Australian undergraduate students on the move: experiencing outbound mobility

Abstract

Universities now regard student mobility programmes as a context for their students to acquire intercultural skills, cosmopolitan outlooks and potential labour market advantage. If executed thoughtfully, immersing students in unfamiliar cultural environments and different academic systems can make them aware of their own taken-for-granted practices and assumptions by bringing them into contact with people and issues that broaden their perspectives. Little is known, however, about the preparation and support that students receive to maximise their learning from mobility programmes. Using Bourdieu's writings on forms of capital, field and institutional position-taking, the authors analyse a recent initiative to increase undergraduate outbound student mobility at a research-intensive Australian university against the experiences and perceptions of participating students. They conclude with a discussion of possible improvements to mobility programmes, including greater emphases on broadening student participation and more engagement with academic learning.