This week's post comes from Vincent Bruin who is a fresh-faced early career researcher currently enrolled in the BPhil/MRes program at Macquarie University in Australia. Finding himself in the Departmental of International Studies his research interests include the formation of identities of Australian tertiary students undertaking programs of cross-border mobility.
Most of us who have ever planned an overseas trip, upon telling our friends and family are met with the age-old question: "Do you think I could fit in your suitcase?" or "Could I carry your toothbrush for you?".
Most of us who have ever planned an overseas trip, upon telling our friends and family are met with the age-old question: "Do you think I could fit in your suitcase?" or "Could I carry your toothbrush for you?".
Let's face it: we all have, and it's usually with guilty-pleasure that we laugh it off, whilst simultaneously hoping the questioner isn't so envious that they will somehow assume our identity before stealing our window seat for the flight to Buenos Aires. In any case, you're confident you can manage your trans-pacific toothbrush transportation by yourself.
If only all baggage related preparations were just as simple.
A recently published (2014) journal article titled 'What's in their baggage? The cultural and social capital of Australian students preparing to study abroad' deals with the more serious issue of 'mobility capital' (Brooks and Waters, 2010 in Green et al., 2014). Written by Wendy Green, Deanne Gannaway, Karen Sheppard and Maryam Jamarani this article publicises a study conducted by the four University of Queensland researchers, which aims to debunk myths surrounding the access to mobility programs by university students.
Positioning itself within a context framed by recent governmental white papers regarding the current state, and future of the educational sector in Australia, the study finds that while there is a current focus on encouraging student mobility, universities by and large are missing the mark while they engage by almost solely by closing only financial gaps.
Cleverly Green et al. do not disclose where their case study took place, instead describing the institution in scope solely as an Australian 'research-intensive' 'sandstone' university. By doing this they attempt to increase their findings' relevance to the whole Australian university landscape. Furthermore, one example of their attempt to enhance the relativity was that during the quantitative data analysis the group compared their data set to other national data of similar studies to make similarities and differences clear.
Throughout the article a narrative of Australian exchange students and their exchange preparations is constructed. Green et al.'s study's participants could be characterised as: being financially secure, having well-stamped passports, with tertiary-educated parents who held mid to high socio-economic status. This narrative reflected the national standard well.
In the end Green et al. decided to interview 14 students (from a pool of 150 questionnaire participants). Their explanatory sequential designed study gave voice to 14 respondents. Predominantly cultural markers such as the main language spoken at home was identified as being English. (88% of the survey's respondents stated English was the language they spoke at home; compared to 86% of the national Student Exchange Program (SEP) cohort.)
Markers regarding gender, age, discipline, background and ethnicity all delivered similar results to national SEP standards.
Conducting oral interviews, a method I am particularly found of, these interviews broached subjects such the students' motivations, hopes, challenges and fears, the researchers were able to categorise 13 respondents as sharing a common narrative.
However one 'atypical' (Flyvberg, 2001 in Green et al., 2014) respondent named Janey provided probably the most fascinating explanation to her initial answers. This fourteenth respondent didn't fit the mold and would throw a spanner in the works for the researchers who has up until then been on a smooth course to being able to understand the link between cross-border mobility program participation and the related forms of social and cultural capital.
Was Janey merely an outlier or was her story worthy of airtime?
Janey - like all other interviewees - was giving her interview pre-departure. She cited her complete absence of international travel and lack of confidence in her ability to make arrangements for her SEP as reasons why she was extremely anxious. Drawing on Janey's answers, it would become obvious that she lacked the 'mobility capital' that the rest of the interviewees possessed.
Therefore it seemed easy to assume that she was not prepared for her exchange. However, as made clear in the article's conclusion, the capital in question only pertains to pre-exchange as conditions during and post-exchange could vary greatly. Furthermore, the researchers make the point that Janey may possess subconscious 'mobility capital' constructed throughout her experiences of being forced to develop a certain sense of resilience.
In the article's latter stages it argues that there is still plenty of room for universities to make their mobility programs more accessible - financial means alone won't cut the mustard (nor are they always needed).
A question which is quite aptly posed is: how ought universities ought to increase the 'capital' of students worse off than others so that they may be more prepared to face a period of overseas study?
