International learning mobility: lack of language skills and information discourage rural areas’ students

Rather than financial constraints, the perception of having insufficient language knowledge and information are the main barriers to embarking on an experience abroad for young higher education students in EU’s rural areas.

The above findings come from a JRC study using data from a recent Eurobarometer survey covering the 27 EU countries, which examines the obstacles preventing young people from participating in learning activities in another EU country. These results can help to make international mobility programmes more inclusive.

Studying elsewhere in the EU

While international mobility programmes have seen an expansion over the last decades, participation of more disadvantaged students lags behind that of less disadvantaged students. More efforts should therefore be made to ensure that these programmes reach out to people with fewer resources, including those living in rural or remote areas.

In November 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Council Recommendation Europe on the move – learning mobilities for everyone. The proposal raises 2030 targets for international mobility, and aims for at least 20% of learners – in all education and training, and youth and sport systems – to be young people with fewer opportunities.

The study, Student Characteristics and Barriers to International Mobility: Evidence from the European Union, compared students living in large towns/cities with those living in rural areas or villages to find that the latter are less likely to have an interest in participating in international mobility programmes, and when they do have it, they face language barriers.

This result is in line with the argument that urban students may have more incentives to study abroad than their rural peers. The benefits of an education experience abroad are perceived to be more relevant in terms of future career opportunities by the former relative to the latter.

Additionally, it is also possible that students from rural communities are more likely to have parents with little or no international exposure, and who would therefore tend not to encourage their children to study abroad.

Students from rural communities are more likely to report that they do not have the foreign language skills needed to live an international experience. This finding is consistent with the evidence showing that students in rural schools face a lot of challenges in learning foreign languages. This is related to the characteristics of the schools, teachers, and parents.

Many rural schools lack appropriate educational resources and facilities. A large share of their teachers appears not to have the credentials to teach a foreign language. In rural communities, there is only a small proportion of parents who could help their children in learning a foreign language.

How to make learning and training abroad more attractive?

The study highlights the need for (additional) measures designed to encourage young people in rural areas to participate in international mobility programmes. As many of these students may have little or no knowledge about what to expect from an education abroad, possible actions may include hiring special tutors to discuss opportunities and the value of studying abroad, as well as using local communication channels to promote the benefits of moving to another EU country to pursue education or training.

At the same time, it would be important to prepare students from rural areas for an international experience, paying more attention to their foreign language skills through measures such as free access to online language courses, higher number of qualified teachers in foreign languages, or more foreign language centres in rural areas.

Related links

Student Characteristics and Barriers to International Mobility: Evidence from the European Union

Europe on the move – learning mobilities for everyone