Widening access to international student mobility

A period of studying abroad, during a degree, can make a significant difference to people’s lives – enhancing confidence, inter-cultural skills and employment outcomes. Nevertheless, students from non-traditional backgrounds are significantly less likely to take up such opportunities than their more privileged peers. The UK’s Turing Scheme – introduced as the post-Brexit replacement for the EU’s Erasmus programme – has aimed explicitly to widen participation. However, recent research I have conducted indicates that there remain significant barriers for historically under-represented groups, encompassing a range of cultural and financial factors. Schemes in the US and Australia have been more successful in opening up access to such opportunities to such students. The fellowship will enable lessons from these two contexts to be transferred to the UK, to help ensure that all students, whatever their background, have the opportunity to benefit from international mobility.