One such answer could be the greater promotion of and engagement with societal groups, programs and organisations which aim to enhance one's global competences and increase one's links with students who may already have international capital. In this way a sense of imagined capital can be accumulated by the students in question.
At Macquarie University there is a strong association of student groups around campus which are a nexus for student engagement. Furthermore, the Global Leadership Program (GLP) aims to foster students' cross-cultural capabilities without students ever having to leave Sydney.
If only all baggage related preparations were just as simple.
A recently published (2014) journal article titled 'What's in their baggage? The cultural and social capital of Australian students preparing to study abroad' deals with the more serious issue of 'mobility capital' (Brooks and Waters, 2010 in Green et al., 2014). Written by Wendy Green, Deanne Gannaway, Karen Sheppard and Maryam Jamarani this article publicises a study conducted by the four University of Queensland researchers, which aims to debunk myths surrounding the access to mobility programs by university students.
 |
| Music, money and chocolate, but is the intangible more important? |
Cleverly Green et al. do not disclose where their case study took place, instead describing the institution in scope solely as an Australian 'research-intensive' 'sandstone' university. By doing this they attempt to increase their findings' relevance to the whole Australian university landscape. Furthermore, one example of their attempt to enhance the relativity was that during the quantitative data analysis the group compared their data set to other national data of similar studies to make similarities and differences clear.
Throughout the article a narrative of Australian exchange students and their exchange preparations is constructed. Green et al.'s study's participants could be characterised as: being financially secure, having well-stamped passports, with tertiary-educated parents who held mid to high socio-economic status. This narrative reflected the national standard well.
In the end Green et al. decided to interview 14 students (from a pool of 150 questionnaire participants). Their explanatory sequential designed study gave voice to 14 respondents. Predominantly cultural markers such as the main language spoken at home was identified as being English. (88% of the survey's respondents stated English was the language they spoke at home; compared to 86% of the national Student Exchange Program (SEP) cohort.)
Markers regarding gender, age, discipline, background and ethnicity all delivered similar results to national SEP standards.
 |
| For many Australians the Flying Kangaroo offers a sense of comfort. |
Conducting oral interviews, a method I am particularly found of, these interviews broached subjects such the students' motivations, hopes, challenges and fears, the researchers were able to categorise 13 respondents as sharing a common narrative.
However one 'atypical' (Flyvberg, 2001 in Green et al., 2014) respondent named Janey provided probably the most fascinating explanation to her initial answers. This fourteenth respondent didn't fit the mold and would throw a spanner in the works for the researchers who has up until then been on a smooth course to being able to understand the link between cross-border mobility program participation and the related forms of social and cultural capital.
Was Janey merely an outlier or was her story worthy of airtime?
Janey - like all other interviewees - was giving her interview pre-departure. She cited her complete absence of international travel and lack of confidence in her ability to make arrangements for her SEP as reasons why she was extremely anxious. Drawing on Janey's answers, it would become obvious that she lacked the 'mobility capital' that the rest of the interviewees possessed.
Therefore it seemed easy to assume that she was not prepared for her exchange. However, as made clear in the article's conclusion, the capital in question only pertains to pre-exchange as conditions during and post-exchange could vary greatly. Furthermore, the researchers make the point that Janey may possess subconscious 'mobility capital' constructed throughout her experiences of being forced to develop a certain sense of resilience.
 |
| Hanau, Germany: Pack your own adventure. |
A question which is quite aptly posed is: how ought universities ought to increase the 'capital' of students worse off than others so that they may be more prepared to face a period of overseas study?
One such answer could be the greater promotion of and engagement with societal groups, programs and organisations which aim to enhance one's global competences and increase one's links with students who may already have international capital. In this way a sense of imagined capital can be accumulated by the students in question.
At Macquarie University there is a strong association of student groups around campus which are a nexus for student engagement. Furthermore, the Global Leadership Program (GLP) aims to foster students' cross-cultural capabilities without students ever having to leave Sydney.
Think back to perhaps the first time you went abroad without your traditional safety net: how did you feel? Were you socially prepared? Or do you actually still feel like you need someone to carry your toothbrush for you?
References
Green, W., Gannaway, D., Sheppard, K. & Jamarani, M. (2014). What's in their baggage? The cultural and social capital of Australian students preparing to study abroad, Higher Education Research & Developments, 34(3), 513-526. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2014.973381
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