre las políticas y las prácticas en los programas de movilidad internacional universitaria, January 2013–June 2016, and (2) the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca de la Generaliat de Catalunya [2014SGR 1061].