Internationalization and Student Mobility: STEAM Students Case Study

Higher education institutions have been increasingly shifting their focus towards various internationalization strategies in order to boost the numbers of international students studying abroad both as full time students and exchange students. As a result of their efforts, there has been a growing number of students who see mobility as an excellent opportunity to experience living and studying in another country. Students who undertake short and long-term mobility programmes profit from student mobility not only regarding knowledge gained but also from experiencing living abroad, being independent, exploring new cultures. However, mobility trends among STEAM students show different results. In other words, there is a negative tendency in outgoing mobility among STEAM students who are reluctant towards joining mobility programmes. At the same time, professionals who work in international office think that STEAM students would immensely profit from short and long-term mobility programmes. This paper thus addresses key challenges experienced by international office staff when trying to motivate students to undertake mobility programmes. It also explores reasons behind negative trends in outgoing mobility of STEAM students by evaluating the results of a survey among these students.