IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/ecocul/v14y2017i2p44-54n5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cultural Adaptation of Erasmus Students in Latvia and Host University Responsibility

Author

Listed:
  • Vevere Velga

    (The University College of Economics and Culture, Latvia)

  • Resentini Consuelo

    (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)

  • Alfaya Marcos Garcia

    (University of Vigo, Spain)

  • Mejuto Angel Muniz

    (University of Vigo, Spain)

Abstract

Internationalisation of education and student mobility (incoming and outgoing) has become a significant factor in the sphere of higher education. These processes lead to interaction between local students and exchange students, as well as between exchange students and host universities. Being in the foreign country for a certain period (one or two semesters) requires some cultural and social adaptation that could or could not be problematic for various reasons. In order to maximise benefits for the exchange students and host universities, it is important to identify existing problems and to offer possible solutions. The aim of the current paper is to research the critical aspects of cultural adaptation process of ERASMUS students in Latvia. The international group that consists of a professor of the University College of Economics and Culture and three exchange students from Italy and Spain carried out the research. The empirical methods used were the following: a survey of ERASMUS students (non-probability purposive sampling) and semi-structured interviews with the host university ERASMUS coordinators. The data processing methods were the descriptive statistics as well as the thematic content analysis. On the basis of critical issues identified during the research process, the authors worked a set of practical solutions aimed at the host institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Vevere Velga & Resentini Consuelo & Alfaya Marcos Garcia & Mejuto Angel Muniz, 2017. "Cultural Adaptation of Erasmus Students in Latvia and Host University Responsibility," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 44-54, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ecocul:v:14:y:2017:i:2:p:44-54:n:5
    DOI: 10.1515/jec-2017-0017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jec-2017-0017
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jec-2017-0017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grewal, Rajdeep & Dearden, James A. & Lilien, Gary L., 2008. "The University Rankings Game: Modeling the Competition Among Universities for Ranking," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 62, pages 232-237, August.
    2. Gabriel Hawawini, 2016. "The Internationalization of Higher Education and Business Schools," SpringerBriefs in Business, Springer, number 978-981-10-1757-5, October.
    3. J Stewart Black & Mark Mendenhall, 1991. "The U-Curve Adjustment Hypothesis Revisited: A Review and Theoretical Framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(2), pages 225-247, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Usunier, Jean-Claude, 1998. "Oral pleasure and expatriate satisfaction: an empirical approach," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 89-110, February.
    2. César Zamudio & Meg Meng, 2015. "Which Modeling Scholars Get Promoted, and How Fast?," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 2(1), pages 91-104, March.
    3. Punnett, Betty Jane, 1997. "Towards effective management of expatriate spouses," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 243-257, October.
    4. Robert Konopaske & Chet Robie & John M. Ivancevich, 2009. "Managerial Willingness to Assume Traveling, Short-term and Long-term Global Assignments," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 359-387, June.
    5. Bader, Benjamin & Schuster, Tassilo, 2015. "Expatriate Social Networks in Terrorism-Endangered Countries: An Empirical Analysis in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 63-77.
    6. Giovanna Magnani & Antonella Zucchella & Dinorà Eliete Floriani, 2015. "Relativity and asymmetry in distance. The role of strategic distance in the internationalization decisions of Brazilian and Italian firms," DEM Working Papers Series 111, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    7. Ferenc Farkas & Giora Avny, 2005. "Cross-Cultural Issues of International Joint Ventures: A Viewpoint from Israel," Proceedings-3rd International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking (MEB 2005),, Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    8. Brigida Blasi & Sandra Romagnosi & Andrea Bonaccorsi, 2018. "Universities as celebrities? How the media select information from a large research assessment exercise," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 503-514.
    9. Jeongeun Kim, 2018. "The Functions and Dysfunctions of College Rankings: An Analysis of Institutional Expenditure," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 54-87, February.
    10. Ellen Hazelkorn, 2011. "Measuring World-class Excellence and the Global Obsession with Rankings," Chapters, in: Roger King & Simon Marginson & Rajani Naidoo (ed.), Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education, chapter 29, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Kim, Kwanghyun & Slocum Jr., John W., 2008. "Individual differences and expatriate assignment effectiveness: The case of U.S.-based Korean expatriates," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 109-126, January.
    12. Yoshitaka Yamazaki, 2010. "Expatriate Adaptation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 81-108, February.
    13. Kevin Cheng & David Phillips & Oi-Ling Siu & Anthony Yeh, 2014. "Patterns of Residential Adjustment for Older Person: Who will Recover and How Do They Recover? A Study in Different Residential Environments in Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 295-319, October.
    14. Fee, Anthony & Gray, Sidney J., 2013. "Transformational learning experiences of international development volunteers in the Asia-Pacific: The case of a multinational NGO," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 196-208.
    15. Roger King & Simon Marginson & Rajani Naidoo (ed.), 2011. "Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13590.
    16. Benjamin Schilgen & Albert Nienhaus & Oriana Handtke & Holger Schulz & Mike Mösko, 2017. "Health situation of migrant and minority nurses: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-28, June.
    17. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Cinzia Daraio, 2014. "Beyond university rankings ? Generating new indicators on European universities by linking data in open platforms," DIAG Technical Reports 2014-12, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    18. Dan Wang & Di Fan & Susan Freeman & Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu, 2017. "Exploring cross-cultural skills for expatriate managers from Chinese multinationals: Congruence and contextualization," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 123-146, March.
    19. Blut, Markus & Backhaus, Christof & Heussler, Tobias & Woisetschläger, David M. & Evanschitzky, Heiner & Ahlert, Dieter, 2011. "What to Expect After the Honeymoon: Testing a Lifecycle Theory of Franchise Relationships," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 306-319.
    20. Son Le & Mark Kroll, 2017. "CEO international experience: Effects on strategic change and firm performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(5), pages 573-595, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    internationalisation of education; student mobility; cultural adaptation; social adaptation; university social responsibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:ecocul:v:14:y:2017:i:2:p:44-54:n:5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.