European Voice: A lack of recognition for studying abroad

By: Ian Mundell

A survey suggests that students are the authors of many of their own difficulties.

It has been known for some time that a significant number of students participating in the EU's Erasmus scheme fail to get full recognition for their months of study abroad. Why that is the case has been a mystery, but a study carried out by the students themselves and presented in late January sheds some light on the causes.

Erasmus students study at a foreign university for between three and 12 months, and before starting each is supposed to have signed a ‘learning agreement' that sets out the programme of studies that they are meant to follow, approved by the home and the host institutions. There is also an Erasmus student charter that sets out their rights and obligations, including the right to full recognition by their home institution of the studies they carry out abroad.

According to the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), which last year surveyed 2,400 former exchange students from 52 countries, the vast majority say that they signed a learning agreement before they went abroad. With the student charter in place, recognition should therefore not have been a problem – yet only 66% said they got full recognition for their studies, while 30% reported partial recognition. The remainder, 4%, received no recognition.

Exam failures

Perhaps the most revealing finding is that students themselves are a significant cause. More than a quarter of those with problems cited personal issues as contributing to the lack of recognition of their studies, mostly a failure to finish courses or pass exams, but also their own decision not to seek recognition.

This raises questions about whether recognition is really the issue and, naturally, annoys the people who run the scheme. “This is not a tourist exchange,” said Barbara Nolan, head of the European Commission's Erasmus unit, addressing ESN delegates gathered to discuss the results in January. “Yes, you are going to have fun; yes, you are going to encounter new cultures – but you are also going to enhance your CV.”

There are, though, some problems that are out of students' hands. Another 26% of respondents cited the incompatibility of study programmes as a problem in receiving recognition, while 15% cited the problems translating course credits from one national system to another.

One underlying problem is that the university official who signs the learning agreement may not be the same person called upon to recognise the studies when completed. This can leave students negotiating with their professors about what they have achieved. At this point, a variety of prejudices can come into play, from feelings that no study abroad can be an adequate substitute for the professor's own programme to the idea that marks from a particular country are intrinsically worth less than those earned at home. The outcome is that students may receive an inferior grade or be forced to re-take courses or re-sit exams.

Students themselves want the person who signed the learning agreement to recognise their courses, with students given more information in advance about which courses will and will not be recognised. The ESN also wants to see guidelines drawn up on recognition processes, with a focus on the competencies gained by the student rather than course names and descriptions, which can often be difficult to match.

The Commission has little power to intervene, other than issuing guidelines and highlighting good practice to universities. However, starting this year it will ask national Erasmus agencies to carry out more detailed checks and report back on recognition compliance.

At January's conference, university and Commission officials nudged students to take a hard line. One suggestion was that they should set up a blacklist of institutions with particularly bad records.

The ESN does not rule this out, but the mood among student delegates towards their professors was more creative. “It would be good if they could receive some training so that they understand our needs,” one delegate suggested, “and maybe they should also go abroad to see what is going on.”

Ian Mundell is a freelance journalist based in Brussels