Statistical analysis of study abroad experiences of international students in five major host countries of Europe

Abstract

This paper examines a large dataset of questionnaire responses (n = 5,321) of international students who have studied abroad (mainly via the Erasmus+ programme). Their acculturation experiences with campus discrimination (an acculturative stressor), academic support (a mediator of acculturation) and academic satisfaction (an outcome of acculturation) are analyzed and compared among five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal). The measures of acculturation experiences are verified by principal component analysis, which yields three components: campus discrimination, academic support, and academic satisfaction. The components are used as aggregate indexes for ranking the five major destination countries in Europe based on students’ experiences. A country-by-country comparison suggests that experiences from study abroad are most positive in Germany.