The Erasmus Student Network published “Student Exchanges in Times of Crisis – Research report on the impact of COVID-19 on student exchanges in Europe”.
The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) released an extensive research report on the impact of Covid-19 on student exchanges in Europe. The ESN is one of the biggest European student organisations active in the field of internationalisation of higher education and student mobility. ESN works for the interest of international students and it was, therefore, their goal to provide an insight into how international students have been dealing with this situation. The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted societies in many ways, including the life of international students whose studies have been interrupted, postponed or cancelled. This research report captures the experience of students and trainees across Europe in terms of the impact that Covid-19 had on their mobility experience. The survey on which this report is built upon included 22’000 international students and trainees, including such with a grant by the Swiss-European Mobility Programme (SEMP), with the aim to bring awareness to policymakers about the challenges that have appeared during this crisis.
Some key numbers that illustrate the implications of Covid-19 on higher education: close to 65% of students reported that their mobility continued, for 25% the mobility was cancelled and 5% were still unsure what would happen to their exchange. The digitalisation of education and the shift to a virtual classroom was the case for more than half of the students whose mobility continued. Three quarters of the students whose mobility was cancelled got support from their home universities often in the form of course schedules and academic programmes.
The proportion of students staying in their exchange destination decreased over time during which the survey was taking place. The ESN survey gathered data between 19 March and 30 March 2020. Up to 37.5% of students have experienced a major problem such as loss of transportation to return to their home country, or problems with accommodation and access to basic needs. For more than 6’000 students, it was not possible to return to their home country.
Students have been confronted to various challenges such as not knowing what would happen with their mobility grant. The report showed that 7% of students indicated that they will not get any grants for their studies, while 24% reported keeping their grant partially or fully. However, the majority of students are still left in the dark about what will happen with their grants.
The study also highlights the issue of discrimination and racism against students with origins from Italy or Asia. The numbers speak for themselves; up to 24% of Italian students and 19% of Asian students have experienced discrimination based on their nationalities. Additionally, a significant amount of students, i.e. 41,2%, reported to have experienced anxiety and stress.
The ESN survey aims at being an indicator for European stakeholders such as the European Commission, universities and national authorities about what type of support measures need to be put into place. To even go a step further, the ESN provides ten specific recommendations. The recommendations focus on ensuring that support available for domestic students is also accessible to international students such as medical support and information about accommodation. In terms of financial aspects, the report suggests that “All Erasmus students should receive adequate funding to cover the costs they have incurred”. Difficulties involving distance learning also need to be considered by guaranteeing equal access to online learning tools for students and it is crucial to take into consideration the diversity and background of students. To recover from the crisis there needs to be an impact assessment looking at the final impact, which Covid-19 had on student mobility.
The ESN report concludes with stressing the importance of ensuring that all actions take into consideration equity, diversity and inclusion. There will be a strong need for cross-sectoral collaboration between universities, national authorities, students and youth organisations to overcome this crisis.
To further discuss the implications of the research results of this report and how to best support international exchange students the ESN is organising a Webinar on 5 May 2020.