By Colin Nelson
In AACSB’s Collaborations Survey, we collect information on many different types of partnerships and activities that our members pursue with partner institutions around the world. An increasingly large number of schools have reported such activity over the years, and the sheer number of collaborations between them has grown by leaps and bounds. One thing that is more difficult to track, however, is the amount of use that a given partnership agreement sees.
By far the most commonly reported type of collaboration is Study Abroad/Student Exchange, which is the sole activity type of 63.7% of all reported collaborations (and one of multiple types involved in another 23.6% of all reported collaborations). Fortunately, the survey does capture the number of students a reporting school sends and receives in a given survey year, by region and by level, so we can, at least to a degree, judge the level of intensity for this type of activity:
Figure 1. Regions Visited by Students of Reporting Schools
Source: AACSB Collaborations Survey 2011-12.
Figure 2. Home Regions of Students Hosted by Reporting Schools
Source: AACSB Collaborations Survey 2011-12.
Clearly, schools in Europe are the most common study abroad destination for students of AACSB members from any region (save Africa, and that not by much). Likewise, by and large AACSB members host more students from Europe than anywhere else (where the home region is specified). The exceptions to this observation are Asia, where intra-regional mobility is more common, and Africa, where again the lack of more than a single reporting school likely skews the results. Please note as well that in this context, studying abroad refers to a year or semester abroad at a school other than the one at which the student is actually enrolled, rather than being an "internationally mobile student," who undertakes an entire degree program in a country other than their home.
These observations make sense for two reasons. First, the European community has long had transnational education programs in place such as Alfa, Edulink, Erasmus Mundus, and Tempus, which help to enable such interactions between schools in various world regions. As a result, European students are more likely than those of any other region to engage in study abroad.
Secondly, over half of all reported Study Abroad/Student Exchange partnerships were reported by European schools:
Table 1. Regional Percentages of Total Reported Study Abroad/Student Exchange Partnerships
|
Region |
Percent of Total |
|
Africa |
0.3% |
|
Asia |
14.1% |
|
Europe |
51.0% |
|
Latin America and the Caribbean |
5.1% |
|
Northern America |
26.0% |
|
Oceania |
3.6% |
Source: AACSB Collaborations Survey 2011-12. May not sum to 100% due to rounding.
Watch for my next post, where I'll talk about educational levels in this context.
I'm working really hard to make it so I can study abroad this year! I would love to go to either Africa or Europe, I can't decide. Both would be such an adventure!
Posted by: staceybeck01 | 29 January 2014 at 11:05
Superb, what a webpage it is! This web site gives useful information to us, keep it up.
Posted by: study abroad | 29 September 2013 at 08:01
The relationship between talent and management is uneasy, at best.
Posted by: Donor Cultivation | 19 May 2013 at 16:37