An empirical Approach to the ERASMUS Programme. Does it promote European competence?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. It has been over 30 years since the Erasmus academic mobility programme was launched in 1987. With an image of success both in numbers and in its contribution to strengthening European citizenship, it has become a benchmark for any university student. The popular acceptance of its positive effect contrasts with the small number of empirical investigations that verify whether this programme really contributes to the improvement of Europeanism. METHOD. For this purpose, the European Competence Questionnaire, which analyzes this construct from the consideration of the dimensions of knowledge, skills and attitudes that comprise it, was used. With a sample of 157 university students, a quasi-experimental study was carried out with experimental and control groups with pre- and post-mobility measures. A two-factor analysis of variance was carried out to study the main effects of the completion or not of the Erasmus experience (inter-subject) and the time elapsed between the pre and post measures (within-subject), as well as the interaction and variability of the dimensions of the construct between both sources. RESULTS. The results showed significant differences in these dimensions in favor of the students who carried out the Erasmus experience. However, no significant differences could be found between the pre-post measures, nor was the existence of interaction demonstrated. DISCUSSION. Although there are no significant changes after mobility; the research carried out is limited to a very specific period of time, a circumstance that determines the evaluation of a construct as complex as identity. A longer-term analysis is required to understand the benefits associated to the Erasmus programme, endorsed by more than ten million beneficiaries in the last thirty years. In the same way, a holistic view of the resulting personal and social benefits is inescapable.