Providing an international exchange opportunity to students from a widening participation background
A grant of just over 86,000 euro was awarded to The University of Glasgow to develop their partnership with The University of Adelaide to support student and staff exchanges thanks to Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility. The University of Glasgow has been a long-standing beneficiary of the Erasmus and Erasmus+ programmes and has also taken part in other schemes such as Era-net and Erasmus Mundus. Working with the Erasmus+ programme supports the University’s strategic objective to provide at least 20% of each graduating cohort with an international experience.
It sees International Credit Mobility (ICM) as a great opportunity to strengthen its relationships with its international partners and as a natural step to take to expand its international strategy.
The ICM project is based on an existing link with the University of Adelaide and focuses on one of the priority groups among which the University of Glasgow wants to encourage greater participation in European and international mobility.
Widening participation in international exchange
The project‘s objective was to provide an international exchange opportunity to students from a widening participation background completing a degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subject. The University of Glasgow has a long tradition of welcoming students from a widening participation background and yet these students do not always benefit from an international exchange, as it is often perceived as expensive and therefore out of reach to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Due to the nature of the accreditation of STEM subject degrees, it is not always possible to offer suitable study placements of a full year to students. These two factors combined meant that students from a widening participation background were very unlikely to participate in study exchange, let alone in an international exchange. ICM offered the opportunity for the University of Glasgow to expand their relationship with the University of Adelaide, which had hosted STEM students very successfully over the years. It has further expanded the scope of the partner institutions with which they can work and has therefore been critical in allowing students who would not traditionally apply for international exchange to become a part of the Erasmus+ community.
Staff opportunities
The ICM funding also supports staff, enabling them to meet their Antipodean peers face-to-face and strengthening the relationship between the two institutions. It is not only providing a great opportunity for academics from the Science and Engineering departments to meet and gain a deeper understanding of each other’s work practice, but it is also providing the opportunity for support staff to work together. They are learning how widening participation students can be further supported throughout their exchange and are acquiring a deeper understanding of what each institution can offer in terms of support and personal development.
ICM has created a really unique opportunity for academic and administrative staff to exchange and meet - Céline Reynaud, International Experiences Manager
Testing the waters
It is early days yet for the project but Céline Reynaud, International Experiences Manager at the University of Glasgow says:
“From an administrative point of view, having such a defined project has helped us understand the mechanics of the programme and has enabled us to put a stronger case in the following bid. It has allowed us to test and work out practical solutions to issues such as promoting the programme, grant payments to incoming staff and students, arrangements for staff mobility, or working with colleagues in a completely different time zone.
Staff mobility opportunities have raised the profile of the partner and have afforded the opportunity for staff to meet for the purpose of developing our partnership and our understanding of each institution. Australia is not a country that is often visited by the International Office so ICM has created a really unique opportunity for academic and administrative staff to exchange and meet.
Although widening participation is a core activity for the University of Glasgow, students from this background remain under-represented in international and European exchanges. Having ring-fenced funded places has been hugely instrumental in convincing students to take part and benefit from going abroad through the Erasmus+ programme. The choice of an English-speaking partner for the ICM was also key to this project because it eliminated one of the major concerns that students have. They could then focus on the experience of being abroad and getting used to another culture. We are very much looking forward to hosting Adelaide students and helping them navigate their way through the Scottish way of life, in the next few weeks."
Having ring-fenced funded places has been hugely instrumental in convincing students to take part and benefit from going abroad with the Erasmus+ programme - Céline Reynaud, International Experiences Manager
Want to find out more about ICM funding? Take a look at our dedicated page!
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