International Mobility Schemes in Higher Education. Options Organised by Students for Students

The paper discusses the concept of youth learning mobility by drawing the attention on the findings of an empirical research conducted among university students. The students participated in international mobility schemes organised by a global non-governmental student organisation. The particular university network offers opportunities for two types of extrovert mobility. Students may choose either to pursue opportunities for professional experience in enterprises or to aim at volunteering engagement in various organisations all over the world. First, the paper refers to the labour market conditions in the EU and describes the organisation of the particular student mobility schemes emphasising their foundations on the values of the proactive citizen and of the conscientious socioeconomic actor. Then, it explores the students‟ motivation to participate in such schemes by focusing on factors referring to personal development and professional aspirations. In addition, the paper tries to identify the obstacles confronted by the students and to analyse the benefits from the mobility experience in an attempt to determine the probability for future involvement in similar schemes. Mobility initiatives should be expected to enhance youth participation in these processes. For this reason, the paper tries to define interventions that would support their qualitative improvement.